Experimental and mesoscopic investigation of self-compacting rubberized concrete under dynamic splitting tension

Abstract

Self-compacting rubberized concrete (SCRC) has gained extensive investigations due to its good impact resistance and environmental friendliness, while the dynamic splitting tensile properties of SCRC are seldom studied. In this study, river sand in SCRC was replaced by three rubber volume fractions (5%, 10%, 15%). The experiments indicated that the static compressive strength, static tensile strength, elastic modulus and dynamic splitting tensile strength declined with the increase of rubber content. The dynamic splitting tensile strength, dynamic increase factor (DIF) and failure mode of SCRC were sensitive to strain rate. SCRC with a higher rubber volume had a greater DIF. The critical strain rate of different SCRC was obtained by piecewise fitting, which decreased with the enhancement of rubber content. Meanwhile, a three-dimensional mesoscopic model of SCRC was established. The rubber particles were generated by a random polyhedron algorithm and randomly thrown into the sample by the take and place algorithm. The numerical calculation suggested that the mesoscopic model could exhibit the fracture process of SCRC under high strain rates. The propagation of cracks bypassed the rubber particles and produced a mass of branch cracks under high strain rates, dissipating a large amount of energy and elevating the DIF, which is consistent with the macroscopic failure pattern. In addition, the effect of strain rate and rubber volume on DIF was discussed combined with the mesoscopic model.