Potential use of granite waste sourced from rock processing for the application as coarse aggregate in high-performance self-compacting concrete

Abstract The granite waste (GW) generated during mining extraction is responsible for environmental degradation. Millions of tonnes of stored GW are currently still not being reused. This paper describes a disposal process for this material, where GW can be used as an alternative aggregate for advanced concrete. The awareness of the impact of coarse aggregate morphology on the behavior of fresh concrete mixture, as well as on the deformation and compressive strength of the hardened concrete, favors the creation of the efficiency of Self-Compacting High-Performance Concrete (SCHPC). In this study, regular and irregular aggregates separated from granite waste coarse aggregate were analyzed, the morphology of which was described using microscale laboratory tests. As a result of digital image analysis, the morphological parameters of the aggregates were determined and a detailed statistical analysis of these parameters was conducted. Laboratory tests of the properties of fresh concrete mixtures diversified in terms of their share of regular and irregular aggregates, as well as samples of the hardened concrete, were then carried out. Due to the observed important effect of aggregate morphology on the fresh mixture properties of SCHPC, as well as on the mechanical features of hardened concrete, in order to understand the nature of this phenomenon, its mechanism has been explained.