Mechanical Properties of Crumb Rubber Concrete

Afia S Hameed a, A P Shashikala b

a

Department of Civil Engineering , Saintgits College of Engineering, Kottayam,afia.s.hameed@gmail.com

Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, National Institute of Technology Calicut, apska@nitc.ac.in

Abstract
A composite material is formed using two or more discretely identified materials to obtain specific properties that are
superior to the individual material. Waste materials resulting from various physical and chemical processes are the most
important challenge in the industrial and developing countries. Extensive investigations on wastage recycling are being
implemented to minimize the environmental damages. One of the non-recyclable materials that enters the environment is
automotive used tyres. Investigations show that used tyres are composed of materials which do not decompose under
environmental conditions and cause serious contaminations. Burning is a choice for their decomposition; however the gases
exhausted from the tyre burning results in harmful pollution. Based on examination, another way is using the tyres in
concrete. This results in the improvement of such mechanical and dynamical properties as energy adsorption, ductility, and
resistance to cracking. However, this may cause a decrease in compressive strength of the concrete which can be
compensated by adding micro silica to rubber containing concretes. The present study deals with the investigation on the
mechanical properties of rubberized concrete
Keywords: Crumb rubber, compressive strength, concrete, modulus of elasticity

1.

Introduction

Crumb rubber is fine rubber particles ranging in

size from 0.075- 4.75mm made by re-processing
(shredding) disposed automobile tyres. Shredding
waste tyres and removing steel debris found in steelbelted tyres generates crumb rubber. There are three
mechanical methods used to shred apart these tyres
to crumb rubber: the cracker mill, granulator, and
micro mill methods. Crumb rubber can also be
manufactured through the cryogenation method; this
method involves fracturing the rubber after reducing
the temperature with liquid nitrogen. In the concrete
mix, crumb rubber constitutes a portion of the fine
aggregate.
Crumb rubber is non-degradable either above or
below the water line under normal conditions. This
weighs only 320-640 kg/m3. Because of their low
density, crumb rubber can be used to build structural
elements where the main force is impact force.
Plastic cracking and rigidity of the concrete
structures can be reduced by adding crumb rubber.
The addition of rubber in a wide range of
applications in civil engineering is based upon the
unique characteristics of tyre rubber as listed below:

High durability constituents of tyres, enhance

the resistance to wear, chemical decomposition
and sunlight.
Moisture absorption they are relatively
impervious to absorption
Low compacted dry density and thermal
conductivity a tyre is a poor thermal conductor
so they are better thermal insulator than soil or
aggregates.
High hydraulic conductivity.

High compressibility,
vibrations.
Low acoustic insulation

enough

to

absorb

This paper is focused on the variation in mechanical

behaviour of crumb rubber concrete. Preliminary
material study was carried out to finalize the mix for
high strength concrete. Compressive strength,
modulus of elasticity, flexural strength are carried out
as per the Indian standards to obtain the mechanical
properties.
The main objective of the work is to study the
variation in mechanical behaviour of concrete in
which fine aggregate is partially replaced with crumb
rubber (15% by volume).
2.

Materials
A thorough analysis on the properties of materials
was carried out according to various Indian
standards. The materials used are cement, locally
available river sand, coarse aggregate, crumb rubber
(tyre derived aggregate), super plasticizer, silica
fume and water. The properties and specifications of
the same are given below.
2.1 Cement
Cement determines the strength and properties of
fresh and hardened concrete. The selection of type of
cement depends on the specific requirement of
concrete. The cement used in the present study was
Ordinary Portland Cement 53 Grade (ACC),
conforming to IS 12269:1987. The properties of
cement used are shown in Table 1.
Table 1: Properties of Cement

Sl.No

Properties

Test Results

1.

Specific Gravity

2.

Normal Consistency

3.

Initial setting time

125 min

4.

Final setting time

190 min

5.

28 day Compressive
strength
2.2 Fine aggregate

3.15
28.5%

Super plasticizing admixture based on selected

sulphonated naphthalene polymers was used to
obtain the required workability for the mix. It was
supplied as a brown solution which instantly
disperses in water. Properties of the same as specified
by the manufacturer, FOSROC International Limited
is given in Table 4.
Table. 4: Specifications of Super plasticiser

61.1MPa

Product name

Conplast SP 430

Locally available river sand passing through IS

Sieve 4.75mm conforming to Zone II of IS 383:1970
is used as fine aggregate. Properties of sand are given
in Table 2.

Specific Gravity

1.18 at 200C

Chloride content

Nil

Air entrainment

Less than 2% over control

Table 2: Properties of Fine Aggregate

Appearance

Brown Liquid

Sl.N
o
1.

Properties
Zone

Values
II

2.

Specific Gravity

2.62

3.

Water absorption

3.54%

4.

Bulk density

1653 kg/m3

5.

Loose density

1520 kg/m3

6.

Fineness modulus

2.48

2.3 Coarse aggregate

Crushed aggregate with maximum size of 12.5
mm was used as coarse aggregate in the present
work. The properties are given in Table 3.

3.

Methodology

3.1 Mix design

The key to achieving a strong, durable concrete
rests in the careful proportioning and mixing of the
ingredients. A concrete mixture that has not enough
paste to fill all the voids between the aggregates will
be difficult to place and will produce rough,
honeycombed surfaces and porous concrete. A
properly designed concrete mix will possess the
desired workability for the fresh concrete and the
required durability and strength for the hardened
concrete. The mix design was done as per IS
10262:2009. The final mix design details after a
number of trials are given in Table. 5.
Table 5: Finalised Mix Proportion

Table 3: Properties of Coarse Aggregate

Sl.N
o
1.

Properties

Values

Material

M50

M55

Cement

414.67

444.24

Silica Fume

36.04

38.64

Specific Gravity

2.81

2.

Water absorption

0.56%

3.

Bulk density

1599 kg/m3

Fine Aggregate

4.

Loose density

1398 kg/m3

Crumb Rubber

5.

Fineness modulus

7.49

2.4 Rubber
Fine rubber was obtained from local rubber
retrading centers. Bulk density of rubber is 0.498
kg/m3. Specific gravity of fine rubber is 0.894 kg/m 3.
This fine rubber was further sieved to conform to the
same size and grading as that of fine aggregate.
2.5 Silica fume
Silica fume (Amorphous SiO2) named Elkem
micro silica of grade 920D from Elkem Materials
Mumbai with specific gravity 2.2 and bulk density
240 g/cc was used for the present study.

Quantity ( kg/m3)

Coarse
aggregate
Water
Super
plasticizer
w/c ratio
Mix
Proportion

653.57
625.37
15% by volume fraction of fine
aggregate
1246.16

1245.62

153.66

153.66

8.20

8.78

0.34

0.31

1:1.46:2.77:0.34

1:1.3:2.58:0.31

(C:FA:CA:W)
3.2 Compressive strength (IS 516:1999)

2.6 Super plasticiser

Compression test was conducted on 300T

compression testing machine. The load was applied

gradually and maximum load corresponding to

failure is to be noted. Compressive strength is
obtained as failure load divided by area of cross
section of the specimen. The test setup for
compressive strength is shown in Fig. 1. Minimum
three specimens were tested and average
compressive strength is reported as final result.

Fig 1: Test Setup for Compressive strength

Compressive strength=

F
MPa
A

3.4 Flexural strength (IS 516:1999)

It was necessary to find the static flexural strength
prior to fatigue test to get the mean static flexural
strength. A 40T Universal Testing Machine is used
for the test. The bed of the testing machine was
provided with two steel rollers, 38 mm in diameter,
on which the specimen is simply supported on a span
of 400mm. The load is applied through two similar
rollers mounted at the third points of the supporting
span that was spaced at 133 mm center to center. The
load was divided equally between the two loading
rollers. The load was applied gradually and axially
without subjecting the specimen to any torsional
stresses or restraints. The maximum load
corresponding to failure load was noted. Distance a
was measured between line of fracture and the
nearest support. The test setup for flexural strength is
shown in Fig 3. The flexural strength of the specimen
reported as fcr, modulus of rupture was calculated
using two equations.

f cr=

F = failure load in N
A= area of cross section of specimen in mm2
3.3 Modulus of Elasticity (IS 516:1999)
The compressometer is attached to the specimen
such that the gauge points are symmetrical about the
center
of
specimen.
While
testing,
the
compressometer reading is noted at different load
levels in order to calculate stress and corresponding
strain. Using this stress and strain values, a graph is
plotted with stress along ordinate and strain on
abscissa. The average slope of the line joining the
points is taken as slope. Three specimens are tested
and average of the three values is reported as
modulus of elasticity (E). Modulus of elasticity is
affected by rate of loading since it is observed that
strain increases with slow rate of loading. The test
setup for modulus of elasticity is shown in Fig 2.

3 Pa
, 110 mm a 133 mm
b d2

PL
,if a>133 mm
2
bd

where,
b Width of the specimen in mm,
d Depth of the Specimen in mm
l Length of the specimen between supports in
mm,
P Ultimate load in N

Fig 3: Test Setup for Flexural Strength

4.
.
Fig 2: Test Setup for Modulus of Elasticity
Modulus of elasticity, E = PL/ (A)
where P = Load in N
L = Gauge length in mm
A = Area of the cylinder in mm2
= Deflection in mm

Results

Experiments were conducted on ordinary concrete

specimens made by partial replacement of fine
aggregate with crumb rubber to determine the
strength properties. Minimum of three specimens
were tested in each case and average value is
reported as final value.
4.1 Compressive Strength
Table 6 shows the compressive strength values
obtained for concrete made by partial replacement of

fine aggregate with crumb rubber for different ages

of concrete like 7,15 and 28 days. Fig 4 shows the
failure pattern after compression test.
Table 6: Compressive Strength of Concrete
Identification

Compressive Strength (MPa)

7 days

15 days

28 days

M50R0

38.95

48.69

58.42

M50R15

34.08

38.66

47.38

M55R0

43.45

54.32

63.37

M55R15

38.37

44.47

50.94

Fig 5: Variation of Compressive Strength with Age

for Different Mix Proportions
4.2 Modulus of Elasticity
Fig 6 shows the stress strain relationship for different
mixes. Moduli of elasticity for different mixes after
28 days curing are calculated and are given in Table
7. Fig 7 shows the variation of modulus of elasticity
with different types of concrete. From the result, it
can be observed that the modulus of elasticity also
decreases for different grades of concrete by the
addition of crumb rubber.
25
20
M50R015
Stress (MPa)

v
Ordinary Concrete

Ordinary Concrete
with crumb Rubber

M50R15

10

5
M55R15
0

Fig 4: Failure Pattern after Compression Test

Table 6 shows that there is a reduction in
compressive strength by 19% with the addition of
crumb rubber in ordinary concrete. Compressive
strength of concrete M50R0 and M55R0 was 58.42
MPa and 63.37 MPa respectively. When 15% of fine
crumb rubber by volume fraction of fine aggregate
was added, the compressive strength decreased to
47.38 MPa and 50.94 MPa respectively for M50R15
and M55R15. The variation of compressive strength
with age for different mix proportions is shown in
Fig 5. The deviation in compressive strength is less
in rubber concrete as the age increases when
compared to ordinary concrete..
70

Table 7: Modulus of Elasticity of Concrete Mixes

Identification

Youngs Modulus (MPa)

M50R0

48875

M50R15

37619

M55R0

53120

M55R15

40068

40000

40
Compressive Strength (MPa)
30
M50R0
M50R15
M55R0
20

48875
37619

53120
40068

Modulus of Elasticity (MPa) 30000

M55R15

10

20000
10000

4 8 12 16 2024 28 32
Age (Days)

Fig 6: Stress Strain Diagram for Different Mixes.

50000

50

Strain

60000

60

M55R0

0
Grade of Concrete

Fig 7: Variation of Modulus of Elasticity with Grade

of Concrete
There was a reduction of 24% when crumb rubber
(15% by volume fraction) was added with M50R0
and M55R0. Fig 8 shows the crack pattern of
ordinary concrete and concrete with crumb rubber,
which clearly proves that there is no sudden crushing
of materials for specimens made with addition of
rubber.

Ordinary Concrete

10
9
7.9
8
7 6.2
Modulus of Rupture (MPa) 6
5
4
3
2

Ordinary Concrete with

crumb Rubber

9.34
8.44

Grade of Concrete

Fig 8: Crack Pattern under Ultimate Load

Fig 9: Variation of Modulus of Rupture with Grade
of Concrete

4.3 Flexure Strength

Table 8 shows the values of modulus of rupture
for different mixes. From the test results, it can be
seen that the flexural strength of concrete decreases
due to the addition of crumb rubber.

(a) M50R0

Table 8: Modulus of Rupture of Different Mixes

Identification
M50R0
M50R15
M55R0
M55R15

Modulus of Rupture (MPa)

7.90
6.20
9.34
8.44

(b) M50R15

For M50R15 concrete, the reduction of flexural

strength was up to 22%. In the case of M55R15
concrete the reduction is 10% when compared to
M55R0. The results show that, the concrete can be
used since the reduction for higher grades are very
less. Fig 9 shows the variations of modulus of
rupture for various mixes and Fig 10 shows the
failure pattern under flexure.

(c) M55R0

(d) M55R015
Fig 10: Crack Pattern under Flexure Test at Ultimate
Load
5.

Conclusions

There was reduction of 19% in the compressive

strength, 24% in modulus of elasticity and 22%
in flexural strength when fine aggregate was
replaced by 15 % by volume fraction of crumb
rubber.
Even though the mechanical properties reduces
the concrete with crumb rubber, does not
damage completely at ultimate failure.

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