VOL. 10, NO 20, NOVEMBER, 2015 ISSN 1819-6608 ARPN Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences © 2006-2015 Asian Research Publishing Network (ARPN). All rights reserved. www.arpnjournals.com 9246 AN EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION ON STRENGTH PROPERTIES OF COPPER SLAG FIBRE REINFORCED CONCRETE Binaya Patnaik 1 , Seshadri Sekhar T. 2 and Chandra Sekhar B. 1 1 Department of Civil Engineering, GITAM University, Hyderabad, India 2 NICMAR, Hyderabad, India E-Mail: binaya7708@gmail.com ABSTRACT This paper presents a study of the mechanical properties of copper slag fibre reinforced concrete considering the effect of fibre content (0%, 0.5%, 1%, and 1.5%). Also an attempt has been made to establish the relationship between different mechanical and non-destructive test properties of concrete. Furthermore a mathematical model was proposed to determine different strength properties of copper slag concrete with variation of fibre content in it. The suggested model successfully epitomizes the rise of tensile and flexure strength properties of copper slag concrete with increase in fibre content, however a different pattern has been observed in case of compressive strength. In the present experimental investigation, concretes of grade M20 and M30 were used with crimped steel fibres having an Aspect Ratio of 60. Keywords: copper slag, crimped steel fibre, compressive strength, tensile strength, flexural strength, ultrasonic pulse velocity, rebound hammer. INTRODUCTION Alternative to river sand, which is a common form of fine aggregate in preparation of concrete have been in demand due to large scale depletion of river bed and increasing cost of river sand. Many non-conventional resources such as Stone Dust, Carbonate Sand, Fly Ash, Copper Slag etc. with larger percentage of Silica (SiO2) have been tried out as an alternative to river sand as fine aggregate in preparation of concrete. Several studies have shown promising result in terms of strength properties of concrete by using copper slag as a partial replacement of river sand, also the optimum percentage of copper slag as a partial replacement of sand has been established to 40%. The deficiencies of a Plain Cement Concrete are low strain at fracture and low tensile strength. The micro cracks present in mortar-aggregate interface are responsible for the inherent weakness and can be removed by inclusion of crimped steel fibres in it. OBJECTIVE The objective of this study is to use Crimped Steel Fibres in preparation of copper slag concrete and normal concrete and study various strength properties such as Compressive Strength, Split Tensile Strength, Flexural Strength, Ultrasonic Pulse Velocity, and Rebound Hammer. Further a mathematical model was established between the mechanical properties of concrete. LITERATURE REVIEW Al-Jabri et al. [1] used copper slag and cement by-Pass dust (CBPD) in cement mortar preparation. The optimum strength was achieved at 95% cement +5% CBPD mix and 1.5% CBPD + 13.5 CS + 85% cement mix. Ishimaru et al. [2] used copper Slag and class II fly ash as fine aggregates in concrete production. The results showed that the best results are achieved in terms of compressive strength by substituting copper slag or class II fly ash up to 20% (in volume) as fine aggregates. Washington Almeida, Moura et al. [3] studied various strength properties of concrete (compressive and split tensile strength) by using copper slag as partial replacement of sand. The results showed that the strength properties increase when compared to normal concrete. The results also showed a decreased carbonation which signifies a good concrete from durability perspective. Brindha et al. [4] studied compressive strength behavior of copper slag concrete (M20 Grade) by partially replacing sand with copper slag. The strength was found to maximum at 40% of copper slag replacement with sand. It was also observed that for increased partial replacement of copper slag beyond 40%, the strength of copper slag concrete decreases. A. M. Shende et al. [5] studied the effect of steel fibres on M40 grade concrete and found that the compressive strength, tensile strength and flexural strength increases with increase in the percentage of steel content up-to 3 %. Mazen Musmar [6] studied the effect of addition of steel fibres in concrete and found improved mechanical properties of concrete such as Tensile strength, impact strength and toughness. It was also concluded that Compressive strength, fibre content and the fibre aspect ratio has greater impact on the tensile strength of fibre concrete. Binaya et al. [7] studied the strength and durability properties of M20 and M30 grade copper slag concrete. The results showed that addition of copper slag increases the density of concrete there by increasing the self-weight. The optimum % of copper slag for both the mixes (M20 and M30) was found to be 40%. The durability results showed the copper slag concrete has a low resistance to H2SO4 and HCL compared to controlled