Effectiveness of surface treatment on rubber particles towards compressive strength of rubber concrete: A numerical study on rubber-cement interface

Abstract

• Surface modification methods on rubber are employed and compared. • Steered molecular dynamics simulations of rubber-SCA-cement interface are performed. • Peridynamics models of rubber mortar are developed. • Novel reinforcing method with compressive casting is proposed. Waste rubber can be added to concrete for recycling if the addition does not reduce mechanical properties of the concrete significantly. The reduction in mechanical properties of rubber concrete can be alleviated via surface treatment of the added rubber particles, which modifies the interface between cement and rubber particles. Effectiveness of the modification for compressive strength of rubber concrete is evaluated through experiments, peridynamics and molecular dynamics studies. Upper bound of the positive effect of the surface treatment for compressive strength is predicted, which can be achieved by using silane coupling agents. On top of the surface treatment, novel modification methods for rubber concrete like improvement of mechanical properties of rubber particles and of casting method are envisioned.