Abstract
This work describes a statistical analysis of the mechanical properties of cementitious composites made with recycled rubber inclusions for sustainable structural applications. The rubber particles from recycled tyres were used as replacement of quartz inclusions in the mortars. A full factorial design (7122) was performed to investigate the effect provided by the rubber particles size and fraction on the physical and mechanical properties of the cementitious composites. The results show that the use of rubber particles reduces the overall density, compressive strength and modulus of elasticity, and increases the apparent porosity, water absorption and permeability. Large pores in the composites are present when large size particles are used. The low water/cement ratio adopted in this work did not allow a full hydration of the cementitious phase, which further reduced the overall mechanical performance. Some cementitious composite configurations have however shown acceptable mechanical properties for non-structural applications in civil engineering.
Highlights
The rate of growth of the construction industry in developing countries causes a progressive depletion of available natural raw building materials
The results show that the use of rubber particles reduces the overall density, compressive strength and modulus of elasticity, and increases the apparent porosity, water absorption and permeability
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this current paper describes one of the first attempts to use a robust design of experiment (DoE) approach to investigate the effect of scrap tyre rubber particles on the physical and mechanical properties of mortar for civil engineering applications
Summary
The rate of growth of the construction industry in developing countries causes a progressive depletion of available natural raw building materials. A significant effort has been made by the R&D community to develop new sustainable materials with good mechanical performance and relatively low manufacturing cost. The reuse of different solid wastes as aggregates for concrete and mortar is an example of those new classes of building materials. Among the solid waste produced in the transport industry, scrap tyres constitute a clear example of a product with significant impact to the environment. A small part is recycled, but millions of tyres are just stockpiled, landfilled or buried (Pacheco-Torgal et al 2012). Since European Union directives have banned the disposal of used tyres (whole and shredded) in landfills, there is a real and urgent need to identify routes for reuse or recycling of the scrapped tyre rubber (WRAP 2007)
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