Mechanical properties of concrete with the addition of tire rubber for roadway pavements

Abstract

Brazil is considered a very rich laboratory of tropical soil and climate of great importance to geotechnical engineering and transport infrastructure. Paving consumes an extremely large quantity of materials, being the source of rational application of waste and rejected materials, being natural, altered, processed or modified. The production of waste by tire industry has been a growing problem, indicating the need for research to find out new ways for its reuse. This study deals with the evaluation of the mechanical properties of modified concrete with the addition of rubber fibers provided from tire crushing to be used in roadway pavements. Different concrete traces were produced, within which part of the fine aggregates were substituted by tire rubber in 10%, 20%, 30% and 40% in mass. Material characterization and mechanical experiment testing were performed, which show that, due to the great resistance loss and operational difficulties, the addition of tire rubber in concrete for pavements is not recommended. Key words: reuse, waste, tire rubber, paving, concrete, mechanical properties.