Mechanical properties and microstructure of engineered cementitious composites with high volume steel slag and GGBFS

Engineered cementitious composites (ECC) achieve exceptional ductility and durability, but the heavy reliance on cement has notable environmental impacts. In this work, the steel slag (SS) and ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS) are introduced into ECC by largely substituting cement. The impact of SS and GGBFS content on ECC's mechanical performance is analyzed at macro and micro scales in terms of fiber dispersion, mechanical properties, cracking patterns, cement hydration, and microstructure. The results demonstrate that SS can enhance fiber dispersion due to the low water demand and the strong electronic double layer formed on the surface of SS particles. While ECC with a high volume of SS alone (60 wt% SS) lacks the necessary strength for structural applications, the combination of GGBFS and SS exhibits favorable hydration properties and can effectively refine the pore structure. Thus, ECC with GGBFS and SS attains ideal toughness. ASTM C 1018 based toughness indices reveal that the Imax of ECC with 30 wt% GGBFS and 30 wt% SS is 2.30 times that of OPC based ECC. A sustainability analysis demonstrates that substituting 30 wt% SS and 30 wt% GGBFS for cement leads to a 33% reduction in energy consumption and a 53% decrease in CO2 emissions of ECC.