Fracture behaviors of a new steel ber reinforced recycled

aggregate concrete with crumb rubber

Y.C. Guo
a,
, J.H. Zhang
a
, G. Chen
a
, G.M. Chen
a
, Z.H. Xie
b
a
Faculty of Civil and Transportation Engineering, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou, China
b
School of Civil Engineering and Transportation, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, China
h i g h l i g h t s
The fracture behaviors of steel ber-reinforced RA concrete which consists of crumb rubber were investigated.
The effects of rubber content on the fracture behaviors of the RSRAC subjected to different temperatures were analyzed.
The fracture properties were obtained in different temperatures.
The fracture toughness and fracture energy rst increase and then decrease.
The thermal damage increases the fracture energy and CMODc.
a r t i c l e i n f o
Article history:
Received 16 September 2013
Received in revised form 1 November 2013
Accepted 20 November 2013
Available online 18 December 2013
Keywords:
Steel ber reinforced concrete
Recycled aggregate
Crumb rubber
Fracture properties
High temperature
a b s t r a c t
This paper investigated the fracture behaviors of a new Steel ber reinforced Recycled Aggregate Con-
crete which consists of crumb Rubber (RSRAC). The effects of rubber content on the fracture behaviors
of the RSRAC subjected to different temperatures were analyzed. In RSRAC, the steel ber was used to
improve the crack resistance of concrete, and the inclusion of crumb rubber is mainly for environment
protection, energy dissipation and reducing the risk of explosive spalling during exposure to high temper-
atures. A series of concrete mixes were prepared with ordinary Portland cement, recycled coarse aggre-
gates (RCA) or natural coarse aggregates (NCA), steel ber with volume-ratio of 1% and crumb rubber
with different replacement ratios of 0%, 4%, 8%, 12% and 16% for ne aggregate (sand). The fracture prop-
erties, including fracture toughness (K
IC
) and fracture energy (G
F
), of the different concrete mixes sub-
jected to different temperatures (25 C, 200 C, 400 C and 600 C), were obtained through three-point
bending tests on 72 notched beams with sizes of 100 mm 100 mm 515 mm. The results indicated
that both the fracture toughness and fracture energy rst increase and then decrease with increase of
the rubber content; at certain rubber content, the mixes had the highest toughness. The thermal damage
due to heating from 25 C to 600 C also obviously increased the fracture energy and critical crack mouth
opening displacement (CMOD
cri
), but it was not the case for the fracture toughness. It demonstrated that
exposure to high temperature made all cementitious materials tested signicantly more ductile and less
resistant to crack propagation.
2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction
A new type of Steel ber reinforced Recycled Aggregate Con-
crete (RSRAC), which consists of crumb rubber, is a concrete mate-
rial patented by the authors (China invention patent No.: ZL.
201010019345.3). This new material has been coined on the fol-
lowing considerations: (1) the inclusion of recycled concrete aggre-
gate (RCA) and rubber particles is mainly for the environmental
and economic signicance [13], (2) the steel ber and rubber par-
ticles are used to improve the performances of concrete both
before [46] and after [7] exposure to different temperatures, (3)
the advantageous interaction exists between steel-ber and rubber
as mentioned in the literature [810].
Strength, stiffness, toughness and brittleness are the fundamen-
tal mechanical properties of concrete. The changes of these proper-
ties after exposure to high temperatures are of great importance
for the design of concrete structures [11]. It is, thus, more impor-
tant to investigate the mechanical properties of concrete in the
structures subjected to long-term high temperatures. More and
more attentions [12,13] have been paid to the mechanical proper-
ties of concrete at high temperature or the residual properties of
concrete after exposure to high temperatures. Moreover, the com-
pressive properties of RSRAC mixes have already been analyzed
0950-0618/$ - see front matter 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2013.11.075

Corresponding author. Tel.: +86 20 39322538; fax: +86 20 39322511.

E-mail address: guoyc@gdut.edu.cn (Y.C. Guo).
Construction and Building Materials 53 (2014) 3239
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and discussed by the authors, and the relevant achievements have
been reported in a separate paper, which is under review. In addi-
tion, the poor performance of the RCA is associated with the cracks
and ssures formed in processing recycled aggregates, which
makes concrete prepared with RCA suffer brittleness problems
[14]. Therefore, the experimental research on the fracture proper-
ties of RSRAC mixes in this paper is in urgent need.
The fracture properties of concrete signicantly inuence the
structural behavior of concrete components at high temperatures
[11]. Studies on the fracture properties of concrete have recently
attracted more attentions. The fracture energy is dened as the en-
ergy absorbed to create a unit area of fracture surface, representing
the energy dissipation capacity of overall loading process. RILEM
[15] recommended the three-point bending method for determina-
tion of the fracture energy with specimens of notched beams. Me-
nou et al. [16] examined the residual fracture energy of cement
paste, mortar and concrete subjected to high temperature and
found that the thermal damage due to heating from 120 to
400 C increases the fracture energy by 50% compared with the ref-
erence tests at room temperature. Peng et al. [13] conducted an
experimental research to explore the relationship between explo-
sive spalling and the residual fracture properties of concrete ex-
posed to high temperatures; their results showed that the
residual fracture energy increased after heating. Nielsen et al.
[17] also suggested that the damage introduced by a temperature
within 300400 C increased the fracture energy by 50% compared
with the tests at room temperature. Since the fracture toughness
represents the resistance to instable crack propagation, namely
the resistance to brittle fracture, Hisham Abdel-Fattah et al. [18]
experimentally investigated the variation of the residual fracture
toughness of concrete with different temperatures and pointed
out that the residual fracture toughness of concrete decreases with
the increase in temperature.
This paper studies the fracture behaviors properties (including
the fracture energy G
F
and fracture toughness K
IC
) of a new steel -
ber reinforced Recycled Aggregate Concrete (RSRAC) subjected to
different temperatures. From the test results, a preliminary under-
standing of the fracture failure mechanismof RSRAC after exposure
to different temperatures can be achieved. This study may provide
a basis for the further research on RSRAC and its potential
applications.
2. Experimental details
2.1. General
A total of six groups of mixes, named NC-R0, RC-R0, RC-R4, RC-R8, RC-R12 and
RC-R16, were prepared using 100% recycled concrete aggregate (RCA) or natural
concrete aggregate (NCA), 1% steel ber and rubber crumb with varied content
(0%, 4%, 8%, 12% and 16%). Each type of concrete mixes includes 12 cylinders with
dimensions of 150 mm 300 mm (diameter and height) and 12 notched beams
with dimensions of 100 mm 100 mm 515 mm, every three of which were ex-
posed to a temperature (25 C, 200 C, 400 C and 600 C). The proportions and
compressive strengths are presented in Table 1.
Crumb rubber, obtained from waste tires, has an average particle diameter of
14 20 sieve size (i.e. 0.85 1.40 mm according to ASTM-E11-09e1), a specic
gravity of 1.05, and a melting temperature of 170 C. The steel bers were cut
and shaped from steel plate, with a length of 32 mm, an aspect ratio of 45 and a ten-
sile strength of 600 MPa. This type of steel bers, which were made from ordinary
steel, with a melting temperature of 1538 C and a density of 7.82 g/cm
3
, are loose
in form at delivery (Fig. 1). In addition, a commercially available naphthalene-based
super-plasticizer with a solid content of 30% and a water reducing rate of 20% was
used as admixture to achieve slump of the concrete mixes around 150 mm. The
amount of plasticizer was 1.0% by weight of cement based on slump tests according
to BS 1881: Part 102 (1983). Recycled concrete aggregates, crumb rubber and steel
bers are shown in Fig. 1.
2.2. High temperature program
Among 12 cylindrical specimens in each mix, three were tested immediately
after conditioning without being unheated (at the room temperature of 25 C),
the remaining 9 specimens were divided into 3 groups and exposed to 3 tempera-
tures (200 C, 400 C and 600 C) in an electrical furnace, respectively. In the fur-
nace, the specimens were heated at a constant rate of 8 C/min, from the room
temperature to the prescribed temperatures. The temperaturetime curves used
in heating of the test specimens are showed in Fig. 2, which were adopted from
the paper [13]. The target temperature was maintained for 120 min before the elec-
trical furnace was turned off and the specimens were then naturally cooled down to
the room temperature. During the heating period, water was allowed to evaporate
freely.
2.3. Methods of three-point bending tests
A three-point bending method was used in the study to determine the fracture
performance of the new concrete material RSRAC in accordance with the recom-
mendation of RILEM Fracture Mechanics Committee (TC50-FMC) [15]. As showed
in Fig. 3(a), the notched beams used for the three-point bending test had dimen-
sions of 100 mm 100 mm 515 mm and a span of 400 mm; a notch with a depth
of 30 mm (a
0
/h = 0.3) was located in the mid-span place. The test was conducted on
a closed-loop Electro Hydraulic universal testing machine with a 500-kN capacity
and three control modes: load control, displacement control and strain control. In
the study of the fracture properties, a 50-kN load cell with the precision of 1 N
and a 50-mm displacement transducer (LVDT) with the accuracy of 0.01 mm were
applied to obtain the load and deection at the mid-span respectively, while the
crack mouth opening displacement (CMOD) was measured with a 10-mm clip-on
gages with the accuracy of 0.001 mm. All the data were recorded via the synchro-
nous collection system of TDS-530. During the loading process, a constant displace-
ment rate of 0.05 mm/min with the central deection as the control parameter was
applied until the nal failure of the specimen. In addition, a testing strategy used in
the three-point bending method [Fig. 3(b)] was designed to eliminate the negative
effect of compressive plastic deformation on the compressed parts of specimens
(e.g. the pedestal and actuator head) on the measurement. An advantage of the de-
signed testing strategy is that the reference points located on the neutral axis of the
notched beams were applied to measure the mid-span deection in order to re-
move the compressive plastic deformation on the other parts of specimens from
the measured deection. As a result, the measured values are authentic deection
of the tested beams. Both the specially designed testing system and the precision
of measurement ensure the accuracy of the loaddeection (Pd) curves and
load-CMOD (P-CMOD) curves. The specimen and set-up of three-point-bending test
are shown in Fig. 3.
Table 1
Mix proportions and compressive strengths.
Mix Compressive strength (MPa) Mix proportions (unit weight:kg/m
3
)
W/C W OPC S NCA RCA AW SF R WRA
NC-R0 56.52 0.35 170 485 645 1052 78 4.5
RC-R0 51.41 0.35 170 485 645 954 37 78 4.5
RC-R4 49.06 0.35 170 485 625 954 37 78 7.9 4.5
RC-R8 39.41 0.35 170 485 605 954 37 78 15.7 4.5
RC-R12 37.61 0.35 170 485 585 954 37 78 23.6 4.5
RC-R16 35.88 0.35 170 485 565 954 37 78 31.5 4.5
Note: NC = natural concrete, RC = recycled concrete, R0, R4, R8, R12 and R16 for volume substitution ratio of rubber is 0%, 4%, 8%, 12% and16%, W/C = water/cement
ratio(mass), W = water, OPC = ordinary Portland cement, S = sand, NCA = natural coarse aggregate, RCA = recycled concrete aggregate, AW = additional water, SF = steel ber,
R = crumb rubber, WRA = naphthalene-based high-range water-reducing admixture.
Y.C. Guo et al. / Construction and Building Materials 53 (2014) 3239 33
2.4. Determination of the fracture energy
The fracture energy, dened as the total energy dissipated over a unit area of
the cracked ligament, is obtained from the work done by the force (the area under
the loaddeection curve). The fracture energy of the notched beams includes 4
parts (Fig. 4) [11], which can be expressed as:
W W0 W1 W2 W3 2-1
Here, W
0
is the work done by the external force P, (i.e. the enveloping area of the
loaddeection curves) which is recorded by the data acquisition system (DAS); W
1
is the work done by the self-weight of the beams before application of the external
force P, but neglected in this paper as it is extremely small; W
2
and W
3
are the addi-
tional work done during the loading process by the self-weight of the beams, in
which there exists a equation of W2 0:5 mgd0; W
3
, the end part of the curves after
d
0
, cannot be measured in tests. The computational steps of the fracture energy are
as follow:
(1) W0
R
d0
0
Pdd.
(2) W2 0:5mgd0, in which mg (g = 9.81 m/s
2
) is the self-weight of the beams
scaled by S/L of the total weight (hereinafter referred to scaled weight).
(3) Calculating the additional work W
3
done by scaled weight. First, the
descending branch of the loaddeection (Pd) curve is articially extended
by curve-tting based on the power function method[19]:
(a) Recycled concrete aggregates
(b) Crumb rubber
(c) Steel fibers
Fig. 1. Material components.
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
0 50 100 150 200 250 300
Time (min)
T
e
m
p
e
r
a
t
u
r
e

(

C
)
200
400
600
C
C
C
Fig. 2. Temperaturetime curves in heating of the test specimens.
(a) Notched beam of three-point-bending test
(b) Set-up of three-point-bending test
(c) A complete loading system in 500 kN testing machine
Clip-on
Gage
s=400 mm
l=515 mm
57.5 57.5
t=100
h=100
P
a
0
=30 mm
LVDT
Load
Cell
Fig. 3. specimen and set-up of three-point-bending test.
34 Y.C. Guo et al. / Construction and Building Materials 53 (2014) 3239
P bd
k
P0b; k > 0
lnP b k lnd
2-2
(4) The reliability of the tting curves is represented by the reliability coef-
cient, R
2
, and the specic tting parameters (i.e. b, k, R
2
) are listed in Table 2.
Thus, W
3
can be calculated by the following formula (2-3).
W
3

Z
1
d
0
b
d
k
dd
b
k 1d
k1
0
2-3
(5) The real fracture energy of NC-R0 and RSRAC mixes is obtained in accor-
dance to the formula (24) after W
0
, W
2
and W
3
are obtained. Here, A
lig
is
the area of ligament, namely A
lig
= t(h-a
0
).
G
F

W0 W1 W2 W3
A
lig
2-4
The calculated results of the fracture energy of NC-R0 and RSRAC mixes with
various contents of crumb rubber are summarized in Table 2. It should be noted
that no more than one testing curve was rejected as they are signicantly different
from the remaining two. Effective cross-sectional size and non-uniformed distribu-
tion of steel ber contribute to the discreteness. As a result, each listed value is the
average of two or three measurements.
2.5. Determination of the fracture toughness
The fracture toughness (K
IC
) of concrete is another important parameter to de-
scribe the fracture performance of concrete, it reects the ability of concrete mate-
rial to resist crack extension, namely the ability of resisting brittle fracture. The
fracture toughness K
IC
of a concrete material is calculated by formula (25) as in
ASTM E399-74 (American Society for Testing and Material).
K
IC

P
max
S
th
3=2
f
a
h

2-5
where P
max
is the vertical peak load; h, t and S are respectively the height, width and
the span of the specimens (Fig. 3); a
0
is the notch depth; f
a
h
is the geometric shape
factor, calculated by formula (2-6).
f
a
h

2:9
a
h
1=2
4:6
a
h
3=2
21:8
a
h
5=2
37:6
a
h
7=2
38:7
a
h
9=2
2-6
The inclusion of steel ber introduces the anchoring force between steel ber and
concrete matrix, which causes the fracture process zone of steel ber reinforced con-
crete larger than that of plain concrete. The formula of calculating fracture toughness
recommended by ASTM, however, is based on the plain concrete material. The inu-
ence of fracture process zone on adhesive fracture toughness of steel ber reinforced
concrete is included by the replacement of a with the effective crack length a
c
in for-
mula (2-6) [20].The effective crack length (a
c
) was calculated by a
c
= a
0
+ Da
c
. When
the testing load (P) reaches its maximum (P
max
), the crack mouth opening displace-
ment gets its critical value (CMOD
c
), and the real length of pre-crack also develops
from the initial value (a
0
) to the critical effective crack length (a
c
). Hence according
to the linear asymptotic superposition principle, a
c
can be calculated by a LEFM for-
mula (2-7) [21]:
a
c

2
p
h h
0
arctan

tECMOD
c
32:6P
max
0:1135
s
h
0
2-7
where h
0
is the thickness of steel sheet used to set up the clip-on gages on the crack
mouth (i.e. additional thickness); (CMOD)
c
is the critical value of the crack mouth
opening displacement; E is the modulus of rupture, expressed by formula (2-8):
E
1
tc
i
3:70 32:60tan
2

p
2
a0 h0
h h
0

2-8
where ci
CMOD
i
P
i
(case in the table) is a initial value determined at a arbitrary point
(P, CMOD) on the ascent stage of P-CMOD curves (Fig. 6). The calculated parameters
and results of the fracture toughness (K
IC
) of NC-R0 and RSRAC mixes are summa-
rized in Table 3.
3. Results and discussion
The fracture properties of mixes including NC-R0 and RSRAC are
determined by the three-point bending tests on centrally notched
beams (see Fig. 3) according to the RILEM fracture mechanics of
concrete (TC50-FMC) [15]. The measured loaddeection (Pd)
curves and load-crack mouth opening displacement (P-CMOD)
curves are presented in Figs. 5 and 6 respectively.
The fracture energy (G
F
) and fracture toughness (K
IC
) of concrete
mixes are calculated (see Table 4) and analyzed based on Pd and
P-CMOD curves. It should be noted that each value in Table 4 is the
average calculated from two or three specimens in a group.
3.1. Fracture energy
The fracture energy of each concrete mix, including both un-
heated and heated specimens, was shown in Table 4. The effects
W
2
W
0

W
3 W
1
P P
P
max

c
Fig. 4. Determination of fracture energy of concrete by means of three-point
bending method.
Table 2
Parameters of the tted cure and values of the fracture energy.
Specimens a
0
(mm) mg (N) d
0
(mm) b k R
2
W
0
(N m) W
2
(N m) W
3
(N m) A
lig
(m
2
) G
F
(N/m)
NC-R0-T25-1 30.6 91.433 3.345 1.9991 1.1807 0.9746 11.5341 0.1529 8.8944 0.00306 6725.96
NC-R0-T25-3 31.2 92.195 3.498 2.0525 1.1953 0.9789 10.8925 0.1612 8.2295 0.00312 6180.53
Average 6453.24
RC-R0-T25-1 31.4 91.814 5.001 3.2077 2.7761 0.9801 11.3739 0.2296 0.1035 0.00314 3728.35
RC-R0-T25-2 30.8 91.433 3.245 6.5399 7.7801 0.9727 9.5236 0.1484 0.0003 0.00308 3140.35
Average 3434.35
RC-R4-T25-2 31.7 88.766 9.000 2.5172 1.4368 0.9797 17.9374 0.3994 2.2071 0.00317 6480.74
RC-R4-T25-3 29.5 88.385 7.707 1.2241 1.3028 0.9834 16.2312 0.3406 2.1783 0.00295 6355.95
Average 6418.35
RC-R8-T25-1 30.8 86.099 8.851 2.9284 1.3969 0.9845 23.1908 0.3810 3.1052 0.00308 8661.37
RC-R8-T25-2 29.5 86.099 8.392 2.0653 1.3455 0.9814 20.6545 0.3613 2.8664 0.00295 8095.66
RC-R8-T25-3 29.8 85.718 8.958 2.5054 1.3559 0.9856 21.2141 0.3839 3.2259 0.00298 8330.19
Average 8362.41
RC-R12-T25-1 29.6 83.433 9.000 1.9526 1.3523 0.9906 12.8667 0.3754 2.5558 0.00296 5337.13
RC-R12-T25-3 31.6 84.957 9.000 3.0155 1.4515 0.9937 14.0124 0.3823 2.4766 0.00316 5339.03
Average 5338.08
RC-R16-T25-1 30.2 83.052 8.841 2.1846 1.7259 0.9878 10.3178 0.3671 0.6186 0.00302 3742.90
RC-R16-T25-2 31.9 84.195 8.931 2.8587 1.7336 0.9845 11.8971 0.3760 0.7819 0.00319 4092.45
Average 3917.68
Y.C. Guo et al. / Construction and Building Materials 53 (2014) 3239 35
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
Deflection (mm)
L
o
a
d

(
P
,

k
N
)
NC-R0-T25
RC-R0-T25
RC-R4-T25
RC-R8-T25
RC-R12-T25
RC-R16-T25
(a) Load-deflection curves of mixes at room temperature
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
Deflection (mm)
L
o
a
d

(
P
,

k
N
)
NC-R0-T200
RC-R0-T200
RC-R4-T200
RC-R8-T200
RC-R12-T200
RC-R16-T200
(b) Load-deflection curves of mixes exposed to 200 C
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
Deflection (mm)
L
o
a
d

(
P
,

k
N
)
NC-R0-T400
RC-R0-T400
RC-R4-T400
RC-R8-T400
RC-R12-T400
RC-R16-T400
(c) Load-deflection curves of mixes exposed to 400 C
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
Deflection (mm)
L
o
a
d

(
P
,

k
N
)
NC-R0-T600
RC-R0-T600
RC-R4-T600
RC-R8-T600
RC-R12-T600
RC-R16-T600
(d) Load-deflection curves of mixes exposed to 600 C
Fig. 5. Measured loaddeection curves of mixes.
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
CMOD (mm)
L
o
a
d

(
P
,

k
N
)
NC-R0-T400
RC-R0-T400
RC-R4-T400
RC-R8-T400
RC-R12-T400
RC-R16-T400
(c) Load-CMOD curves of mixes exposed to 400 C
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
CMOD (mm)
L
o
a
d

(
P
,

k
N
)
NC-R0-T600
RC-R0-T600
RC-R4-T600
RC-R8-T600
RC-R12-T600
RC-R16-T600
(d) Load-CMOD curves of mixes exposed to 600 C
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
CMOD (mm)
L
o
a
d

(
P
,

k
N
)
NC-R0-T25
RC-R0-T25
RC-R4-T25
RC-R8-T25
RC-R12-T25
RC-R16-T25
(a) Load-CMOD curves of mixes at room temperature
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
CMOD (mm)
L
o
a
d

(
P
,

k
N
)
NC-R0-T200
RC-R0-T200
RC-R4-T200
RC-R8-T200
RC-R12-T200
RC-R16-T200
(b) Load-CMOD curves of mixes exposed to 200
Fig. 6. Measured Load-CMOD curves of mixes.
36 Y.C. Guo et al. / Construction and Building Materials 53 (2014) 3239
of temperature and rubber content on the fracture energy of con-
crete mixes were shown in Fig. 7(a and b), respectively. It can be
seen from Table 4 and Fig. 7(a) that, the temperature has remark-
able effects on the fracture energy of concrete mixes. Averagely
speaking, the fracture energy of the concrete mixes increases
1.80 times after exposure to 200 C, which further increases 2.81
and 2.78 times after exposure to 400 C and 600 C respectively.
This was consistent with the results of Peng et al. [13], Menou
et al. [16] and Nielsen et al. [17] on the fracture energy. Exposure
to high temperature, on the one hand, may degrade the compres-
sive strength of concrete mixes for the severe thermal decomposi-
tion (see Table 4); on the other hand, it can improve the fracture
properties, especially the fracture energy [see Fig. 7(a)]. The main
mechanism responsible for this observation is that thermal dam-
age makes the cracks develop along a tortuous rather than a sharp
routine as at room temperature [16], which dissipates more
energy.
It should be noted that the fracture energy gradually becomes
at when the temperature exceeded 400 C [see Fig. 7(a)]. The frac-
ture energy of several concrete mixes (e.g. NC-R0, RC-R4 and RC-
R8) slightly decreases, while the others kept rising with the tem-
perature increasing from 400 C to 600 C.
Table 3
Parameters and values of fracture toughness of mixes.
Specimens a
0
(mm) C
i
(lm/KN) h
0
(mm) mg (N) P
max
(kN) d
c
(mm) CMODc (mm) E (Gpa) a
c
(mm) K
IC
(MPa m
1/2
)
NC-R0-T25-1 30.6 6.925 1.45 91.433 6.021 0.372 0.118 19.143 49.867 2.036
NC-R0-T25-3 31.2 7.138 1.45 92.195 6.545 0.423 0.158 19.176 53.579 2.502
Average 2.269
RC-R0-T25-1 31.4 6.947 1.45 91.814 6.192 0.652 0.301 19.914 65.491 3.701
RC-R0-T25-2 30.8 6.996 1.45 91.433 5.653 0.482 0.343 19.152 68.107 3.764
Average 3.732
RC-R4-T25-2 31.7 7.086 1.45 88.766 6.521 0.514 0.408 19.839 69.015 4.504
RC-R4-T25-3 29.5 6.971 1.45 88.385 6.385 0.448 0.319 17.934 64.340 3.641
Average 4.073
RC-R8-T25-1 30.8 7.752 1.45 86.099 6.821 0.591 0.435 17.284 67.366 4.397
RC-R8-T25-2 29.5 6.978 1.45 86.099 6.778 0.608 0.412 17.916 67.194 4.338
RC-R8-T25-3 29.8 7.563 1.45 85.718 7.065 0.791 0.378 16.797 64.385 4.033
Average 4.256
RC-R12-T25-1 29.6 7.219 1.45 83.433 5.261 0.358 0.345 17.410 67.861 3.467
RC-R12-T25-3 31.6 6.989 1.45 84.957 5.662 0.386 0.371 20.007 69.753 4.037
Average 3.752
RC-R16-T25-1 30.2 6.945 1.45 83.052 5.079 0.502 0.323 18.685 68.417 3.426
RC-R16-T25-2 31.9 7.139 1.45 84.195 6.074 0.531 0.302 19.903 65.814 3.676
Average 3.551
Table 4
The experimental and calculated results of three-point bending tests.
Results NC-R0-T25 RC-R0-T25 RC-R4-T25 RC-R8-T25 RC-R12-T25 RC-R16-T25
(a) The experimental and calculated results of mixes at 25 C
Compressive strength/(MPa) 56.52 51.41 49.06 39.41 37.61 35.88
P
max
/(kN) 6.283 5.923 6.453 6.922 5.462 5.577
d
C
/(mm) 0.398 0.567 0.481 0.699 0.372 0.517
CMOD
C
/(mm) 0.138 0.322 0.364 0.395 0.358 0.313
G
F
/(N/m) 6453.24 3434.35 6418.35 8362.41 5338.08 3917.68
K
IC
/(MPa m
1/2
) 2.269 3.732 4.073 4.256 3.746 3.551
Results NC-R0-T200 RC-R0-T200 RC-R4-T200 RC-R8-T200 RC-R12-T200 RC-R16-T200
(b) The experimental and calculated results of mixes at 200 C
Compressive strength/(MPa) 45.66 43.55 40.44 34.54 32.15 31.18
P
max
/(kN) 5.416 5.929 5.247 5.781 5.126 4.903
d
C
/(mm) 0.672 0.982 1.051 1.061 1.077 0.741
CMOD
C
/(mm) 0.379 1.033 0.821 0.843 0.675 0.457
G
F
/(N/m) 8552.75 7127.89 9571.71 16544.98 13490.84 5740.96
K
IC
/(MPa m
1/2
) 2.219 3.470 3.730 3.723 3.190 2.952
Results NC-R0-T400 RC-R0-T400 RC-R4-T400 RC-R8-T400 RC-R12-T400 RC-R16-T400
(c) The experimental and calculated results of mixes at 400 C
Compressive strength/(MPa) 24.71 28.64 26.21 19.71 17.61 17.17
P
max
/(kN) 5.315 6.468 6.294 6.782 6.269 5.819
d
C
/(mm) 1.445 1.270 1.550 1.227 1.405 1.445
CMOD
C
/(mm) 1.261 1.141 1.349 1.123 0.974 1.182
G
F
/(N/m) 16695.00 15412.22 18230.00 18095.25 14027.35 12755.09
K
IC
/(MPa m
1/2
) 3.344 3.861 4.344 3.317 2.203 2.089
Results NC-R0-T600 RC-R0-T600 RC-R4-T600 RC-R8-T600 RC-R12-T600 RC-R16-T600
(d) The experimental and calculated results of mixes at 600 C
Compressive strength/(MPa) 16.28 10.98 12.79 10.21 8.31 8.28
P
max
/(kN) 4.846 6.311 6.545 6.191 6.080 5.970
d
C
/(mm) 1.155 1.155 1.611 1.870 2.105 1.920
CMOD
C
/(mm) 0.903 1.032 1.514 1.046 1.402 1.476
G
F
/(N/m) 16095.19 16176.88 16585.55 16683.09 15092.3 13763.07
K
IC
/(MPa m
1/2
) 2.600 3.114 3.768 3.373 3.513 3.578
Y.C. Guo et al. / Construction and Building Materials 53 (2014) 3239 37
It can be seen from Table 4 and Fig. 7(b) that, for the concrete
specimens after exposure to high temperatures except for 600 C,
a full replacement of NCA by RCA only results in a clear decrease
in the fracture energy, as the descending branch of P-CMOD curves
for the mixes prepared with RCA drops faster after peak load (see
Fig. 6). When the rubber content increased from 4% to 16%, the
fracture energy rst increased and then decreased with increase
of rubber content, with RC-R8 having the highest fracture energy
at the high temperatures, indicating that an appropriate rubber
content enhances the energy absorption capacity of the concrete
but too much rubber may have a negative effect on the energy
absorption capacity. Thus, to effectively improve of the energy
absorption capacity of concrete mixes (both unheated and heated
specimens), an appropriate amount of rubber should be selected.
3.2. Fracture toughness
The effects of temperature and rubber content on the fracture
toughness of concrete mixes were shown in Fig. 8(a and b), respec-
tively. It can be seen from Table 4 and Fig. 8(a) that the fracture
toughness of the concretes mixes changes obviously after exposure
to a high temperature. However, with the different replacement ra-
tios of crumb rubber, the inuences of temperature on the fracture
toughness of the concretes mixes are not consistent. For RC-R8, RC-
R12 and RC-R16 specimens, the fracture energy rst decreased and
then increased with increase of rubber content, with the fracture
toughness being smallest at the temperature 400 C [see
Fig. 8(a)]. For other groups of specimens, the fracture toughness
of the concretes mixes changed in a different trend, this may be
caused by the non-uniform distribution of the steel ber in the
crack surface and worth of a separate investigation.
It can be seen from Table 4 and Fig. 8(b) that a full replacement
of NCA by RCA leads to a signicant increase in the fracture tough-
ness, and that the concrete mixes with RCA have high resistance to
brittle fracture. It is well known that the concrete strength depends
on the strength of the cement paste, the aggregates and the inter-
facial bond between the cement paste and the aggregates [22]. For
concrete mixes prepared with natural aggregates and recycled
aggregates, the difference in the peak stress and fracture toughness
might be related to the strength of the interfacial bond. During
vibration, the water inside the cement paste may move to the recy-
cled aggregates due to their high water absorption capacity, creat-
ing a relatively high w/c value in the vicinity of recycled
aggregates. As a result, a stronger bond might be formed between
the cement paste and RCA. It is also noted that when the rubber
content increases from 4% to 16%, the fracture toughness rst in-
creases and then decreases with increase of rubber content, with
RC-R4 or RC-R8, having the highest fracture toughness [see
Fig. 8(b)], which indicates that an appropriate rubber content im-
proves the resistance to brittle fracture of the concrete mixes but
too much rubber content may have a negative effect on the resis-
tance to brittle fracture.
0
2000
4000
6000
8000
10000
12000
14000
16000
18000
20000
25 200 400 600
Temperatures
F
r
a
c
t
u
r
e

e
n
e
r
g
y

(
N
/
m
)
NC-R0
RC-R0
RC-R4
RC-R8
RC-R12
RC-R16
(a) Effects of temperature on the fracture energy
0
2000
4000
6000
8000
10000
12000
14000
16000
18000
20000
NC-R0 RC-R0 RC-R4 RC-R8 RC-R12 RC-R16
Mix
F
r
a
c
t
u
r
e

e
n
e
r
g
y

(
N
/
m
)
T25
T200
T400
T600
(b) Effects of rubber content on the fracture energy
Fig. 7. Effects of temperature and rubber content on the fracture energy.
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
3.0
3.5
4.0
4.5
5.0
25 200 400 600
Temperatures
NC-R0
RC-R0
RC-R4
RC-R8
RC-R12
RC-R16
(a) Effects of temperature on the fracture
toughness
1.5
2.0
2.5
3.0
3.5
4.0
4.5
NC-R0 RC-R0 RC-R4 RC-R8 RC-R12 RC-R16
Mix
F
r
a
c
t
u
r
e

t
o
u
g
h
n
e
s
s

(
M
P
a

m
1
/
2
)
T25
T200
T400
T600
(b) Effects of rubber content on the fracture
toughness
F
r
a
c
t
u
r
e

t
o
u
g
h
n
e
s
s

(
M
P
a

m
1
/
2
)
Fig. 8. Effects of temperature and rubber content on the fracture toughness.
38 Y.C. Guo et al. / Construction and Building Materials 53 (2014) 3239
4. Conclusions
In this paper, a series of three-point bending tests on notched
beams of 100 mm 100 mm 515 mm were conducted in accor-
dance to the recommendation of RILEM. The fracture energy and
fracture toughness were calculated and the effects of heating and
rubber contents on them were analyzed. The following conclusions
can be drawn from this research:
(1) A severe degradation of compressive strength has been
found for all concrete mixes after exposure to high temper-
atures, however, averagely the fracture energy of the con-
crete mixes increased 1.80 times after exposure to 200 C,
further increased to 2.81 and 2.78 times after exposure to
400 C and 600 C respectively. This indicates that the
energy dissipation capacity of concrete mixes increases as
the temperatures rise, which is opposite to the trend of the
compressive strength.
(2) The main mechanism responsible for the increase in the
fracture energy is that, the thermal damage makes the
cracks develop in a more tortuous routine rather than
sharp one as at room temperature, which dissipates more
energy.
(3) A full replacement of NCA by RCA results in an evident
decrease in the fracture energy, as after the peak load the
descending part of the fracture energy for the concrete
mixes prepared with RCA dropped faster. The fracture
energy rst increased and then decreased with increase of
rubber content from 0% to 16%, with RC-R8 having the high-
est fracture energy at high temperatures.
(4) The fracture energy represents the energy dissipation capac-
ity of concrete mixes, while the fracture toughness reects
resistance to brittle fracture of concrete mixes. A full
replacement of NCA by RCA leads to a signicant increase
in the fracture toughness. While the rubber content
increased from 4% to 16%, the fracture toughness rst
increased and then decreased with increase of rubber con-
tent, with RC-R4 or RC-R8 having the highest fracture
toughness.
(5) Appropriate rubber content increases the ductility of the
concrete mixes but too much rubber may have a negative
effect on the ductility of the concrete mixes.
Acknowledgments
The authors gratefully acknowledge the nancial support
provided by the National Natural Science Foundation (Project
Nos. 51278132, 11372076), and Science and Technology Planning
Project of Guangdong Province (2011B010400024), Technology
Planning Project of Huangpu District (201356) and Foundation of
Guangdong Provincial Department of Transport (Project Nos.
2013-02-017, 2013-04-006).
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