The disposal of the accumulated tires has been a very big challenge in the entire world of today. This condition has even become very worse in the developed countries that have focused on the tyre production. A whole tyre is known to be very bulky with a lot of empty space inside it Environmental issues such as fires and health hazards have been witnessed in very many countries as a result of improper disposal of the tires. These wastes occupy the landfills in terms of large spaces leading to very ugly scenes. In most of the countries like Australia, there has been a rising trend for the accumulation of the waste tires. The rising rate has been approximated at 2% for every year. By the year 2010 for example, the number of accumulated waste tires had gone to almost 20million.The trend has been worrying and that has triggered some of the possible alternative investigation that can possibly provide the solution to the problem. This investigation thus serves to be one of the very many attempts that have been put into place to dispose the tires (Xue and Shinozuka 2013).
In addition to other relevant information that are available in the Australian Department of the Environment, only 3% of the tyre recycled have found their uses into the civil engineering applications. This figure is far much below the range that is expected to be between 9-14% that is experienced in other parts of the world that exploits the engineering usage of the technique. The environmental department in Australia has put a lot of emphasis on the contribution of the recycled tires to the economy of the country. Much of emphasis has been laid on the use of the recycled crumbs rubber in the road construction. The highly preferable option is the use of the recycled rubber for the construction of the pavements. This could be attributed to the high volume of the rubber that has been recycled. This application can be easily incorporated into the construction of the road pavements.
In the pavement construction industries, there has been initiation of asphalt mixture by use of the crumb rubber .A lot of difficulties that limit the applications of the technology have been experienced. Some of these difficulties include the very high viscosity of the bitumen that has been made from the rubber. The production of the rubberized asphalt needs very high temperatures as well. Consequently, the challenges in the use of rubber in the asphalt have resulted to further investigation of the use of rubber in the concrete mixture of the pavement. The first successful application of this particular technology was in the year 1990.Most off the research has shown that the concrete that has been made from the rubber can have a positive outlook especially for the applications of the surface pavement applications (Sukontasukkul and Tiamlom 2012).
Despite the fact that much of the research has been done on the concept of using recycled rubber in the cements composites, very little cases have involved mixing and treatment of the rubber that improve the characteristics of the product. The mechanical behaviour of the concrete made from the rubber that is commonly known as Crumb Rubber Concrete (CRC) has not been completely achieved as per the engineering performing requirement. The study will dig deep to investigate the effects of water soaking treatment method in the hardened and fresh properties of the concrete that is made from the rubber. Engineering structural studies have identified weaknesses in the use of rubberized concretes in the building construction(Allen and Iano 2013).
The suggested studies are seeking to shed more light on the possible causes of these weaknesses. The studies focus on the investigation of the use of the recycled tires to produce very perfect concrete pavements (Thomas et al 2014). The study is necessitated by the visible negative effects on the performance of the concrete. It has been found that the use of rubber tend to reduce the strength of the concrete.However,some of the studies have help to propose some of the mitigation measures in the treatment of these negative impacts of incorporating rubber into the concrete mixture. The two major design criteria that have been put under investigation are the flexural strengths and also the compressive strengths. This has been possibly done through use of the concrete pavement in the Australia pavements. It is important to note that the required compressive strength for the pavement is much smaller as compared to other structural uses. Although the strength of the rubberized concrete has greatly limited its uses in various sectors construction, there are other desirable characteristics of this particular compound. These desirable characteristics include the following; better sound insulation, higher toughness, lower density and possibly ductility and proper fire resistance. This resistance has protected it against cracking and that has made it very valid option among the available choices (Zhang et al 2014).
Most of the issues of homogeneity that have been observed in the concretes made of rubber can be attributed to the challenges of the individual material properties. It reduces the mechanical strength of the concrete. The ductility is enhanced while the brittleness is highly reduced. It can be seen that during the process of mixing, there are traces of air that is entrapped in the concrete mixture (Thomas et al 2015).The rubber particles that are in contact with these bubbles of the air are prone to moving towards the upper part of the concrete mixture. This phenomenon is common when the application process involves compaction of the mixture constituents.
The extent of the effects of these applications is normally changed through the use of varying fractions of the content of the rubber. This therefore calls for a very proper investigation to establish the exact amount of the crumb rubber that need to be added during the mixing process of the entire concrete for different structural uses. The addition should take into consideration the improvements on the effects that are considered positive including the ductility effects, resistance against cracking and also the ultimate strain. It must also lower the negative impacts on the generic properties that are mechanical in nature. The major objective of this particular task is to shed more light and enhance understanding of the properties of the CRC that some of which are considered mechanical. The understanding of these properties will be achieved through a series of laboratory tests. The performance of the laboratory tests is done so as to investigate and possibly establish the advantages and disadvantages of adding crumbs of the rubber into the concrete mixture. The study involves the investigation into the study of fresh and hardened rubber characteristics of the CRC to meet the requirements of the design criteria standards of the Australia.
The reports from the literature sources have pointed out lack of homogeneity and also reduction in the strength of the final product obtained when rubber is incorporated into the mixture. These results are viewed as the possible reasons for the existence of the differences between the volumetric properties of the rubber and the aggregates of the particles. The specific gravity value of the rubber products is approximately 1.The specific gravity value of the concrete is approximately 2.6 while that of the cement paste is 2.2.Due to these differences in the specific gravity values, it has been very difficult to obtain a very homogenous mixture.
In addition, use of the rubber particles lead to trapped particles of the air in larger volumes in the concrete. This result is not normally preferable. It was also reported that there is very weak bond between the particles of the rubber and the particles of the paste of the cement. Some investigations however have attempted to improve the strength of this particular bond. The study introduces other ways that are considered effective into the introduction of the rubber into the concrete so as to achieve desirable results. This will probably diminish the current difficulties.
Most of the studies that had been done previously on the rubberized concretes involves introduction of rubber into the concrete mixture. This was done without putting any special consideration into the specific properties of the individual constituents. In very few studies were the methods of improvement used to check on the results of some of these approaches (Park et al 2016). The mixing of rubber and concrete was treated as a challenge to be tackled. Some of the very few approaches used were very expensive in addition to showing outcome that has not been consistent. In summary, the sources from the literature indicate that only two categories regarding the improvement of the concrete made from the rubber have been carried out before. The two categories include the treatment of the rubber using chemicals such as alkali or acid solutions to change it properties (Tay et al 2012). Also the other study employed use of pozzolanic or any other constituent that has cementations property that leads to a proper adhesion between the paste and the rubber. These experimental programs that have been proposed have different effects on the generic mechanical properties on the CRC at different phases of treatement.The end result of these investigations will be to establish the content of the crumb that is considered optimum to be used in the concrete making. This will help in the drafting of the requirements in the productions of the rubberized concrete pavements in Australia (Cormos, Vatopoulos and Tzimas 2013).
PROBLEM STATEMENT AND SCOPE
The main problem that was identified in the use of the rubberized concrete was the effects of spalling especially when the compound has been exposed to fire. Spalling process is a phenomenon that is characterized by increase in the pressure inside the concrete when subjected to very high temperatures (Kang, Zhang and Li 2012) the pressure inside the pore will burst after sometimes and leads to the creation of the crack. The use of the steel fibers in the rubberized concrete has got some disadvantages. One of such disadvantages is that the workability of the concrete itself is greatly lowered or interfered with. It is very necessary to bring the tires that have been accumulating in places within Australia into the use. The areas that are still within the lower stages of development can consider using this concrete as a substitute for the other conventional concretes that are known to be expensive. The problem of weak bonding that exist between the surrounding concrete and also the rubber aggregates remains to be a major challenge still in the entire set up. The study will focus on the flexural toughness properties of the concretes using the fine aggregates that are replaced by 10% and later by 20% of 2-5mm of rubber crumbs. The course aggregates that are replaced by 10% and later 20% of 5-10mm rubber crumbs will be used. Both the aggregates are replaced by 10% of one trail and later 20% of each other but strictly for another trail (Pachec and Labrincha 2013). There will be variation of temperatures from as low as 20 degrees Celsius to maximum of 900 degrees Celsius(Silva et al 2016).The unique benefits of rubber will be incorporated into the concrete so as to make it affordable and economical material that meets all its engineering requirement. In the entire experiment, several comparisons between the concrete mixes will be done. The parameters that will be used include the fresh properties, flexural strength, and flexural toughness, tensile and also compressive strength (Wu et al 2014).
LTERATURE REVIEW
(a)Rubberized Concretes
In the recent years there has been concern in the whole world over the increased level of the carbon and other similar waste. In the countries like Australia, there has been accumulation of the waste products that have been generated from the tyre industries. The level of these wastes is currently becoming a threat to the future environment. In order to address this particular problem, a number of researches have been carried out to investigate the possible recycling and reuse of the wastes from the tyre rubber. One of the areas that have been identified in these researches includes the use of rubber to make concretes for constructions (Moustaf and ElGawady 2016).
The study of those fresh and hardened characteristics of the rubber started way back in 2010.The result indicated that when a rubber aggregate content was actually raised, the workability reduced. This was translated as a reduction in a slump. This was because of the friction that exists between the antiparticle of the rubber aggregates and also the other constituents present. The results from the literature sources that have been obtained from the researches on rubberized concretes indicate several changes (Sandin et al 2014). Some of the changes include increased density, improved toughness and ductility, very high resistance to the temperatures, reduced tensile and compressive strength and also provided thermal and sound insulation. The study also concluded that there is reduction of the unit weight when rubber is mixed with the concrete. This is as a result of the low specific gravity of the material rubber (Bouasker et al 2014).
There was however, a large variation in the compressive strength with the introduction of the rubber aggregates that substituted the large course aggregates. In the study it was found out that the major reason as to why the strength was being lower was because of lack of the bonding that should be between the cement around and the rubber aggregates. The results from the experiments also showed that rubberized concretes needs a slightly high amount of the suparplasticizer as opposes to the other types of the concretes so as to achieve the properties of compacting in the keeping of W/c ratio constant (Martínez,Solís and Marrero 2016).
In some studies, it has been shown that treating of the rubber materials with the soaking process of the water produces a result of 22% compressive strength and also 8% tensile strength. This result is different from the one that have been obtained from the untreated rubber. In the process of making rubberized concrete, a technique called water soaking is used (Güneyis et al 2016). In this particular technique, the aggregates of the rubber are kept in the water for a period of 24hours before they are exposed to dry in the room temperature and later used in the concrete. This particular process is very important since it will help in the removal of the dirt and also increasing the strength of the bond. In the process of the study, benefits of using rubber in the prevention of spalling concrete were at the center of analysis. The test that was done included exposure to fire. The rapid evaporation was noted at a temperature of 170 degrees celcius.There was creation of pores that allowed for the reduction of the pressure from the pores. There has been a lot of limitation in the use of rubberized concrete considering that there is lack of knowledge and extensive research in this particular area. The commercial purposes of this product can be effectively utilized only if other pre-heating tests of rubber are done. The finished product can be used in areas that require insulation against sound and thermal heat. Considering that the concrete is very much resistant to abrasion, vibrations and shockwaves, it is best suited for use in the making of the pavement. The study that has been proposed here seeks to highlight the impacts of using both fine and rough aggregates with percentage variation from 10% to 20% while water cement ratio changing from 0.2 to 0.3.
(b)High strength concrete
This is a high performing concrete that has specified compressive strength of a bout 40Mpa and above. The production of this type of concrete needs more research and attention on the control of quality as opposes to the conventional concrete. There are several reasons why high strength concrete is needed and some of them include the following; to have the concrete put on service as at early stage like opening of a pavement. In the construction of the high- rise buildings, high strength pavement assist in the reduction of the size of the columns hence increasing the space available. High strength concrete is required in the long span bridges where they enhance the durability of the decks of the bridge(Safa et al 2014).
The basic concept of the high strength concrete that need to be understood include the following: The aggregate used should be strong enough and also durable. This however does not necessary mean that they should be hard but need to be very compatible in terms of strength and also stiffness. In the making of such compounds, smaller or fine aggregates will be used. The sand that is used may have to be coarser than the normal size because of the high fine content that originates from the compendious material(Ramesh et al 2014).High strength concrete mixture will have very cementite’s content of the material and this property will further increase the effects of hydration and greater shrinkage. The greater shrinkage will lead to potential cracking. More attention will be required in the cases where job specification demand for the properties like creep, modulus of elasticity and shrinkage. The current research may not have provided the required guidance for the empirical connections. The data that is available on this relevant topic indicates that properties like modulus of elasticity can only be achieved through use of higher aggregate and lower paste volume.
© High Strength Rubberized Concrete Using crumbs
The process of urbanization and also technological innovations in the fields has led to production of large quantities of solid wastes. These solid wastes have had negative impacts on the environment. Waste tyre rubber is considered as one of the solid waste materials that contribute to the pollution of the environment. In every year the tyres are thrown away, discarded or just buried over the world leading to most serious threat to the ecology (Ganesan and Shashikala 2013).
The research has shown that over one million of tyres are produced once their useful life is gone and almost 50% of these wastes are discarded or thrown away without any treatment. In the recent years, construction industries have been taking up the challenges of incorporating sustainability in the activities of production by use of the waste tyre aggregate in the making of the concrete. The possible solution to the elimination of these wastes is to incorporate the crumbs into the cement material to replace some of the natural aggregates. This method could be considered environmentally friendly. This is because it will help in the disposal of the tyre while at the same time not polluting the environment. The studies of this particular technique revealed that rubber particles were used in the replacement of the fine particles through weight reduction. The approximated reduction percentage was from 0% to 15% of the multiples of other products. Water absorption had given better results as compared to the mix of the control (Elchalakani 2015).
The reports indicated that the resistance to the penetration of the chloride ions was greatly improved by the incorporation of the particles of the rubber into the concrete. The reduction of this penetration took place up to 15%. 14.22% reduction was achieved by having a substitution of the 5% and the best results were obtained in the mixture that had 12.5% of the particles of the rubber. The product exhibited some of the best mechanical properties and penetration of ion that decreased by 55.89% when compared to the mix of control(Sardroud 2012). It was observed that the increase in the percentage of the rubber resulted into the loss of the compressive strength. In these results, the capillarity of the water was lower as compared to the control mix and this was substituted to almost 15%.Many studies have been reported on the normal strength of the rubberized concrete(Miqueleiz et al 2012).
However, very proper study that digs on the properties of high strength rubberized concretes is required. In this particular study, the design of the concrete will be with the water-cement ratio of 0.3.The waste rubber tyres will be mechanically grounded into fine particles and subsumed for the fine aggregates from 0% to 20%.Other similar tests will be done with different water cement ration including 0.2 and 0.25.The product will be then subjected to tests of flexural and compressive strengths (Atahan and Yücel 2012).
(d)Highly Workable High Strength Rubberized Concrete
Most of the literature sources have indicated that the properties of the concrete made from the mixture of the tyre crumbs is much better. The results indicate that the proportion, texture and size of the particles of the rubber definitely affect the performance of the rubberized concrete. Many experiments have been carried out to examine the toughness and strength of the rubberized tyres (Fernández et al 2012).The results obtained have indicated that approximately 85% reduction was achieved in the compressive strength while the splitting strength of tensile was lowered by almost 50%.Very small reductions in the compressive strength was at 65%.The concrete that contained rubber did not exhibit any form of brittle characteristics when it was subjected to tensile and compressive loads( Al-Tayeb et al 2013).A more in depth analysis indicated an optimized mixture proportion that was likely to give perfect results. Some researchers tried to improve the stiffness and strength of the concrete by using larger sized particles. The results that were obtained indicated that they perform better than the normal products (Duarte et al 2016).
However; the treatment that was done using NaOH could not work with the sized chipped tyres. It was found that the modulus of elasticity and the modulus of rigidity decreased when the rubber content in the concrete was increased. This was an indication of a less stiff and also a less brittle material. The impact material resistance of the concrete was greatly improved with the incorporation of the rubber aggregates into the mixture. This increase in the resistance was due to the fact that the energy absorption capacity was improved. The above literature review provides details of the tyre rubber concrete that are characterized by high toughness but low strength and low stiffness. The comparison of the studies points out that the differences in the quality of the product results from the variations in the quality of the gravel and cement used (Zhang et al 2014).
The procedure for attaining particular standards was also a factor for consideration. In all the studies, the replacement has been done by volumes of various percentages. The study that is represented in this paper will review the effects of using fine aggregates of 10% and later replaced by 20% aggregates to produce highly workable high strength rubberized concrete. The crumb size proposed for the study is 2-5mm.For the course aggregates crumb size will be 5-10mm.The research seeks to have a variation of water to cement ratio of 0.2,0.25 and finally 0.3.
References
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