Toughness, Ductility, Flexural, and Compressive Behavior of Metallic Aggregate Concrete
This research investigated the possibility of initiating and developing new materials that can be used in the production of high-performance concrete, which maximizes strength, increases durability, and is suitable for practical applications. The paper documents the feasibility and the structural benefits of the use of some metallic aggregates in the production of stronger, more durable, and more ductile concrete than the concrete made from conventional stone coarse aggregates. The use of these metallic aggregates, in the right proportions, may provide the much-needed improvements in concrete structural performance and in the development of mechanical properties without substantially increasing the unit weight of the resulting mix over that of an equivalent conventional aggregate concrete. Tests were performed on 28-day-old specimens to determine compressive strength, modulus of rupture, splitting tensile strength, and the general stress-strain behavior of concrete containing metallic aggregates. From the test data for concrete with metallic aggregates, appreciable increases in the measured property parameters were observed at 28 days. In general, and as expected, the ascending portion of the stress-strain curves was steeper for concrete with metallic aggregates than for the control mix. Measured mechanical property increases of up to 37% were reported for the compressive strength and up to 37% for the modulus of rupture. The stiffness of concrete was also considerably improved by the use of metallic aggregates. The measured increase in the flexural strength varied from 32% to 73%, while an increase in toughness of up to approximately 25% was observed. Improvements in the measured ductility varied between 21% and 60% of the yield deflection, resulting in an increase of up to 47% in the ductility ratio.