Authors: R Swetha
Abstract: Concrete construction largely depends on natural river sand as fine aggregate. However, continuous extraction of river sand has resulted in serious environmental issues such as riverbed erosion, groundwater depletion, and ecological imbalance. At the same time, copper industries generate large quantities of copper slag as an industrial waste, which poses disposal and environmental challenges. This experimental study focuses on evaluating the suitability of copper slag as a partial replacement for fine aggregate in concrete. Concrete mixes were prepared by replacing river sand with copper slag at proportions of 0%, 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, and 50% by weight. The fresh properties, strength characteristics, and selected durability parameters of concrete were studied. The results show that concrete containing copper slag exhibits improved strength and durability up to an optimum replacement level of about 20–30%. Beyond this level, a reduction in strength was observed. The study concludes that copper slag can be effectively utilized as an alternative fine aggregate, contributing to sustainable and eco-friendly concrete construction.
