Effect of Polymer Additives on the Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Self-Leveling Rubberised Concrete

The materials based on concrete with an addition of rubber are well-known. The interaction between concrete components and rubber particles is in the majority cases insufficient. For this reason, different substances are introduced into concrete-rubber systems. The aim of this paper is to establish the influence of five different polymer additives, i.e., 1. an aqueous dispersion of a styrene-acrylic ester copolymer (silanised) (ASS), 2. water dispersion of styrene-acrylic copolymer (AS), 3. anionic copolymer of acrylic acid ester and styrene in the form of powder (AS.RDP), 4. water polymer dispersion produced from the vinyl acetate and ethylene monomers (EVA), 5. copolymer powder of vinyl acetate and ethylene (EVA.RDP)) on the properties of the self-leveling rubberised concrete. Scanning electron microscopy has allowed to establish the interaction between the cement paste and rubber aggregates. Moreover, the compressive strength and flexural strength of the studied materials were evaluated. The results indicate that the mechanical properties depend extensively on the type as well as the amount of the polymer additive introduced into the system.

Influence of NaOH treatment of rubber aggregates on the durability properties of rubberized mortars

The work presented in this paper aims to study the durability of mortars, in which part of the sand has been replaced with rubber aggregates from used tires and have undergone a surface treatment with a sodium hydroxide solution (NaOH). The substitution rates studied are 10%, 17.5%, and 25%. The results are compared with ordinary mortar and mortars with untreated rubber aggregates while samples with the same substitution rates were used. To do this, the following properties have been studied: compressive strength, flexural tensile strength, water absorption by capillarity, water absorption by total immersion, water-accessible porosity, water permeability, and resistance to the chemical degradation by sulfuric acid H2SO4. The results obtained show that the treatment of rubber aggregates by the solution method (NaOH) presented a considerable improvement in mechanical performance (increase in compressive strength and flexural tensile strength) and better durability compared to reference mortar and mortar with untreated rubber granulate.

Resistance to cracking of concrete containing waste rubber aggregates under cyclic loading using the acoustic emission technique

Recycling rubber aggregates from used grinded tires is a behavior of environmental protection. By performing cyclic flexural tests, this paper explores the effect of rubber aggregate content on the crack propagation of notched concrete beams containing waste rubber aggregates. The crack mouth opening displacement is tested. The acoustic emission technique is applied to detect the damage in the fracture process zone. The crack propagation is evaluated using the critical value of the mode I stress intensity factor. It was found that the crack length and stress intensity factor decrease with the increasing of rubber aggregates content. The crack length and stress intensity factor at failure under constant cyclic loading are larger than those at corresponding post-peak load level. It was observed that the damage evolution curves under cyclic envelope loading can be divided into three stages: initial-quick-stable stages. And they are S-shaped, quick-stable-accelerated curves under constant cyclic loading. Rubber aggregate reduces the acoustic emission activities in concrete specimens. Accumulations of acoustic emission hits, acoustic emission counts and acoustic emission energy are found in accordance with the damage evolution of concrete beam. The relation between damage and accumulative acoustic emission hits is quantified by fitting experimental data. The fitting curves agree well with test results.

Impact of Partial Replacement of Brick Coarse Aggregate by Waste Rubber Tyre on the Fresh and Hardened Properties of Concrete

This study focused on the feasibility of utilizing waste rubber tyre as coarse aggregate in concrete as a partial replacement of brick aggregate (BA). Within this context, fresh and hardened properties were investigated on concrete made with three different percentage replacements (0, 10 and 20% by volume) of BA by waste rubber tyre aggregate (WRTA). The WRTA was washed with tap water (H2O) and treated with 20% sodium hydroxide (NaOH) for 2 hours. It was found that the workability and dry density of concrete decrease with an increasing percentage of WRTA. In case of mechanical properties, the compressive strength decreases with the increasing content of both treated and untreated WRTA. The maximum decrease was observed for 20% of both treated and untreated WRTA, which was 41-46% for treated and 47-54% for untreated lower than the reference concrete for all curing ages. It was observed that the concrete made with tyre treated with NaOH provides better strength than untreated tyre aggregate. This behavior could be attributed to the better bonding between cement paste and rubber aggregates as a result of the increased surface roughness by NaOH.