Iron and its products, especially the various forms of steel, have been and still are a vital material in many sectors of life. It is utilized in many industrial activities ranging from production of heavy duty mechanical equipment to light electrical appliances and home appliances. With the world‟s iron ore consumption estimated to stand at 1.3 billion tonnes by 2025, exploitation of any existing natural deposits is of increasing importance to meet the demands of the expanding world economy. Large deposits of iron ore exist in Uganda in the eastern (Tororo) regions and south-western (Kisoro-Kabale) regions of the country. The ore deposits of Kisoro-Kabale consist of an iron-rich hematite grade with less deleterious impurities as compared to that of Tororo. Prospective quantification puts the deposits at 30-50 million tonnes of raw-ore reserves. To date the deposits lay unexploited, with small holder black smith activities taking place in the area. This work involves understanding the occurrence, quantity and quality of the ore plus its properties and characteristics in a bid to pave way for its exploitation for economic use in Uganda and beyond. Characterisation was done on the samples collected from the deposits, to establish its physical, chemical and metallurgical properties. Literature detailing the natural occurrence of the deposits plus the genesis of the parent rocks and ore and the prospective tonnage is included. The economic situation in Uganda as far as demand and consumption of iron and steel is concerned is also briefly highlighted. The chemical, physical and metallurgical characteristics that could facilitate the initial exploitation of the ore are examined with conclusive results from the representative samples examined. The results present Muko ore as a high grade of hematite with an Fe content averaging 68%. The gangue content (SiO 2+Al2O3) of 5 of the 6 samples investigated is < 4%, which is within the tolerable limits for the dominant iron production processes, with its S and P contents being < 0.1% and 0.07% respectively. Thus, Muko iron ore can be reduced in the furnace without presenting major difficulties. With respect to mechanical properties, Muko ore was found to have a Tumble Index value > 85 wt%, an Abrasion Index value < 4 wt% and a Shatter Index value < 2.5 wt%. This implies that the ore holds its form during the processes of mining, transportation, screening and descent when loaded in the furnace for reduction. Its reducibility index was found to be 0.868%/min. This is well within the desired reduction limits for the major iron reduction processes. It implies that a high productivity (in terms of iron reduced) can be realised in the reduction processes in a given period of time. Muko iron ore was found to meet most of the feed raw material requirements (physical, chemical and metallurgical) for the blast furnace and the major direct reduction processes (Midrex, HYL III and SL/RN). Furthermore, for those desired for sinter and pellet making. It can thus serve well as a feed raw material for smelting reduction and direct reduction processes. / QC 20101007 / Sustainable Technological Development in the Lake Victoria Region

SSAB i Oxelösund ska bygga en ljusbågsugn för konvertering av verksamheten från huvudsakligen malmbaserad produktion till skrotbaserad produktion. I samband med byggandet av ljusbågsugnen kommer en ny 130 kV linje byggas och från denna linje kommer ett nytt 30 kV nät byggas för att mata ljusbågsugnen och två stycken skänkugnar. En av dessa skänkugnar är idag (2019) i drift med 10 kV men ska konverteras till 30 kV medan den andra är en ny elektriskt sett identisk ugn. Anslutningen av dessa tre ugnar till det avskilda 30 kV nätet är till för att begränsa spridning av övertoner och flimmer till övriga laster. Ugnarna ska sedan anslutas till ett gemensamt elektriskt filter, för 30 kV nätet. Ljusbågsugnen och skänkugnarna ska vara i drift första kvartalet 2024, på grund av att det är några år in i framtiden är kortslutningsimpedanser osäkra. För att uppfylla termisk- och korttidsströmsdimensionering för kabeln mellan huvudställverk (OT40) och skänkugnsställverk (SU2) fodras enledarkabel med 300 mm2 aluminiumledare och PEX-isolering. Denna dimensionering förutsätter att förläggning sker i triangelformation, temperaturen är högst 35 °C och kabeln förläggs på sådant sätt att den inte påverkas av andra kablar. Maximal kortslutningsström som kabeln klarar av under den maximala bortkopplingstiden är 32,5 kA. Kortslutnings- och spänningsfallsberäkningar är utförda iprogrammet GNU Octave. Högsta och lägsta kortslutningström i respektive ställverk är beräknad. Överströmsskydden ställs in så att selektiv bortkoppling erhålls, med maximal bortkopplingstid 0,9 sekunder. En blockeringslogik används för att försäkra anläggning enmot oselektiv utlösning. Logiken innebär, enligt SSAB:s praxis, att skyddet närmast felstället ska blockera överordnat skydds kortslutningsströmsteg (>> I). Jordfelsskydd dimensioneras efter en nollpunktsresistor om 10 A. Jordfelsskydden är riktade och friges av nollpunktsspänningsskydd för att säkerställa att okynnesutlösning av jordfelsskydden inte uppstår i samband med omkopplingar eller fel i nätet. Frigivningen fungerar upp till en maximal snedavstämning om cirka 21 A. / SSAB in Oxelösund will build an electric arc furnace to transform business from a mainly ore-based production, with blast furnaces, to a scrap based production. Together with the construction of the electric arc furnace, a new 130 kV overhead line and a 30 kV substation will be built. The 30 kV substation will feed one electric arc furnace and two ladle furnaces. One of these ladle furnaces is currently (2019) being fed with 10 kV, but is going to be converted to 30 kV, while the other one is a new electrically identical furnace. The connection of these three furnaces to the 30 kV grid is done in order to limit the distribution of harmonic distortions and flicker to the other loads. The furnaces on the 30 kV grid will be connected to a common electrical filter. The electric arc furnace and the ladle furnaces will be operational and produce steel in the first quarter of 2024. Since the installation will be performed some years ahead the short circuit impedance is not known. The cable between the main substation (OT40) and the ladle furnace substation (SU2) was being selected according to thermals and short time currents which determined the cable to consist of a single core cable with 300 mm2 aluminium conductor isolated by XLPE-isolation. This is provided that the cable is mountedin a triangle formation along a path with temperatures at maximum 35 C and is placed in such a way that the cable is not influenced thermally by other cables. Short circuit and voltage drop calculations are made in the program GNU Octave. The highest three phase and the lowest two phase short circuit current is calculated in every substation. The overcurrent protection is set to a maximum disconnection time of 0.9 seconds. A blocking logic is being used to further ensure a selectivity in the facility. The logic means, according to SSAB praxis, that the protection closest to the fault blocks the upstream short circuit protection ( I). The earth fault protection is designed around using a neutral grounding resistor of 10 A. The earth fault protection is directional and is being released by the neutral displacement protection to asure no unwanted tripping of the earth fault protection by change-over switching or faults in the grid. The release of the protection works with detuning up to about 21 A.

This work is devoted to describe the possibilities of mechanical activations of admixtures used in concrete. Then, the verification options of grind fly ash, both from brown and black coal, from the classical as well as fluidized combustion and examination their impact on physical and mechanical properties of concrete, especially on long-term development to old age 180 days. Further attention is paid to assessing the impact of the use of mechanically activated fly ash on hydration heat evolution and the associated volume changes in the age of 1 to 90 days. In this work are presented the results of basic technological tests on concretes using admixtures, especially fly ash.

yes / The present paper reports the testing of 12 alkali-activated mortars and a control ordinary portland cement (OPC) mortar. The main aim is to develop cementless binder activated by sodium silicate powder. An alkali quality coefficient combining the amounts of main compositions of source materials and sodium oxide (Na2O) in sodium silicate is proposed to assess the properties of alkali activated mortars, based on the hydration mechanism of alkali-activated pastes. Fly ash (FA) and ground granulated blast-furnace slag (GGBS) were employed as source materials. The ratio of Na2O-to-source material by weight for different mortars ranged between 0.038 and 0.164; as a result, alkali quality coefficient was varied from 0.0025 to 0.0365. Flow loss of fresh mortar, and shrinkage strain, compressive strength and modulus of rupture of hardened mortars were measured. The compressive strength development of alkali activated mortar was also compared with the design equations for OPC concrete specified in ACI 209 and EC 2. Test results clearly showed that the flow loss and compressive strength development of alkali-activated mortar were significantly dependent on the proposed alkali quality coefficient. In particular, a higher rate of compressive strength development achieved at early age for GGBS-based alkali-activated mortar and at long-term age for FA-based alkali-activated mortar. In addition, shrinkage strain and modulus of rupture of alkali-activated mortar were comparable to those of OPC mortar.

Магистерская диссертация посвящена разработке программного обеспечения интеллектуальной системы анализа температуры холодильников системы охлаждения доменной печи. В ходе работы рассмотрены основные этапы реализации программного модуля: анализ предметной области, функциональное моделирование, проектирование и программная реализация web-приложения. Разработанная система предоставляет пользователю возможность отображения данных о температуре в графическом и табличном виде, а также проведение анализа и прогнозирования температуры тела холодильника в доменной печи. Она позволяет оперативно мониторить и контролировать температурные показатели, что является важным фактором для обеспечения эффективности и надежности работы печи. Научная новизна полученных в работе результатов заключается в разработке методов эффективной организации, ведения процесса разработки и сопровождения специализированного информационного, алгоритмического и программного обеспечения, включая базу данных доменного цеха и пользовательское приложение системы интеллектуального анализа температуры холодильников системы охлаждения доменной печи: использование гибкой методологии разработки (Agile, SCRUM) и таск-трекера Microsoft Azure DevOps для ведения проекта, взаимодействия с заказчиком во время разработки, отслеживания ошибок, визуального отображения задач и мониторинга процесса их выполнения; функциональное моделирование процессов и подсистем для реализации web-приложения подготовки технического отчета доменного цеха на основе методологии IDEF0 и средства реализации Ramus Educational; использование методики коллективного владения программным кодом на основе сервиса (удаленного репозитория) GitHub; применение методов машинного обучения для реализации алгоритма прогнозирования температуры холодильников системы охлаждения доменной печи. Практическая значимость результатов заключается в том, что разработанное программное обеспечение позволит: программное обеспечение позволит сэкономить время на получение, хранение, обработку данных, что положительно скажется на эффективности работы доменного производства, поможет снизить риск возникновения аварийных ситуаций и неплановых остановок доменных печей; специалистам отдела сопровождения информационных систем снизить трудозатраты на сопровождение, совершенствование и развитие системы с учетом пожеланий пользователей. Результаты работы могут быть использованы также в учебном процессе для обучения бакалавров и магистрантов по направлению «Информационные системы и технологии». Результаты работы представлены и обсуждены на международных и всероссийских конференциях: X, XI Всероссийских научно-практических конференциях студентов, аспирантов и молодых учёных «Теплотехника и информатика в образовании, науке и производстве» (ТИМ’2022, ТИМ’2023) с международным участием (г. Екатеринбург, УрФУ, 2022, 2023); Всероссийской научно-практической конференции (с международным участием) «Системы автоматизации (в образовании, науке и производстве)» AS’2022 (г. Новокузнецк, СибГИУ, 2022); международной научно-технической конференции «Состояние и перспективы развития электро и теплотехнологии» XXII Бенардосовские чтения (г. Иваново, ИГЭУ, 2023). / The master's thesis is devoted to the development of software for an intelligent system for analyzing the temperature of refrigerators in the blast furnace cooling system. In the course of the work, the main stages of the implementation of the software module were considered: domain analysis, functional modeling, design and software implementation of a web application. The developed system provides the user with the ability to display temperature data in graphical and tabular form, as well as to analyze and predict the body temperature of the refrigerator in the blast furnace. It allows you to quickly monitor and control temperature indicators, which is an important factor for ensuring the efficiency and reliability of the furnace. The scientific novelty of the results obtained in the work lies in the development of methods for the effective organization, management of the development process and maintenance of specialized information, algorithmic and software, including the database of the blast furnace shop and the user application of the system for intelligent temperature analysis of the refrigerators of the blast furnace cooling system: − use of flexible development methodology (Agile, SCRUM) and the Microsoft Azure DevOps task tracker for project management, interaction with the customer during development, tracking errors, visual display of tasks and monitoring the progress of their implementation; − functional modeling of processes and subsystems for the implementation of a web application for preparing a technical report for a blast furnace shop based on the IDEF0 methodology and the Ramus Educational implementation tool; − use of the methodology of collective ownership of program code based on the service (remote repository) GitHub; − application of machine learning methods to implement an algorithm for predicting the temperature of refrigerators in the blast furnace cooling system. The practical significance of the results lies in the fact that the developed software will allow: − the software will save time for receiving, storing, processing data, which will have a positive impact on the efficiency of blast-furnace production, help reduce the risk of emergencies and unscheduled shutdowns of blast furnaces; - specialists of the information systems maintenance department to reduce labor costs for maintenance, improvement and development of the system, taking into account the wishes of users. The results of the work can also be used in the educational process for training bachelors and masters in the direction of "Information Systems and Technologies". The results of the work are presented and discussed at international and all-Russian conferences: X, XI All-Russian scientific and practical conferences of students, graduate students and young scientists "Heat engineering and informatics in education, science and production" (TIM'2022, TIM'2023) with international participation (Ekaterinburg, UrFU, 2022, 2023); All-Russian scientific and practical conference (with international participation) "Automation systems (in education, science and production)" AS'2022 (Novokuznetsk, SibGIU, 2022); International Scientific and Technical Conference "Status and Prospects for the Development of Electrical and Thermal Technologies" XXII Benardos Readings (Ivanovo, ISPU, 2023).

<p>Highly polluted urban storm water from e.g. highways can contain large amounts of heavy metals that may cause harm if they are discharged into recipients. To remove the heavy metals a possible low-cost method that does not require much maintenance, could be the use of reactive filters with filter materials consisting of industrial residues or other cheap mineral based materials. Dissolved metal ions are removed by reactive filters through the processes of ions binding to active sites on the surface of the filter materials, or by formation of insoluble precipitates.</p><p>The ability of CaO-treated granulated blast-furnace slag, iron oxide coated sand, olivine and nepheline to remove seven heavy metals (Cr, Cd, Cu, Ni, Zn, Pb and Hg) from urban storm water was studied. Initially batch experiments were performed where the effect of pH, dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and dissolved ions on the adsorption efficiency was studied. The experiments were conducted with urban storm water and with a reference solution (10 mM NaNO3), both containing the same concentration of heavy metals (approx. 1 μM). The two materials with the best results were further investigated in a column study, where the capacity of the filter was tested. Chemical equilibrium calculations using the program Visual MINTEQ were performed in order to assess the role of precipitation as a mechanism for removal.</p><p>The results show that the blast-furnace slag was the most effective filter material and that it has great potential to be used as a heavy metal remover. Also the iron oxide coated sand worked satisfactory. The highest degree of removal was obtained for lead, cadmium and nickel, for which the removal efficiency exceeded 90% after a load of 300 times the water volume in the columns. For some metals, mainly copper, chromium and mercury the dissolved organic matter affected the removal negatively. The chemical mechanisms causing the removal are specific adsorption to the surfaces of the materials, and for the blast-furnace slag probably precipitation of insoluble metal sulfides.</p> / <p>Starkt förorenat dagvatten som rinner av från exempelvis motorvägar, kan innehålla betydliga mängder tungmetaller som kan orsaka skada om de kommer ut i omgivande vattendrag. En billig metod för tungmetallavskiljning, som inte kräver så mycket underhåll, skulle kunna vara att använda reaktiva filtermaterial bestående av restprodukter eller andra mineraliska lågkostnadsmaterial. Reaktiva filter fungerar som metallavskiljare genom att de lösta metalljonerna binder till ytgrupper på filtermaterialen eller att svårlösliga utfällningar bildas.</p><p>Förmågan att avskilja sju tungmetaller (Cr, Cd, Cu, Ni, Zn, Pb och Hg) ur dagvatten har undersökts för fyra mineraliska filtermaterial, kalciumoxiddopad masugnsslagg, järnoxidsand, olivin och nefelin. Studien inleddes med skakförsök där adsorptionens pH-beroende undersöktes. Försöken gjordes dels med dagvatten, dels med en referenslösning (10 mM NaNO3) med samma tungmetallkoncentration (ca 1μM). Detta gjordes för att studera effekter av löst organiskt material och andra ligander på adsorptionen. Därefter testades de material som uppvisat bäst resultat i skakförsöket i kolonnförsök, ett försök som mer efterliknar en praktisk tillämpning och där filtrets kapacitet kan studeras. Genom kemiska jämviktsberäkningar med programmet Visual MINTEQ var det möjligt att undersöka om bildningen av svårlösliga metallutfällningar bidrog till metallavskiljningen.</p><p>Resultaten visar att slaggen var det effektivaste filtermaterialet och att detta har stor potential att användas för avskiljning av tungmetaller. Även järnoxidsanden fungerade tillfredsställande. De metaller som avskiljdes bäst var bly, kadmium och nickel, för vilka avskiljningen var > 90 % i kolonnförsöket efter en belastning motsvarande 300 gånger vattenmängden i kolonnerna. För vissa metaller, främst koppar, krom och kvicksilver, försämrades avskiljningen betydligt när löst organiskt material fanns närvarande. Mekanismerna som står för avskiljningen är till störst del adsorption till grupper på filtermaterialens ytor, men bildning av svårlösliga metallsulfider är också tänkbar för slaggen.</p>

This master thesis presents the effects of fly ash on the properties of alkali activated slag concrete, commonly referred as Geopolymer concrete (GPC). Cement manufacturer are major producers of CO2 which negatively affects the environment. Due to the increased construction activities and environmental concern, it is necessary to introduce alternative and eco-friendly binders for concrete. Slag and fly ash based concrete, which is by-product from industrial waste, is probably the best replacement for OPC concrete due to less or nil environmental issue. Most of the researchers have already concluded that slag and fly ash can be used as binders in concrete by activating them with alkali activator solution (e.g. by sodium silicate or sodium carbonate). In the present work concretes were produced by varying the proportion of slag to fly ash (40:60, 50:50, 60:40 &amp; 80:20); amount of alkali activators (5, 10 &amp; 14) and chemical modulus of sodium silicate (Ms) (0.25, 0.5 &amp; 1).  Setting times and compressive strength values were evaluated. Results showed that decrease in fly ash content irrespective of % of alkali activators and alkali modulus (Ms), the compressive strength was increasing and setting time was getting shorter. The produced concretes showed increasing compressive strength with increase in % of alkali activator for Ms 0.5 and 1, while for Ms=0.25 the strength was decreasing with increase in % of alkali activators. From this it can be concluded that, Ms=0.5 was the optimum point below which the reaction got slower. Based on the initial investigations, mix S8:F2-SS10(1) and S8:F2-SS10(0.5) showed most promising results in terms of fresh and hardened concrete properties and were easy to handle. Consequently, the above mentioned mixture was chosen to be studied in more detail. The experimental program for these mixes included determination of slump flow, compressive strength (7, 14, 28 days) and shrinkage (drying and autogenous). The results shows that, strength increased with time and comparatively mix with Ms=0.5 showed higher compressive strength than mix with Ms=1, due to higher alkalinity of the pore solution. Mix with Ms=1 showed higher drying shrinkage compared to mix with Ms=0.5, which was explained by higher alkalinity of the solutions (Ms=0.5) leading to rapid formation of aluminosilicate gel. Autogenous shrinkage appeared to be higher for mix with Ms=0.5. This was associated with lower modulus which leads to densification of concrete microstructure at early ages. Pore diameter decrease and the water trapped in the pores exerted increasing tensile stress resulting for higher autogenous shrinkage.

A reação álcali-agregado é uma manifestação patológica diretamente ligada à seleção dos materiais (cimento, agregados miúdo e graúdo, água e aditivos) que pode comprometer a durabilidade das estruturas de concreto, uma vez que a interação desses materiais e as condições ambientais é que vão conferir ao concreto determinadas propriedades ligadas à sua vida útil. A reação entre os hidróxidos alcalinos solubilizados na fase líquida dos poros dos concretos e alguns agregados reativos é lenta e resulta em um gel que, ao se acumular em vazios do concreto e na interface pasta-agregado, na presença de água, se expande, exercendo pressão interna no concreto. Ao exceder a resistência à tração do concreto, a pressão interna pode promover fissurações. A reação álcali-agregado requer a atuação conjunta de água, agregado reativo e álcalis. Sua prevenção pode ser feita a partir da eliminação de um dos fatores, ou seja, a partir do emprego de agregados inertes ou de cimentos com baixos teores de álcalis ou isolamento da umidade. Na impossibilidade de eliminar um dos fatores, medidas preventivas devem ser tomadas para o emprego de agregados reativos em obras de construção civil. Entre essas, destacam-se a utilização de cimentos com baixos teores de álcalis ou a de cimentos com adições ativas mitigadoras da reação álcali-agregado: escória de alto-forno, cinza volante, metacaulim e sílica ativa, que foi o objeto de pesquisa do presente trabalho. No programa experimental foram analisados dois tipos de agregado potencialmente reativos com os hidróxidos alcalinos: EDVDOWR e PLORQLWR_ JUDQtWLFR. O primeiro, proveniente de rocha ígnea, tem como constituintes deletérios vidro, clorofeíta, calcedônia (sílica criptocristalina), que dará origem à reação do tipo iOFDOL_VtOLFD. O agregado milonito granítico provém de rocha metamórfica, tem como constituintes deletérios quartzo microgranular, quartzo recristalizado, quartzo com extinção ondulante e quartzo e feldspato deformados, que dará origem ao tipo de reação iOFDOL_VLOLFDWR. Com o objetivo de avaliar a eficiência de adições ativas em mitigar as reações, os agregados foram combinados com 16 cimentos com adições ativas. Escória de alto-forno foi adicionada a 15%, 30%, 45% e 60% e cinza volante, a 10%, 15%, 25% e 35%, teores normalmente encontrados nos cimentos brasileiros. Metacaulim foi adicionada a 5%, 10%, 15% e 20%, e sílica ativa, a 5%, 10% e 15%, teores representativos da faixa normalmente adicionada diretamente a concretos. Todos os materiais utilizados foram caracterizados química, física e mineralogicamente, incluindo a análise petrográfica dos agregados. As barras de argamassa foram analisadas ao MEV, microscópio óptico de luz transmitida, realizaram-se ensaios de porosimetria por intrusão de mercúrio e análises térmicas para quantificar a teor de portlandita residual, e determinou-se o teor de álcalis dentro das barras após a realização dos ensaios para verificar a migração de íons de sódio. Os resultados indicam que a eficiência das adições ativas varia de acordo com a composição química e mineralógica das adições, da proporção desse material no cimento, e do grau de reatividade do agregado. / The alkali-aggregate reaction is a pathologic manifestation that can induce the premature distress and loss in serviceability of concrete structures affected. It is directly associated to the selection of materials (cement, coarse and fine aggregates, water and additives), as the interaction between these materials and environmental condition will grant the concrete some of the properties related to its service life. The slow reaction between alkali hydroxides soluble in the liquid phase within concrete pores and reactive aggregates gives rise to a gel that piles up within concrete voids and the aggregate-paste interface. In presence of water, the gel expands and exerts internal pressure in the concrete. When the internal pressure exceeds the tensile strength, cracking may come up as result. The alkali-aggregate reaction requires the action of water, reactive aggregate and alkalis altogether. Prevention can be carried out by eliminating one of these factors, i.e. employing either inert aggregates or lowalkali cements, or keeping the concrete away from moisture. Otherwise, preventive measures must be taken when reactive aggregates are used in civil construction works, such as the use of low-alkali cements or composite cements bearing alkaliaggregate- reaction mitigating admixtures: blast-furnace slag, fly ash, metakaolin and silica fume, which are the object of the present research. The experimental work included the analysis of two potentially reactive aggregates to alkali hydroxides: basalt and granite milonite. The igneous basalt carries deleterious constituents such as glass, chloropheite (cryptocrystalline silica), that will give rise to the DONDOL_VLOLFD type reaction while the metamorphic granite milonite carries micro granular, recrystallized, undulate-extinction-bearing quartz and deformed feldspar grains, that give rise to DONDOL_VLOLFDWH type reaction. Aiming at evaluating how efficient in mitigating these reactions the active admixtures are, these aggregates were mixed with 16 composite cements. The contents of admixtures followed those usually found in Brazilian industrial cements for blast-furnace slag (15%, 30%, 45%, 60%) and fly ash (10%, 15%, 25%, 35%), and those generally added directly to concrete for metakaolin (5%, 10%, 15%, 20%) and silica fume (5%, 10%, 15%). All materials were characterized for their chemical composition, physical properties and mineralogy. Petrography was carried out on the aggregates. The mortar bars were analyzed at the scanning electronic and transmitted-light optical microscopes. Mercury-intrusion porosimetry and thermal analyses were carried out to quantify residual portlandite. The alkali content within the bars was determined in order to verify migration of Na+ ions. The results show that the efficiency of active admixtures varies according to their chemical and mineralogical composition and proportioning in cement, and to the aggregate reactivity.

A crescente preocupação ambiental e a atual crise energética fazem com que indústrias, de um modo geral, intensifiquem esforços para maximização de processos de produção e reutilização de subprodutos gerados. Na siderurgia a produção do aço é realizada por meio da extração do minério de ferro adicionando-se fundentes, gerando como subproduto uma ganga em forma de escória de alto forno. Na presente pesquisa foram compostas misturas de concreto compactado com rolo CCR visando o emprego como base de pavimentos, utilizando três diferentes materiais de granulometria miúda: areia natural, areia industrial e escória granulada de alto forno (com dimensão máxima de 4,8 mm) nas quantidades de 50 % e 100 %; para fins de análise da influência destas diferentes areias foram confeccionados corpos de prova cilíndricos e prismáticos moldados na umidade ótima e no ramo seco da curva de compactação. Foram investigados parâmetros referentes à umidade de compactação, massa específica, resistências à tração indireta e à tração na flexão, módulos de elasticidade por pulso ultrassônico, além de módulos de elasticidade estáticos obtidos a partir de curvas tensão-deformação e por analogia de Möhr (medida de flecha em vigotas em flexão). Visando avaliar a aplicabilidade dos CCR estudados, em especial aquele com escória, foi utilizado o programa computacional MnLayer (para análise de tensões em pavimentos asfálticos) empregando camada de base rígida em CCR para estruturas de pavimentos sujeitos à ação de cargas do tráfego de veículos rodoviários, portuários e aeroportuários, observando a influência dos três tipos de agregados miúdos no nível de tensões da camada cimentada, o que depende em grande parte do módulo de elasticidade da camada de base. Observou-se queda nas resistências dos CCR quando da incorporação de 50 % ou 100 % de escória granulada; por outro lado, essas misturas apresentaram ganhos de resistência em idades mais avançadas em comparação a misturas que empregaram areias natural ou industrial. O módulo de elasticidade dos CCR, com a presença da escória, parcial ou total como fração areia, em geral decresceu à exceção de seu emprego em conjunto com areia natural. As misturas com escória granulada, do ponto de vista de análise mecanicista, resultaram em exigências de maiores espessuras do material, o que não pode fazer tal mistura economicamente viável em qualquer situação, para os casos de misturas com 100 % de escória granulada de alto forno e com fração mista de areia natural e escória. / The increasing environmental concerns as well as energy sources shortage leads industry to consider both optimization of production processes and sustainable use and disposal of its by-pass products. In siderurgical steel manufactures the most common by-pass product is the blast furnace slag with emphasis to its granulated shape. This study considered the evaluation of rolled compacted concretes (RCC) mixtures containing natural or industrial sands as well as such slags at 50% and 100% (with maximum diameter of 4.8 mm) as candidates for pavement base layers. The analysis considered laboratory compaction tests in order to verify the influence of such sands on concrete physical parameters as bulk density and optimum moisture content. Evaluation of mechanical parameters as indirect tensile strength, flexural strength, ultrasonic modulus of elasticity and static modulus of elasticity were carried out as part of the study. Through mechanistic analysis using the elastic layered theory-based computational program MnLayer it was possible to verify implications of each RCC mixture design on pavement thickness and tensile stresses in cemented base layers, in consideration of highway, harbor and airport vehicles. Loss of resistance was verified for RCC mixtures at 50% and 100% slag sand; on the other hand such mixtures have improved its strengths at advanced ages (180 days) compared to the other sands. The modulus of elasticity also decreased for mixtures containing slag sands with exception to the blend of natural and slag sand. Under the mechanistic stand point slag sand mixtures requires thicker base layers in pavements that could lead, depending on several factors, to less cost-effective results in the case of 100% slag sands mixtures and blend (50%-50%) natural and slag sands mixtures.

O objetivo desta tese foi o estudo da influência do aditivo redutor de retração (SRA) e o aditivo compensador de retração (SCA) em argamassas e pastas de cimento de escória ativada com silicato de sódio. A metodologia foi centrada na análise da retração por secagem e autógena, com o estudo de outras características que influenciam no fenômeno da retração, como as propriedades mecânicas. Para o avanço no conhecimento do efeito dos aditivos no comportamento do cimento de escória, foi caracterizada a microestrutura com a determinação da análise por termogravimetria, porosimetria e difração de raios X. Neste estudo foram empregados os seguintes teores de aditivo, porcentagem relativa à massa de aglomerante: 0,5%, 1%, 1,5% e 2% do aditivo SRA e 5%, 10% e 15% do aditivo SCA. Para a análise da influência da relação a/agl foram empregadas três teores: 0,40, 0,48 e 0,56. No estudo das amostras de referência, sem a utilização de aditivo, observou-se que o aumento da relação a/agl causa o aumento da retração por secagem e da retração autógena do cimento de escória ativada. A diminuição da resistência mecânica com o aumento da relação a/agl, o que torna o esqueleto sólido mais susceptível à deformações, e o aumento das tensões capilares, em razão do aumento da quantidade de água livre para ser evaporada, são os principais fatores para o aumento da retração por secagem. No caso da retração autógena, seu aumento é atribuído ao aumento da auto-secagem com o aumento do volume de poros com diâmetro na faixa de mesoporos, além da diminuição da resistência mecânica. O aditivo redutor de retração (SRA) conseguiu reduzir a retração por secagem em percentuais de 40% até 74% aos 28 dias, no entanto, este tipo de aditivo não obteve êxito no combate a retração autógena. Com relação à resistência mecânica, o aditivo SRA causou a redução de até 40%, efeito atribuído à diminuição do grau de hidratação e retardo do refinamento da porosidade. O aditivo compensador de retração (SCA) amenizou a retração por secagem e a retração autógena, reduzindo em até 64% e 70%, respectivamente, porém reduziu em até 60% a resistência mecânica do cimento de escória ativada. Com relação à microestrutura, o aditivo SCA diminuiu o grau de hidratação e aumentou a porosidade total, com o aumento da proporção do volume de macroporos. / The aim of this research was the study of the influence of shrinkage reducing admixture (SRA) and shrinkage compensating admixture (SCA) in mortars and pastes of blast furnace slag activated with sodium silicate. The method was centered in the analysis of free drying and autogenous shrinkage, with other characteristics that affect the shrinkage, as the mechanical properties. The microstructure behavior was accomplished with thermogravimetry (TG), mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The samples were prepared with 0,5%, 1%, 1,5% and 2% of SRA admixture and 5%, 10% and 15% of SCA admixture, by binder mass. The effect of water/binder ratio was accomplished in three contents: 0,40, 0,48 and 0,56. In the reference mixtures, without admixtures, it was observed that an increase of water/binder ratio incurs in an increase of drying and autogenous shrinkage of alkali activated slag. The explanations for drying shrinkage behavior are the decrease of mechanical strength as consequence of water/binder increase, that turns the porous structure more susceptible to deformations, and the increase of the capillary tensions, attributed to the increase of free water to be evaporated. The increase of autogenous shrinkage with water/binder ratio is attributed to the increase of pore volume with diameter in the mesopores range, besides the decrease of the mechanical strength. The shrinkage reducing admixture (SRA) diminish drying shrinkage of 40% up to 74% at 28 days, however, this type of admixture was not capable to combat the autogenous shrinkage. About mechanical strength, the SRA admixture incurs in a decrease up to 40% of compression strength that it was attributed to the decrease of the hydration degree and retard of pore size refinement. The shrinkage compensating admixture (SCA) softened drying and autogenous shrinkage, reducing in up to 64% and 70%, respectively. However, the SCA admixture decreases in up to 60% mechanical strength of alkali activated slag. About microstructure, SCA admixture reduced the hydration degree and it increased the total porosity, with the increase of macropores volume.