Crushing characteristics and particle size distribution of steelmaking slag according to repetitive compaction loads

Steelmaking slag, which is used as a construction material, can be crushed during compaction or repetitive loading in construction work. This crushing has a considerable influence on its physical and mechanical properties. Therefore, this study aims to evaluate/estimate the crushing properties and particle size distribution of steelmaking slag under various compaction loads. Accordingly, compaction tests were conducted by subjecting steelmaking slag with 10 different particle sizes to an increasing number of compaction cycles (1–15 times) to simulate repetitive compaction loading. The compaction test results were analyzed by considering the particle size distribution, particle size distribution curve, breakage factors, and fractal dimension. The results revealed that these factors could be influenced by changing the voids in steelmaking slag by altering the repetitive compaction load and particle size. An equation for predicting the particle size distribution from the compaction energy and particle size based on the sequence limit with the rational and the recurrence formulas was proposed. The proposed equation demonstrated excellent accuracy, and it can be utilized in efficiently predicting the particle size distribution curve.