Influence of Tire Chip Size on The Behavior of Rubberized Concrete

Abstract

Performance of plain concrete with partial replacement of coarse aggregate by rubber chips derived from the waste tire is taken into consideration and an attempt is made to investigate the influence of rubber size on strength, workability, and durability. Four different size ranges of tire chips such as 4.75-9.5 mm, 9.5-12.5 mm, 12.5-19 mm, and 19-25 mm are used to replace stone aggregates of corresponding sizes. A 7.5% replacement of coarse aggregate is made each time. Concrete of three different grades such as C20/25, C25/30, and C30/35 are considered. For every concrete grade, compressive strength is reduced with the addition of tire chips, but less strength loss is observed for the smaller-sized tire chips. Therefore, the best size is found to be 4.75-9.5 mm yielding a compressive strength 8.33%-18.48% (for different concrete grades) lower than that of corresponding control specimens. The workability of each mix based on slump value is found to increase with larger tire chip size. The durability inspection by acid curing reveals that 4.75-9.5 mm rubber performs best with a minimal strength reduction of 8.99%-16.38% as compared to the same specimen subjected to conventional water curing. Strength degradation is found to be more severe in the cases of the control specimen with lower strength.