Abstract
Steel making slag has gained a considerable attraction as one candidate of eco-materials in research fields for recycling resources. Thus, many researches have been performed but were limited to development of substitute for cement being used in the construction field. A little research work also has been done on development of higher value-added materials, including heat resistant and sound absorbing materials. For this reason, the present study were focused on macrostructure characterization of fabricated slag fibers which are applicable to heat resistant materials. The slag fibers were fabricated through a modified melt extraction method. The processing variables employed were the wheel speed and molten slag temperature. The synthesized fibers were characterized by optical microscope and scanning electron microscopy. It was found that the wheel speed of 1400 rpm generated better quality of mineral fibers in terms of the relative amount of shot, diameter and length. This was attributed to the relative extent of contact width between the flowing melt and the rotating wheel. The thickness of the slag fibers also were decreased with increasing the slag melt temperature due mainly to significant decrease in the viscosity of the slag melt. In addition, the lower melt temperature caused an increase in number of shots plus the mineral fibers.