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Construction and Building Materials 152 (2017) 414–423

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Construction and Building Materials


journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/conbuildmat

Fracture characteristics of plain and steel fibre reinforced rubberized


concrete
Ahmed Tareq Noaman a,b, B.H. Abu Bakar a,⇑, Hazizan Md. Akil c, A.H. Alani a
a
School of Civil Engineering, Engineering Campus, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 14300 Nibong Tebal, Penang, Malaysia
b
University of Anbar, College of Engineering, Department of Dams and Water Resources Engineering, Main Campus, Ramadi, Anbar, Iraq
c
School of Materials and Mineral Resources Engineering, Engineering Campus, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 14300 Nibong Tebal, Penang, Malaysia

h i g h l i g h t s

 Rubberized mixes prepared by inclusion of a blend of crumb rubber aggregate as a partial replacement of sand in plain and steel fibre concrete.
 An instigation of the fracture toughness properties of steel fibre reinforced rubberized concrete is presented considering various ratios of crumb rubber
aggregate blend.
 The addition of the crumb rubber aggregates considerably develops the fracture energy of plain concrete up to 246%, particularly with the hooked-end
steel fibre.
 Furthermore, the elastic–plastic fracture toughness parameter significantly increases with the rubber increase.
 Based on obtained results, the crumb rubber aggregate ratio should not be more than 20% by replacement of sand volume.

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: This study investigates the effect of recycled crumb rubber aggregates on the fracture characteristics of
Received 11 May 2016 both plain concrete (PC) and steel fibre concrete (SFC) as a potential solution of the problem of discarded
Received in revised form 20 June 2017 tires and due to the capacity of rubber aggregates to absorb high fracture energy. The variables consid-
Accepted 20 June 2017
ered in the experimental work are the concrete type (i.e., plain and steel fibre concrete) and the crumb
Available online 10 July 2017
rubber aggregate content as replacement ratios (i.e., 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, and 25%) by volume of sand.
The steel fibre used is a hooked-end fibre with an aspect ratio of 80 and a diameter of 0.75 mm with a
Keywords:
constant volume of 0.5%. The mechanical properties, fracture energy, stress intensity factor, critical strain
Rubberized concrete
Crumb rubber aggregate
energy release rate, elasticplastic fracture toughness parameter, and characteristic length of plain and
Fracture energy steel fibre reinforced rubberized concrete are considered herein. Results show enhanced fracture charac-
Fracture toughness teristics induced by the crumb rubber inclusion in plain concrete. Further enhancement was observed by
CMOD combination of steel fibre and crumb rubber aggregate in concrete. In addition to promote healthy envi-
ronment using recycling waste tires.
Ó 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction studies have been conducted to assist the production of cement


and concrete composites using waste tire products [2–7]. Despite
Rapid increase in population has led to an increased amount of the decrease in a few mechanical properties (e.g., compressive
disposed solid wastes (e.g., rubber and plastic) that may not and tensile stresses), Topcu [8] recommended the possible applica-
degrade over the years. Thus, recycling these materials has become tions of rubberized concrete in architecture, road jersey barriers,
a necessity, particularly with their expected huge increase in the and wall panels for impact resistance and sound absorption. Fur-
coming years. By 2030, the number of end-of-life tires will be thermore, rubberized concrete beams showed improved ductility
1.2 billion with at least 50% discarded as stockpiling or junk [1]. by enhancement of the flexibility and energy absorption capacity
One solution for this problem is to reuse these materials in con- of the ordinary concrete [9]. Many researchers have also observed
crete mixing and production of cementitious composites. Several improvement in toughness [10–12] with the inclusion of crumb
rubber aggregate in plain concrete. Gesoglu et al. [13] stated that
the fracture energy was improved by 35% at 15% replacement ratio
⇑ Corresponding author.
of fine aggregate by crumb rubber. After this replacement ratio, a
E-mail address: cebad@usm.my (B.H. Abu Bakar).

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2017.06.127
0950-0618/Ó 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
A.T. Noaman et al. / Construction and Building Materials 152 (2017) 414–423 415

slight decline in the fracture energy was observed due to the drop concrete (PRC) and steel fibre-reinforced rubberized concrete
in the maximum load while simultaneous increase in the final dis- (SFRRC) have been experimentally evaluated.
placement was ineffectual. Taha et al. [14] showed an improve-
ment in fracture energy by incorporation of rubber chips as 2. Experimental program
partial replacement for the aggregate. The peak value of the frac-
ture energy (Gf) was at 25% content, thereby resulting in an 2.1. Materials
enhanced absorbed energy and fracture criterion compared with
The controlled concrete plain mix designed in this study provided a compres-
the plain concrete (PC). Accordingly, investigations have recom- sive strength of 40 MPa at 28 days. The materials used are ordinary Portland cement
mended limiting the content of the crumb rubber aggregates by (OPC) type 1 with relative density of 3.15. The coarse aggregate was crushed stone
up to 10% of the volume of the fine and coarse rubber aggregates with bulk density of 1550 kg/m3 and maximum size of 14 mm. Fine aggregate was
to considerably develop fracture energy and decrease the bending natural river sand with relative density of 2.64 and fineness modulus of 3.42.
Absorption and moisture content of the natural sand were 0.9% and 3%, respec-
strength reduction [14]. However, using rubber from shredded
tively. The maximum particle size is 4.95 mm. Sieve analysis was conducted for
tires with steel belt wires is better than those without steel belt coarse and fine aggregate to obtain gradation curves as illustrated in Fig. 1.
wires [15]. Zheng et al. [16] used ground-type rubber with small To produce plain rubberized concrete mixtures, crumb rubber recycled from
particle sizes of 2.62 mm and rubber chips crushed from shredded waste tires and grinded to attain the desired size was used. The rubber aggregate
tires with particle sizes from 15 mm to 40 mm consisting of steel classified into three groups (0.3–0.85) mm, (0.85–1.18) mm and (1.18–2.36) mm,
(see Fig. 2), the three groups were blended together with ratios of 10%, 20% and
belt wires. An unlimited increase in the damping ratio when rub- 70%, respectively. The overall blend relative density is 0.73. The particles size distri-
ber chips are combined with steel belts is observed when the con- bution of the crumb rubber blend was conducted using ASTM D5644 [27] (see
tent of the coarse aggregates replacement increased up to 30%. Guo Fig. 3). Steel fibre (hooked end bundled) with aspect ratio of 80 and diameter
et al. [17] presented a combination with steel fibre to improve the 0.75 mm (see Fig. 2) with a tensile strength of 1100 MPa and a specific gravity of
7.85 were used to develop steel fibre concrete mixtures. To adjust the workability
fracture toughness of the recycled concrete aggregates. Their
of steel fibre mixes, superplasticizer (SP) was used with specific gravity of 1.06.
investigation focused on the effects of rubber content on the frac-
ture behaviour of specimens subjected to different high tempera-
2.2. Mixtures
tures. The crumb rubber in their study aimed to reduce
environmental risk and increase energy dissipation during high Five modified PRC with 0.47 w/c ratio were prepared in addition to PC and steel
exposure with a relief of the spalling damage caused by high tem- fibre concrete (SFC) mixes. The design slump was 35–65 mm. Table 1 shows the
peratures. The steel fibre was used to reduce crack propagation and mixing proportions with steel fibre volume of 0.5%. The crumb aggregate rubber
was used as a partial replacement for the fine aggregates (sand) by replacing a spec-
increase flexural tensile strength. Their results revealed that both
ified volume at five replacement levels (i.e., 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, and 25%). Similar
fracture toughness and flexural fracture energy increased up to replacement ratios were considered to prepare another five SFRRC mixes. Table 1
the optimum content of the crumb rubber, that is, between 4% shows the details of the concrete mixtures.
and 8% by volume. The crumb rubber was presented in the same table by three groups (i.e., 0.3–
0.85 mm, 0.85–1.18 mm, and 1.18–2.36 mm), whereas the final quantity used in
In general, the combination of steel fibre and crumb rubber
mixing expressed their total. After mixing by trial and error, the following proce-
aggregates indicated an improved performance [18–20]. The brittle dures were selected to obtain the final mixtures. The coarse and fine aggregates
behaviour of concrete led to the inclusion of steel fibre. Steel fibre were first blended together for approximately 2 min, and a specified amount of
concrete has been used in many applications, such as pavements crumb rubber (i.e., depending on the mix type) was added to the blend (Fig. 4(a)).
and overlays, with unlimited applications [21]. An improvement Thereafter, cement was added to the dry constituent. All these components were
mixed for 2 min. Water was subsequently added and mixed for 3 min. For the mixes
in the toughness in the post-peak zone of plain cement materials
with steel fibre, water and superplasticizer were added in two stages (each was
could be achieved even with the addition of small fibre volumetric mixed for 2 min). Steel fibre was sprinkled while mixing for at least 4 min (Fig. 4
ratios because of the bridging capacity affordable at the crack tips (b)).
[22]. Naaman and Reinhardt [23] reported this finding. Apart from Each batch was cast into three cubes (100 mm) and three cylindrical moulds
(100 mm  170 mm) (i.e., diameter  height) to be used in the compressive and
these properties, the combination with rubber aggregates also led
splitting tensile strength tests. Six beams with (100  100  480) mm (i.e.,
to an improvement in the strain capacity of cement-based materi- depth  width  length) dimensions were cast for each batch, compacted using
als, which is an essential characteristic in improving durability
[24]. Turatsinze et al. [25] showed that rubber inclusion did not
affect the residual post-peak bearing capacity offered by fibre rein- 100
forcement. Instead, they observed a significant increase in the Coarse aggregate
strain capacity (approximately 2.5 times by inclusion of 30% rubber 90
aggregate) of the cementitious composites. Nguyen et al. [26] con- Fine aggregate
80
firmed this result. They determined that strain capacity was signif-
icantly enhanced before the macro-cracking initiation of the steel 70
fibre-reinforced rubberized mortar.
Although numerous studies have focused on the fracture energy 60
Passing %

of rubberized concrete, research related to the fracture toughness


of fibre-reinforced rubberized concrete is still lacking. Accordingly, 50
the effect of including crumb rubber aggregates in a form of a
40
blended mixture, with three different sizes, as a partial replace-
ment of sand by volume at different replacement ratios (i.e., 5%, 30
10%, 15%, 20%, and 25%) was investigated. Furthermore, similar
replacement ratios were incorporated into a steel fibre concrete 20
mix with 0.5% by volume of steel fibre content to obtain an
10
improved understanding of the cumulative effect of crumb rubber
aggregates and hooked-end steel fibre on fracture toughness. The 0
load–deflection curves, load–crack mouth opening displacement 0.1 1 10
(CMOD) curves, fracture energy (Gf), stress intensity factor (KIC), Sieve size (mm)
Young’s modulus (E), critical strain energy release rate (GIC), J-
integral (JIC), and characteristic length (lch) of the plain rubberized Fig. 1. Grading curves of sand and coarse aggregate.
416 A.T. Noaman et al. / Construction and Building Materials 152 (2017) 414–423

2.3. Testing procedures

Compressive strength tests were performed on three 100 mm cubes of 28 days


age. The test was conducted using 1000 kN ELE hydraulic machine according to
(British Standards) BS 1160: 118 [28]. The results were calculated as the average
of the load measured divided by the cube area for the three specimens. Splitting
tensile tests were conducted on three (100  170) mm (diameter  height) cylin-
ders according to ASTM C496 [29] requirements. The tests were performed at the
28th day of curing. The splitting strength was calculated according to the following
equation:

rt ¼ 2P=pDL ð1Þ

where:
rt = split-tensile stress (N/mm2)
P = Load (N)
D = Diameter of specimen (100 mm)
L = length of specimen (mm)

Fig. 2. Crumb rubber aggregate and steel fibre used in this study.
The flexural strength of the un-notched specimens was calculated using three-
point bending test according to RILEM 50-FMC [30]. Eq. (2) is used to determine the
flexural stress:
2
F t ¼ 3Pmax L=2bd ð2Þ
2
Ft = Flexural tensile stress (N/mm )
P = Maximum applied load indicated by the static testing machine (N)
L = Span length (mm)
b and d are width and depth of the beam, respectively, (mm)

The three-point bending method was adopted in this study in accordance to the
requirements of RILEM 50-FMC [29] and the method proposed by Karihaloo [31].
The notched beams used in this study have dimensions of
(100  1100  480 mm) with span length of 400 mm and notch depth 50 mm and
width of 4 mm located in the mid-span position. The experimental setup is shown
in Fig. 5. The test setup consists of hydraulic testing machine, Shimadzu, AUTO-
GRAPH AG-X (100 kN), to measure the applied loads via time and displacements
at the centre of the beam. Simultaneously, a data logger connected to a laptop to
measure the crack mouth opening displacement (CMOD) of the notched specimens
using a clip gauge. Loading rate was selected to reach the maximum value after
1 min which confirms to the requirements of RILEM (the peak load is reached in
approximately 30–60 s which corresponds to a loading rate of 5  106 m/s) as rec-
ommended by Malvar and Warren [32].
Following the analysis of Reda et al. [13] and Al-Tayeb et al. [33], the fracture
characteristics include the load–deflection curves, load–CMOD curves, Gf, KIC, E,
GIC, and lch of PRC and the SFRRC.
The fracture energy Gf is defined as the total energy absorbed by the material
until fracture occurs, the expression of Gf have been reported elsewhere
[14,17,30,32–35]:
Fig. 3. Particle size distribution of crumb rubber aggregate.
W N þ mgdf
Gf ¼ ðN=mÞ ð3Þ
ðd  aÞb

vibrating table, and directly wrapped with plastic sheet after casting. The speci- Z PFN

mens were left covered in the casting room for 24 h at 21 ± 2 °C. The specimens WN ¼ PiN dd ðkN mmÞ ð4Þ
0
were demoulded after the first day of casting, and kept in the curing tank until test-
ing. For the fracture test, three specimens of each type (i.e., notched and un- where WN represents the area under load deflection curve for the notched speci-
notched) were prepared for each mixture. The notched beams were prepared using mens, mg self-weight of the beam (g = 9.81 m/s2), a = notch depth = 50 mm in this
a carbide saw with 50 mm depth and 4 mm width. The appearance of the steel fibre study, df is the total deflection measured at the final failure of the beam (mm),
batches with crumb rubber at fresh stage is shown in Fig. 4(c). and PFN is the load measured at the failure of the notched beams.

Table 1
Mixing proportions (in kilograms for 1 m3).

Mix Cement Sand Coarse aggregate Water Steel fibre Crumb rubber SP
0.3–0.85 0.85–1.18 1.18–2.36
PC 430 814 907 210 – – – – –
SFC 430 814 907 210 40 – – – 1.5
PRC05 430 771 907 210 – 1.2 2.2 7.7 –
PRC10 430 730 907 210 – 2.3 4.6 15.9 –
PRC15 430 690 907 210 – 3.4 6.8 23.5 –
PRC20 430 670 907 210 – 4.5 9.0 31.7 –
PRC5 430 611 907 210 – 5.6 11.2 39.3 –
SFRRC05 430 771 907 210 40 1.2 2.2 7.7 1.5
SFRRC10 430 730 907 210 40 2.3 4.6 15.9 1.5
SFRRC15 430 690 907 210 40 3.4 6.8 23.5 1.5
SFRRC20 430 670 907 210 40 4.5 9.0 31.7 1.5
SFRRC25 430 611 907 210 40 5.6 11.2 39.3 1.5
A.T. Noaman et al. / Construction and Building Materials 152 (2017) 414–423 417

Fig. 4. (a) Crumb rubber blended with aggregate in the mixer, (b) sprinkling of steel fibre into the mix, (c) appearance of fresh steel fibre-reinforced rubberized concrete.

For the un-notched beams [33]: where rt = splitting tensile strength as presented by Sahin and Koksal [40].
Z PFUN
W UN ¼ PiUN dd ðkN mmÞ ð5Þ
0
3. Results and discussions
In which PFUN is the load measured at the failure of the un-notched beam.
To calculate stress intensity factor KIC, the following equation was recom-
3.1. Compressive, splitting tensile and flexural strengths
mended by RILEM TC89 – FMT [35] and Srawley [37]:
pffiffiffiffiffiffi
S p a f ð aÞ The average compressive strengths of PC and SFC aging 28 days
K IC ¼ 3ðPmax þ 0:5 mgÞ 2
ðMPa:m1=2 Þ ð6Þ
2d b are 44.5 MPa and 47 MPa, respectively (Fig. 6). In general, the com-
in which Pmax is the measured maximum load (N), S = span length (m), mg is the cor- pressive strength decreased for both the PC and SFC mixtures with
rugated self-weight of the beam, a, d and b are the notch depth, thickness, and width the inclusion of crumb rubber aggregate. The compressive strength
of the beam, respectively, f(a) obtained from the following equation [36]:
decreased for PRC were 13%, 24%, 27%, 34%, and 47% at 5%, 10%,
1:99  að1  aÞð2:15  3:92a þ 2:7a2 Þ 15%, 20%, and 25% ratios, respectively. A similar trend was detected
f ðaÞ ¼ pffiffiffiffi ð7Þ
pð1 þ 2aÞð1  aÞ3=2 for the SFRRC mixtures, that is, the reductions were 14%, 22%, 26%,
where a = a/d.
32%, and 44% with 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, and 25% ratios, respectively.
Young’s modulus, E, of the notched specimens calculated as follows: However, considerably high results were obtained for SFRRC
because of the inclusion of steel fibre. Many authors previously
aV 1 ðaÞ
E ¼ 6S 2
ðN=m2 Þ ð8Þ observed the decline in compressive strength previously [13,41–
½C i d b
43]. Thomas et al. [43] observed reductions by 3.1%, 13.7%, 33.1%,
in which Ci is the initial compliance measured from the ascending part of the load – and 57.1% at 5%, 10%, 15%, and 20% ratios, respectively, in the com-
CMOD curve (m/N), also Vi(a) may be calculated from the finite element analysis of
pressive strength of concrete containing rubber aggregates com-
the notched specimens according to Karihaloo [31]:
prises of 40% rubber powder, 35% size of 0.8–2 mm, and 25% size
0:66 of 2–4 mm (zone II), was included by partial replacement of fine
V 1ðaÞ ¼ 0:76  2:28a þ 3:87a2  2:04a3 þ ð9Þ
ð1  aÞ2 aggregate.
The critical energy release rate, GIC, was calculated as follows [13]: Therefore, the reductions in the compressive strength of rub-
berized concrete prepared in this study are within the accepted
K 2IC
GIC ¼ ðN=mÞ ð10Þ range.
E
The results of the split-tensile strength test showed a reduction
Moreover, to determine the critical J – integral (JIC), which is a measure of frac-
ture criterion for fibre–reinforced concrete, the following equation according to in values with respect to the rubber content (Fig. 7). The tensile
Mindes et al. [38] is used: strength of PRC decreased by 13%, 15%, 18%, 23%, and 32% and that
Z P Nmax Z P Nmax  of SFRRC by 12%, 14%, 18%, 22%, and 31% when sand was replaced
JIC ¼ ð2=bdÞ P iN dd  PiUN dd ðNm=m2 Þ ð11Þ by 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, and 25% by volume, respectively.
0 0
Carroll and Helminger [44] showed that the tensile strength
where PNmax is the maximum load of the notched specimen. deceased with increasing crumb rubber content from 5% to 15%
Another fracture parameter used to measure the brittleness of concrete mix-
tures was determined by the following equation [39]:
by 32% for mixes without fibre reinforcement while the splitting
tensile strength decreased by 35% when the crumb rubber ratio
EGf
lch ¼ ðmmÞ ð12Þ increased from 5% to 15% for mixes with the presence of steel fibre
r2t
reinforcement. However, the negative effects of the rubber aggre-
418 A.T. Noaman et al. / Construction and Building Materials 152 (2017) 414–423

Fig. 5. Fracture and flexural strength test: (a) experimental test set-up (b) data logger and notebook and (c) geometry of the notched beams.

50.0 5.0
PRC PRC
SFRRC SFRRC

40.0 4.0
Compressive Strength [MPa]

Tensile Strength [MPa]

30.0 3.0

20.0 2.0

10.0 1.0

0.0 0.0
0 5 10 15 20 25 0 5 10 15 20 25
Crumb rubber content by sand volume [%] Crumb rubber content by sand volume [%]

Fig. 6. Compressive strength at 28 days with varying rubber content. Fig. 7. Split – tensile strength at 28 days with varying rubber content.
A.T. Noaman et al. / Construction and Building Materials 152 (2017) 414–423 419

6.0 [46]. However, the results revealed the optimum replacement ratio
PRC of sand by volume with crumb rubber at 20%; thereafter, a signif-
SFRRC icant decrease occurred. This result was in agreement with the
5.0 finding of Benzzouk et al. [46]. On the other hand, it was reported
that the SFRRC beams with 1.28% steel fibre volume fraction did
not exhibit a considerable enhancement in flexural strength com-
4.0 pared with those with 0.64% steel fibre volume fraction [47]. This
Flexural Strength [MPa]

finding encourages considering a small amount of steel fibre as


in the current study (0.5%). In this regard, the inclusion of steel
3.0 fibre can partially counterbalance the negative effects resulted
from the replacement of sand with crumb rubber [21]. In general,
inclusion of rubber aggregate and steel fibre improves the perfor-
2.0 mance of concrete by exhibiting a small reduction in the mechan-
ical properties with an enhancement in the energy absorption
capacity of concrete.
1.0

3.2. Fracture energy


0.0
0 5 10 15 20 25 The fracture toughness parameters of PRC and SFRRC were ana-
Crumb rubber content by sand volume [%] lyzed and presented in Tables 2 and 3, respectively, based on the
load-deflection and load-CMOD curves of the notched specimens
Fig. 8. Flexural strength at 28 days with varying rubber content. as shown in Figs. 9 and 10, respectively. The obtained values were
compared with those of PC and SFC
gates on tensile strength are relieved by inclusion of steel fibre as The results showed that Gf increased with the increase of the
illustrated by Nguyan et al. [26]. crumb rubber content (Fig. 11). The rates of increase were 18%,
Fig. 8 illustrates the effect of the partial replacement of fine 24%, 30%, 42%, and 32% at 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, and 25% rubber con-
aggregates by crumb rubber on the flexural stress of PRC and tent, respectively.
SFRRC. The flexural stress decreased by 7%, 11%, 14%, 20%, and Apparently, the fracture energy increased up to 20% ratio. How-
25% at 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, and 25% rubber contents, respectively. ever, a decline beyond this ratio occurred thereafter. This result
Fig. 8 shows the decrease rates for SFRRC. However, SFRRC had was in agreement with the finding previously obtained
the same trend as the normal concrete when crumb rubber was [13,17,33]. Al-Tayeb et al. [33] showed that the increase in rubber
added. Adding rubber tire aggregates into concrete adversely content above 20% caused a reduction in fracture energy by adding
affected the flexural strength [45]. The defect in bonding was fine crumb rubber in PC (0.73–1 mm) which confirms the finding
observed with respect to the increase of the rubber aggregate size obtained by Reda Taha et al. [13]. Furthermore, Khaloo et al. [10]

Table 2
Parameters obtained from load – deflection and load CMOD curves.

Mix PNmax mg CMO WN WUN Gf


kN N Dmax mm kN mm kN mm N/m
PC 10.95 115.1 0.125 4.652 7.028 954.64
SFC 11.45 116.8 0.458 12.924 19.015 2404.61
PRC05 10.41 113.7 0.186 5.544 8.777 1127.36
PRC10 10.19 112.6 0.256 6.265 8.935 1184.73
PRC15 9.61 111.6 0.311 6.343 9.016 1242.85
PRC20 8.95 109.6 0.456 6.682 9.251 1351.58
PRC25 8.40 107.6 0.547 6.346 8.924 1264.13
SFRRC05 10.53 115.7 0.711 13.653 19.646 2772.73
SFRRC10 10.37 114.2 0.802 14.212 20.002 2886.75
SFRRC15 10.22 113.6 0.842 14.531 20.331 3050.00
SFRRC20 9.52 110.8 0.946 14.811 21.332 3308.03
SFRRC25 8.88 108.3 0.937 14.543 20.345 3129.35

Table 3
Fracture toughness parameters.

Mix KIC Ci  109 E GIC JIC lac


MPa.m0.5 m/N GPa N/m Nm/m2 mm
PC 3.681 10.03 35.55 381.1 140.1 2350
SFC 3.874 9.47 37.67 420.7 500.7 4498
PRC05 3.523 11.34 31.44 394.8 207.9 3254
PRC10 3.450 12.13 29.40 404.8 248.4 3400
PRC15 3.254 13.82 25.80 410.4 338.2 3560
PRC20 3.031 15.20 22.02 417.3 436.0 3791
PRC25 2.846 17.21 19.58 413.7 382.2 3860
SFRRC05 3.564 12.09 29.25 434.2 729.4 5915
SFRRC10 3.510 12.85 27.75 444.0 859.0 6150
SFRRC15 3.460 13.34 26.73 447.9 1174.6 6355
SFRRC20 3.330 14.72 24.23 457.5 1514.8 7133
SFRRC25 3.010 16.82 20.02 452.7 1325.9 7260
420 A.T. Noaman et al. / Construction and Building Materials 152 (2017) 414–423

12 12

10 10

8
8
Load (kN)

Load (kN)
6
PC 6
PCR5 PC
4 PCR5
PCR10
4
PCR15 PCR10
2 PCR20 PCR15
PCR25 2 PCR20
PCR25
0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2
Displacement (mm) 0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8
(a) CMOD (mm)
(a)
12

12
10

10
8
Load (kN)

8
6
Load (kN)

SFC
SFRRC5 6
4 SFC
SFRRC10
SFRRC5
SFRRC15
2 SFRRC20
4 SFRRC10
SFRRC25 SFRRC15

0 2 SFRRC20
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 SFRRC25
Displacement (mm)
(b) 0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2
Fig. 9. Load vs. displacement for (a) PC and PCR mixes, and (b) SFC and SFRRC CMOD (mm)
mixes.
(b)
recommended limiting the rubber concentrations not exceeding Fig. 10. Load vs. CMOD for (a) PC and PCR mixes, and (b) SFC and SFRRC mixes.
25% because of the significant decrease in the ultimate strength,
thereby affecting fracture energy. However, the fracture energy
3.3. Fracture toughness
in this study increased by 37% for the 25% rubber content. The frac-
ture energy in the SFC mixture improved by 152% with the addition
The results obtained showed that KIC decreased with the
of 0.5% by volume of hooked-end steel fibre in PC. It was reported
increase in the rubber content for both plain rubberized and steel
that the inclusion of the hooked-end steel fibre with an aspect ratio
fibre-reinforced rubberized concrete mixes. Furthermore, the
of 80 led to increase in the fracture energy approximately 2.2 and
results of the fracture toughness decreased with the decrease of
3.6 times at 0.33–0.67% volume fractions and a w/c ratio of 0.45
concrete strength. The stress intensity factor KIC decreased by
[40]. Later, Mo et al. [39] explained the improvement of fracture
4.3%, 6.3%, 11.6%, 17.7% and 22.7% for PRC and 8%, 9.4%, 10.7%,
energy by inclusion of steel fibre. Accordingly, the role of the steel
14% and 22.3% for SFRRC at 5%, 10%, 15%, 20% and 25% ratios of rub-
fibre was to elongate the cracking path the crack route and prevent
ber aggregate. Guo et al. [17] reported that fracture toughness
their propagation, thereby possibly leading to an increase in frac-
increased when rubber content increased from 4% to 16% by vol-
ture capacity.
ume. Beyond 16% rubber content, the fracture toughness decreased
The rubber aggregates combined with steel fibre showed an
because of the loss of bonding between the cement paste and
increase in the fracture energy of PC from 190% to 246% when
aggregates. However, the steel fibre tended to improve the fracture
the rubber content was changed from 5% to 20%. A comparison
toughness of PC, which was attributed to the effect of the steel
with SFC showed an enhancement in the fracture energy by 15%,
fibre to stabilize the cracks generated in the matrix through their
20%, 27%, 37% and 30% at 5%, 10%, 15%, 20% and 25% rubber con-
effect in arresting and prohibiting the crack growth [39]. Further-
tent, respectively. Although the fracture energy enhancement of
more, Xu and Zhu [49] stated that fracture toughness was signifi-
SFC was lower than that of PC when the crumb rubber was incor-
cantly influenced by the compressive strength. Where it was
porated, the difference was insignificant and the ability of the steel
found that fracture toughness increased with the increase of the
fibre to transfer stress across the cracks was not affected with the
compressive strength.
addition of rubber [48].
A.T. Noaman et al. / Construction and Building Materials 152 (2017) 414–423 421

3,500 1600

3,000 1400 y = -0.8897x 2 + 61.087x + 457.7


R² = 0.9142
Fracture energy (Gf) N/m

y = -1.2414x2 + 47.68x + 2537.7 1200


2,500
R² = 0.9894

2,000 1000

1,500 800

JIC (Nm/m 2)
1,000 y = -1.1181x 2 + 42.058x + 956.4 600 y = -0.2706x 2 + 18.105x + 127.83
R² = 0.9836 R² = 0.9194

500 400

200
0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Crumb rubber content [%] 0
0 5 10 15 20 25
PRC SFRRC Rubber content %
Poly. (PRC) Poly. (SFRRC)
PRC SFRRC Poly. (PRC) Poly. (SFRRC)

Fig. 11. Fracture energy versus rubber content by crumb rubber aggregate volume
Fig. 13. Relationship between JIC and rubber content.
fraction.

4.0 8,000
PRC SFRRC

3.8 R² = 0.9766 7,000


Characteristic length (mm)

3.6 6,000
KIC (MPa. m0.5 )

3.4 5,000

3.2 4,000

3.0 3,000
PRC

R² = 0.9416 SFRRC
2.8 2,000
Linear (PRC)
0 5 10 15 20 25
Linear (SFRRC)
Crumb rubber content by sand volume [%]
2.6
4 5 6 7 8
Fig. 14. The effect of crumb rubber content on characteristic length.
√fc'
was in agreement with the recommendation of Reda Taha et al.
Fig. 12. Relationship between KIC and compressive strength. [13] to limit the replacement level of the aggregates by rubber
Fig. 12 demonstrates the relationship between stress intensity chips between 25% and 50% when considering compressive
factor and compressive strength for both PRC and SFRRC obtained strength reduction and enhancement in the fracture toughness.
in this study with the experimental results of the compressive Fig. 13 shows the fracture toughness parameter JIC of PRC and
strength of cubes at 28 days. SFRRC at 28 days with respect to the crumb rubber content. The
Table 3 shows the results of GIC obtained from Eq. (10). The coefficients of correlation were R2 = 0.931 and 0.926, respectively.
increase in the rubber content showed a slight increase in the GIC JIC enhancement was attributed to the ability of the rubber aggre-
values for both PRC and SFRRC. However, the results obtained by gates to enhance the toughness capacity of conventional concrete
Al-Tayeb et al. [33] showed an improvement in GIC of 36% at 20% by exhibiting further flexure and crack bridging with twisting
replacement ratio of sand by fine crumb rubber (0.4–1 mm). Min- and compressibility [13]. The advantage of using this type of recy-
dess et al. [38] observed a scatter in the GIC values obtained cled material is the enhancement in the toughness of the plain con-
because of the dependency on the maximum load. For the crete with the incorporation of rubber aggregates [50].
elastic-plastic fracture toughness parameter JIC, the increase in
the rubber content exhibited a significant increase and enhance- 3.4. Characteristic length
ment of the PRC and SFRRC values. The J-integral for PRC increased
from 140.1 Nm/m2 to 436.0 Nm/m2 and from 500.7 Nm/m2 to Characteristic length can be considered as an indicator to mea-
1514.8 Nm/m2, respectively. The increase ratio for PRC was 211% sure the ductility or brittleness of concrete. It was used in this study
at an optimum replacement ratio of 20%. Further replacement of to evaluate the ductility enhancement by adding crumb rubber
sand by crumb rubber at 25% led to a reduction of approximately aggregates and show its influence in combination with steel fibre.
12%. Although this reduction could be considered insignificant, it The characteristic length was a material property presented by
422 A.T. Noaman et al. / Construction and Building Materials 152 (2017) 414–423

Hillerborg et al. [51,52]. The characteristic length was proportional rubber as a partial substitution of fine aggregates (sand). The
to the fracture energy. A higher characteristic length led to concrete reduction in these properties continues with the increase of
with high energy absorption (tougher) [39]. Table 3 shows that the the rubber content, in which larger voids appear and defect in
characteristic length of PC increased from 2186 mm to 2978 mm by bonding occurs. However, the SFRRC mixes show superiority
the partial replacement of sand with 5% crumb rubber particles. The because of the presence of steel fibre although a similar reduc-
characteristic length increases continuously with the increase of tion rate was observed by including the crumb rubber in steel
rubber content up to 25%. The increase ratios were 38%, 44%, 51%, fibre concrete.
61%, and 64% at 5%, 10%, 15%, 20% and 25% replacement ratios of 3. The flexural toughness measured as the area below the load–
sand by rubber, respectively (see Fig. 14). Furthermore, a limited deflection curves of the notched and un-notched beams sub-
increase was attained after 20% ratio (only 3%). This result indicated jected to center point loading shows an enhancement when
that a further increase in rubber content might not lead to a signif- the crumb rubber aggregates replaced sand in both plain and
icant increase in the characteristic length. The characteristic length steel fibre concrete. Adding steel fibre shows a balance of the
with a combination of steel fibre increased by 31%, 36%, 41%, 58%, reduction caused by the rubber aggregates.
and 61% at 5%, 10%, 15%, 20% and 25% rubber contents, respectively 4. The fracture energy of plain and steel fibre concrete increases
(see Fig. 14). Therefore, adding crumb rubber aggregates substan- up to a 20% replacement level. Beyond this replacement ratio,
tially improve concrete toughness and ductility, particularly with the fracture energy slightly reduces because of the loss of
the hooked-end steel fibre. strength in the cement matrix. The rubber aggregate in combi-
Gesoglu et al. [12] reported that from 5% to 25% replacement nation with the hooked-end steel fibre shows an increase in the
ratio of the crumb rubber or chipped tires, the characteristic length fracture energy of plain concrete from 190% to 246% by chang-
of the rubberized concrete was nearly constant whereas a slight ing the rubber content from 5% to 20%.
decrease was observed in the case of the 30% ratio. The highest 5. The results show that stress intensity factor decreases with the
results were obtained by blending the crumb rubber size with the increase in the crumb rubber aggregate content for the plain
tire chips. The increase in characteristic length was attributed to rubberized and steel fibre reinforced rubberized concrete
the reduction of the splitting tensile strength, which was consider- mixes. This decrease may be attributed to the reduction in the
ably higher than the fracture energy. These results are related to the compressive strength by including the crumb rubber. A rela-
relationship between characteristic strength and splitting tensile tionship is presented in this regard.
strength showed in Eq. (13). The characteristic length cannot be 6. The elastic–plastic fracture toughness parameter significantly
directly measured but could be estimated from the measured val- increases with the rubber increase.
ues of the elastic modulus, fracture energy, and tensile splitting 7. The increase of the characteristic length continues with the
strength. The results also showed that with the increasing of com- increase in the rubber aggregates content of up to 25%. The
pressive strength the characteristic length values decreased as the addition of the crumb rubber aggregates recycled from waste
concrete brittleness increased [53]. This finding agreed with the tires also considerably develops the toughness and ductility of
findings of Kim et al. [54]. If related to Eq. (13), then the character- concrete, particularly with the hooked-end steel fibre.
istic length depends on the modulus of elasticity, which is found to
decrease with the decrease in the compressive strength of the rub-
berized concrete. The decrease in the modulus of elasticity by add- Acknowledgement
ing crumb rubber led to an increase in the flexibility [55] to balance
brittleness loss that can be considered a defect of cement concrete. The authors would like to thank Assc. Prof. Dr. Norazura Muha-
Güneyisi et al. [34] showed that the inclusion of steel fibre with mad Bunnori, School of Civil Engineering–Universiti Sains Malaysia
an aspect ratio of 80 and volume fraction of 1.5% would signifi- on assisting in supplying clip displacement transduce. The financial
cantly increase the characteristic length of the plain concrete by support of Universiti Sains Malaysia (Cluster for Polymer Compos-
46 times while the characteristic length increased in the light ite: 1001/PKT/8640013) is also acknowledged.
weight aggregate concrete by 51 times as the same volume of steel
fibre added. Therefore, for brittle or quasi-brittle materials, inclu-
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