Evaluating the Use of Steel Slag and Rice Husk Ash as Replacements of Aggregate in Concrete: A Sustainable Next-Gen Concrete

Concrete serves as the fundamental element for construction. The use of traditional constituent materials, including binders, coarse aggregates, and fine aggregates sourced from natural resources, is gradually declining. Binder materials, primarily cement, consist mainly of carbon compounds, leading to global carbon emissions. To resolve this issue, we must concentrate on alternative materials that generate low carbon emissions and do not deplete our natural resources. Steel slag, a byproduct of the steel industry, and rice husk ash, a waste product from rice mills, can be utilized in the concrete industry as a partial substitute for binder, coarse aggregate, or fine aggregate. This study examined the life cycle evaluation of steel slag and rice husk ash as binder replacements and analyzed their mechanical properties based on the research of other authors. Besides, life cycle assessment (LCA) results show the impact of the carbon footprint for both concrete. The LCA analysis shows that rice husk ash-modified concrete has lesser effects on environmental parameters such as acidification, ozone, and eutrophication than steel slug-modified concrete.