Effect of Water-Cement Ratio on the Properties of NaOH-Treated Rubberized Mortar

In this study, crumb rubber was used to partially replaced fine aggregate in mortar mixture by 5, 10, 15 and 20 volume percentage (vol%) with untreated and NaOH-treated crumb rubber. There were three (3) different water-cement ratio used which are 0.45, 0.50 and 0.55. Thus, the total number of mixtures was 27. The mortars were tested for flowability, compressive strength, flexural strength and density. Based on the results, higher water cement ratio and percentage of crumb rubber replacement increased the flowability but lowered the density, compressive strength and flexural strength of the rubberized mortar. It was also discovered that the significant effect of water-cement ratio on the fresh and hardened properties of the rubberized mortar was due to the water content in the mixture. Meanwhile, the use of NaOH as treatment to crumb rubber improved the flowability, compressive strength and flexural strength of the rubberized mortar.

Effects of Rubber Size on the Cracking Resistance of Rubberized Mortars

This study investigated the cracking resistance of rubberized cement-based mortars. Three rubber particle sizes were used: Rubber A (major particle size 2–4 mm), Rubber B (major particle size 1–3 mm), and Rubber C (major particle size 0–2 mm). Traditional restrained ring shrinkage test (RRST), new restrained squared eccentric ring shrinkage test (RSERST), mechanical test, and scanning electron microscopy test were conducted. Results showed that the cracking inhibitory effect of Rubber B was the highest among the three rubber particle sizes. SEM results revealed that the particle size of the rubber does not have much effect on the ITZ (interfacial transition zone) position of rubber and cement paste. For the strength differences of the three types of rubberized mortar, it is mainly because the specific surface area increased as the rubber size decreased, which lead to more ITZ positions and pore structures. Our study verified that RSERST can predict the cracking position and shorten the test period. Compared with RRST, RSERST can also increase the restriction degree. K R is defined as the intensification factor of RSERST restriction degree. The average intensification factor is K R ¯ = 1.17 .