Introductory behavior of rubber concrete

Abstract

This article introduces a new type of concrete, the so-called rubber concrete, and thereupon presents a way of modification of waste rubber to construction articles. The conventional cement concrete is made by mixing cement with sand and pebbles, but the rubber concrete proposed here virtually excludes cement completely. The manufacturing process of rubber concrete can be divided into two methods, which are designated for dry and wet processes, but this article focused just on the dry process. The physical properties of rubber composite increased with the silane treatment of added aggregates, but the volume of the aggregate might not be a critical factor affecting the compressive strength in the range of the aggregate contents used in this study, that is, the interfacial adhesion between the matrix rubber and the aggregates was a key factor to improve the mechanical properties of rubber concrete. The compressive strength of rubber concrete was about 89 MPa and the Poisson's ratio, which is the ratio of compressive-to-tensile strength, was 5.5%. From the viewpoint of the compressive strength and the Poisson's ratio, rubber concrete had better properties than those of conventional cement concrete. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 72: 35–40, 1999