Utilization of steel slag as aggregates for stone mastic asphalt (SMA) mixtures

Steel slag is a byproduct making up a portion of 15–20% of iron output in an integrated steel mill. Most of them are deposited in slag storing yards and thus results in many serious environment problems in China. This paper aims to explore the feasibility of utilizing steel slag as aggregates in stone mastic asphalt (SMA) mixtures, and properties of such asphalt mixtures are evaluated as well. X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP) were employed to study the compositions, structure and morphology of aggregates. Volume properties and pavement performances of SMA mixture with steel slag were also evaluated as compared to that with basalt as aggregates. Results indicated that volume properties of SMA mixture with steel slag satisfied the related specifications and expansion rate was below 1% after 7 days. When compared with basalt, high temperature property and the resistance to low temperature cracking of SMA mixture were improved by using steel slag as aggregate. In-service SMA pavement with steel slag also presented excellent performance on roughness and British Pendulum Number (BPN) coefficient of surface.