Effect of iron ore tailings as partial replacement to fine aggregate on the performance of concrete

After the beneficiation of iron ore, the waste is generated, which arise many environmental issues for both living and nonliving components. Iron ore tailings are a byproduct of the mining and processing of iron ore, and their potential use as a replacement resource is the emphasis of this study. The purpose of this research is to determine how well sand can stand in as a partial substitute for iron ore tailings without negatively impacting the microstructure, strength, or durability of concrete. The concrete mix is designed as 1:1.62:3.25 (cement: sand: coarse aggregate) with a water-to-cement ratio (W/C) of 0.48. A total of six (6) mixes are developed by replacing 0%, 10%, 20%, 30%, 40% and 50% of iron ore tailings with sand. The workability, compressive strength and nondestructive tests are performed for all the mixes. The split tensile strength, flexural strength and durability assessments were done for the mix to obtain optimum compression strength. The test results show the workability falls off with the increment of iron ore tailings in percentage, while the compression strength values up to 30% iron ore tailings replacement are above the target mean strength. The optimum compression strength is achieved for the mix containing 10% iron ore tailings.