The production of electrically conductive concrete was introduced years ago among construction materials, generally for anti-icing. The present study investigates the electrical, mechanical, dynamic, and microstructural properties of recycled ferrochrome filled cementitious mortars, containing single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) and steel fiber. 7, 14, and 28-day non-destructive and 28-day compressive and bending tests of cementitious conductive mortars obtained from five different mixtures were performed. Two-point uniaxial method was used to determine the electrical conductivity properties of the samples. The damping ratio of the samples was obtained by performing dynamic resonance tests. Ultrasound pulse velocity (UPV) and Leeb hardness tests were performed as other non-destructive testing methods. Microstructure analysis at the interfaces of conductive concrete samples were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), EDS (Energy-Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). According to the experimental results, all data agreed and confirmed each other. When SWCNT is used in combination with steel fiber, the conductive mortar samples exhibited reasonable conductivity, while their mechanical properties turned out to below.
Recently, it has been known that carbon fiber, a conductive fiber, is used in different mixture designs and the development of electrically conductive cementitious materials. However, the evaluation of ferrochrome slag as a recycled aggregate in the mixture of these special concretes has still not been investigated. In this study, electrically conductive mortars were produced using 100% recycled ferrochrome slag aggregate with a particle size of less than 1 mm as filling material and using carbon fiber in 4 different ratios, 0%, 0.5%, 0.75%, and 1%. To investigate the electrical conductivity properties, the resistivity values of the samples were measured at five different times within 2–180 days. In addition, 28-day compressive strength, flexural strength, dynamic resonance, ultrasonic pulse velocity, Leeb hardness, scanning electron microscope, and X-Ray Diffraction tests were performed on all samples. The results were compared with the literature, proving that ferrochrome slag could be used as a reasonable aggregate in conductive mortars. The age effect was minimal in CF-added mixtures. With the addition of 1% CF, the resistivity values decreased approximately 40 times compared to the reference. Moreover, SEM analyses of the CF-0.75 sample showed that the CFs adhered to form a conductive network between the components in the ferrochrome-filled compact structure.
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