Electrical Resistivity of Crumb Rubber Concrete (CRC) exposed to coastal zone- An Experimental Investigation

Abstract

Electrical resistivity is a material property that can be used for analysis of concrete durability and also can be used to determine early age characteristic of fresh concrete. Electrical resistivity has developed as a new form of non-destructive testing technique. In this study, an experimental study is carried out to determine the electrical resistivity of crumb rubber concrete exposed to normal and coastal environment. Crumb rubber concrete (CRC) is a concrete in which sand is replaced with fine rubber crumb obtained by shredding of waste vehicle tires. In this study, sand was replaced up-to 15% in multiples of 2.5% and then a set of samples were kept for curing and exposure in normal environment and other set of samples were exposed to coastal environment along the coast of Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. The result obtained indicated that CRC samples showed lower electrical resistivity in the initial days and then resistivity increased at later stages. Chloride ingression test was also conducted on the samples which indicated that crumb rubber concrete showed better resistance to chloride ion penetration. Overall, the result analysis expressed that samples exposed to coastal zone showed lower resistivity, and CRC samples in case of both curing methods and exposure cases showed better resistivity to electrical conduction and chloride ingression than normal concrete samples. So as CRC shows better durability properties than normal concrete, it can be opted as a choice for concrete structures in coastal areas.