Flexural Fatigue performance of Alkali Activated Slag Concrete mixes incorporating Copper Slag as Fine Aggregate

The present investigation attempts a detailed study of mechanical properties and fatigue characteristics of a new class of Alkali Activated Slag Concrete (AASC) mixes incorporating Copper Slag (CS) as fine aggregates. The natural river sand is replaced with Copper Slag, upto 100% (by volume) as fine aggregate in these AASC mixes. The behavior of plain concrete prisms, cast with this range of AASC mixes under dynamic cyclic loads with sand/CS fine aggregates is studied and is compared with conventional OPC-based concrete specimens. The results indicate that incorporation of CS even upto 100% as fine aggregates, did not have any adverse effects on the mechanical properties of AASC mixes. The AASC mixes with CS displayed slightly better fatigue performance as compared to AASC mix with river sand. An attempt is also made herein to statistically describe the fatigue life data of AASC mixes using a 2-parameter Weibull distribution.