The Effectiveness of Crushed Waste Rubber Tires as Partial Coarse Aggregate

Replacement in Concrete Mixture

Problem statement

Eliminating rubber waste from tires has become a major issue regarding environmental
health. The issue has increasingly created a problematic situation for harming the ecology.
According to the study by Sofi [5], the use of natural aggregate needs to be replaced by the waste
of rubber tires, as 5000 million tires are estimated to be cast off by the year 2030. The increased
tire waste is buried underground or just stockpiled [2]. It could take up to 50 years for the buried
tires to decompose. Also, polymeric waste like rubber tires and plastic bottles has been a threat to
marine life after being suspended in the seas and oceans, as the rubber and plastic, due to their
chemical properties, do not have the properties to let water penetrate them, hence being insoluble
in water.

On the other hand, the researchers observed the performance of concrete in terms of its
durability, which resulted in the effectiveness of concrete mixed with crushed rubber compared
to the control mixture. Several studies have been conducted to analyse the effectiveness of
rubber waste mixed with concrete to replace natural aggregates in a crushed form. Moreover, the
increasing population has also made a significant increase in polymers [2], which needs to be
catered to as a global cause. This study will provide an in-depth view of tire waste used as a
substitute for partial aggregate in concrete while measuring its durability.

Objectives of the study

● To analyze the effectiveness of crushed waste rubber tires as partial aggregate
replacement into concrete mixture.
● To conserve the environment by making strategies to use the rubber waste as a substitute
of concrete mix.
● To give recommendations for preserving the natural aggregates while replacing them
with the crushed rubber.

● To emphasize the economic benefits and cost-savings of utilizing rubber waste in

concrete production.
Review of Related Literature

Rubber Tires

Researchers [3] reflected the need to incorporate recycled matter of polymers such as

plastic and rubber. Both of these materials are considered to resolve the sustainability concerns
to promote a healthy environment and be the least effective to the ecology. According to Bušić in
reference [2], about 8.3 million tons are wasted annually in regions like the USA and Europe.
The study emphasized that replacing natural aggregates such as sand and gravel with rubber tires
improves the concrete's resisting strength. Further, the study concluded that the waste of tires
might be used as finely or coarsely crushed rubber in the concrete to produce a hard matter for
concrete usage. In the study by Sofi [5], the proponent evaluated the effect of rubber from
discarded tires by viewing the performance of different concrete mixtures by adding 5, 7.5, and
10% of the crushed rubber as a substitute for natural aggregate and cement. A minute amount of
data can be found in studies regarding the replacement of cement from concrete with rubber
waste [1], which concludes that rubber waste cannot replace cement. Also, in the study, the form
of rubber was analyzed to check its efficiency when mixed with concrete, i.e., the rubber was
first used in the form of flakes and then the powdered form, after which the durability of the
rubber forms mixed individually with concrete was analyzed. In research [4], it was proposed
that replacing the traditional cement used in the concrete by recycling rubber tires attained from
various vehicles. According to the proponent, the waste of rubber in concrete mixtures [4] is
significant as a building product for the purpose of sustaining the environmental issues that arise
from the burial and burning of rubber waste. Researchers studied the ability, toughness,
shrinking, and resistance of water, fire, and electricity to check their resistance to the
environment, energy, and sound absorption.

The US environmental agency reported that 24% of tire production worldwide comes
from the 90 plants installed in the US, from which millions of tires are disposed of illegally,
stockpiled or buried underground. These statistics have influenced researchers to conduct in-
depth research to recycle the rubber from tires effectively [6] such that economic and
environmental considerations are kept a priority.

Furthermore, dumpsites with large amount of waste rubber tires can eventually turn into a
very fertile habitat for pests like rats and may cause various diseases to spread and risk the public
health. To worsen matters, tires can take more than a hundred years to biodegrade which is a
clear threat to our environment. Thus, the necessity to formulate solutions to this unending
wastes is crystal clear. Moreover, the increasing demand for concrete in construction design
raised a problem of significant reduction of natural resources. With these considerations, the
need to technologically innovate and find alternative materials to enhance not only the
performance of concrete, but also to protect the health of the environment is clearly emphasized
[12].

Rubber Tires

About 1.5 billion whole tires are the waste being produced annually across the globe [21]
in addition to the tremendous amount of rubbed tires already sitting in stockpiles and landfills.
Instead of throwing away the waste without recycling and reusing, waste tire products are
commonly used as an alternative to conventional materials predominantly due to their
association with the project’s cost [22]. California state in the United States of America (USA)
also enforces a mandate for the adaptability of construction technologies and techniques among
asphalt mixtures beginning in 2005 as well as the utilization of asphalt pavements mixed with
rubber tires which have to attain an amount with a minimum of 35% of the sum of the weight of
the asphalt pavement materials manufactured in the USA. This is primarily due to the economic
projection and cost-savings that these technologies will create in the next few years. [18]. A
result of crumb rubber mixed with aggregates under certain criteria and asphalt is referred to as a
Rubberized Asphalt Concrete (RAC). Crumb rubber is commonly composed of recycled rubber
that acts as a base and is converted into fine, consistent pieces. RAC is known to have several
benefits once effectively employed on road resurfacing construction projects contrary to the
traditional asphalt mix. In essence, RAC is economic-friendly, saving more than $22,000 for
every lane mile (or equivalent to 1.609 kilometers) compared to generic asphalt construction
projects. In addition, Rubberized Asphalt Concrete has eminent skid-resistance, aids in a long-
term and durable color pay-off for road marking and striping and makes use of about 2,000 waste
tires for every lane mile which proves that it can preserve earth’s natural resources and minimize
the use of landfills. Roughly 75% of the United States’s resurfacing construction projects make
use of RAC due to its impacts such as the abovementioned, making Los Angeles County the
leading in terms of RAC utilization for highways and streets within its boundaries [23]. In
another study, Gupta (2020) also claimed that rubber concrete is guaranteed cost-effective and
economical. An experimental study published by Khitab et. al (2017) wherein waste rubber tires
are produced having a 20-millimeter size has several advantages including the elimination of
environmental degradation, longer economic life for landfill locations, and economic costs
minimization because of the replacement of aggregates as well as the funds needed for the
disposal of waste rubber tires. Enough flexibility is lacking among concrete pavements although
they consist of high-strength mixtures. Hence, through partial replacement of both the coarse and
fine aggregates, the waste rubber tires aid enough flexibility. The rubber also allows the thermal
variations to decline.

Ordinary Portland Cement

Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC), a combination of limestone with other raw ingredients
is one of the most common and widely used in the world. The low cost of production makes the
OPC the most sought-after and preferred especially in areas where rapid building is being
required [14]. Furthermore, the study of Vidican, Phan, Farr, and Norton [15] shows that OPC is
suited for all types of concrete structure. It is the most used form of cement with yearly global
production of roughly 3.8 million cubic meters which makes it the most widely produce and
utilized cement.

Sodium Hydroxide

Numerous studies have investigated the method of treating rubber with NaOH. However,
the level of improvement achieved by this method has not been consistent between different
studies. Hence, it is worthwhile to study application of this treatment method. Ten series of
concrete specimens with different water cement ratios and a variety of rubber content were
prepared. The fresh and hardened mechanical tests were conducted on concrete samples. It was
found that the duration of 24 h for treatment of crumb rubber was the most promised duration,
which resulted in favourable fresh and hardened concrete characteristics. Compared to
rubberised concrete prepared with untreated rubber, rubberised concrete prepared with the 24-h
NaOH treated method had 25 and 5 % improvement in compressive and flexural strength,
respectively. It is experimentally indicated that using this treatment method resulted in notable
improvement for the compressive strength, and moderate enhancement in the flexural strength
[16].

Conceptual Framework

Control Variable

Ordinary Portland
Cement

Independent Variable Dependent Variable

Crushed Tires Concrete Mixture

Preliminary Methods

The experiment will consist two types of program namely Program A and Program B.
Program A will have four concrete mixes with 0%, 15%, 20%, and 25% replacement of natural
aggregate by volume. For Program B, the same percentages with Program A will be used to
replace natural aggregate by crushed rubber tires, but a sodium hydroxide (NaOH) will be added
into the mixture for the treatment of the surface of rubber and to improve the adhesion between
the cement and the rubber waste [7]. This experiment will produce a M25 concrete which has a
ratio of 1:1:2 (cement, sand, aggregate). The water added should be in a range of 50% of the
weight of the cement.This grade of concrete is used in all areas of construction and is mostly
used for foundations [13].

To begin the experimentation, appropriate water-cement ratio will be prepared for all
mixes. The cement that will be used is an Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC). The rubber tires will
undergo shredding through a Tire Shredder Machine until small pieces of rubbers will be
produced with a maximum size of 15 mm. As for the coarse and fine aggregate, crushed
limestone and fine sand will be used, respectively. The methods of casting and mixing will be
performed in accordance to ASTM Designation C192 [8] . Both specimens, cylindrical and beam
forms, will be submerged 24 hours in water tanks for curing.

Two tests will be conducted to determine the strength of the finished cylindrical product:
Compressive test and Splitting Tensile test. The cylindrical specimens will be tested for
compressive strength at an age of 7, 14, and 28 days. A strength of 25 MPa will be applied to test
the compressive strength of cylindrical samples. The splitting tensile strength will be conducted
for cylinders at an age of 14 to 28 days. A load of 689 kN/m2 per minute at a constant rate will be
applied to the samples until failure is visible. This test is based on the ASTM standard test
procedure C496 [10]. As for the beam specimens, a flexural test will be performed. This test will
be conducted to measure the modulus of rupture which will indicate the flexural strength of the
beam specimens. The beams will have a dimension of 152 mm x 152 mm x 610 mm. This
method will be performed in accordance to ASTM standard procedure C293 [11].
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