Environmental protection by using waste copper slag as a coarse aggregate in self-compacting concrete

The copper production process causes waste and by-products called waste copper slag (WCS). A considerable amount of WCS is produced globally. This research aims to utilise WCS as an alternative to natural coarse aggregate in self-compacting concrete (SCC). To achieve this goal, WCS was utilised in different percentages (0%, 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%, and 100%) as a natural coarse aggregate replacement in SCC production. Following this, the fresh, mechanical, and durability characteristics of SCCs incorporating WCS as a partial replacement of coarse aggregates were investigated in-depth. Incorporating 100% WCS as coarse aggregates in SCCs showed 27%, 29%, and 26% growth in compressive, split, and flexural strengths in 28 days, respectively. The reduction of free drying shrinkage of the mixture containing 100% WCS compared to the control mixture was approximately 36%, and the water absorption of all the specimens was less than 6%. Further, the increase in weight for the mixture containing 100% WCS as coarse aggregates was less than 15% compared to the control mixture. A cost analysis of the SCCs showed that incorporating WCS for all coarse aggregates reduced production costs by 19%. Investigating the economic index of concrete containing WCS as a coarse aggregate showed that utilising the WCS in green SCC was feasible.