In Brazil, the steel industry produces about 3 millions ton/year of steel slag. The civil engineering can use this by-product but, in order to do that, it is necessary to know the material characteristics and, eventually, to change them. The objective of this paper is to characterize and to compare, micro structurally, LD and EAF steel slags, by using the following techniques: chemical analysis, X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy with EDS analyzer. The steel slag’s oxides composition was determined by chemical analysis; the well crystallized phases present in the material were identified by X-ray diffraction; through scanning electron microscopy it was possible to analyze the sample compounds (with the aid of the EDS) and to observe the texture, the relief and the morphologies present. The results and observations which characterize the steel slags microstructure are presented and discussed in this paper.
LD steel slag; EAF steel slag; microstructure
