Assessment of the Properties of Rubberized Bama Gravel Concrete using Destructive Method

Author(s): A. T. Gubio, L. O. Onundi, Y. G. Balami

From the twentieth first century to date, the world has seen a rapid production of non-biodegradable materials like rubber with some having less than a decade expiry date such as vehicle tyres. This has generated enormous amount of solid waste which can be best managed by recycling methods; recycling in concrete is one possible means of achieving this goal since it’s the single most widely used material in the world. Although concrete compressive strength is reduced by addition of rubber depending on the percentage of rubber added and the average size of rubber used as aggregate. This study investigates Rubberized Bama Gravel concrete (RBGC) when three varied contents of rubber (10%, 20% and 30% by mass) were used to replace the mineral aggregate for both fine and coarse rubber aggregates respectively as compared to the controlled mix. A mix ratio of 1:1½:3 and 1:2:4, and water cement ratio of 0.5 and 0.6 were respectively used during the investigation. Tests carried out on Bama aggregate were specific gravity, aggregate impact and aggregate crushing; and on concrete are workability, density and destructive compressive strength. The study has shown that rubberized concrete is weak in compressive strength. But they have good water resistance with low absorption, low shrinkage and high impact resistance.The reduction in compressive strength of 10% fine rubber aggregate is about 10% which could be used as a structural member, while others (20%, 30% fine rubber aggregate and 10%, 20%, 30% chipped rubber aggregate) cannot be used as structural members as there is a significant decrease in compressive strength of concrete but rather as floors, kerbs, blocks and other non-structural.

Rubberized Concrete, Bama Gravel, Structural Member

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