Construction and Building Materials 140 (2017) 36–42

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Construction and Building Materials

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

Crushed rubber waste impact of concrete basic properties

Giedrius Girskas a,⇑, Džigita Nagrockienė b
a
Scientific Institute of Thermal Insulation, Laboratory of Building Products Technology, Linkmenuz str. 28, LT-08217 Vilnius, Lithuania
b
Department of Building Materials, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Vilnius Gediminas Technical University, Saulėtekio Str. 11, LT-10223 Vilnius, Lithuania

h i g h l i g h t s

Waste tire crumb rubber classified into fractions 2/4 and 4/6.

Sand in concrete mixes was replaced by crumb rubber at the proportion from 5 to 20%.

Crumb rubber increase the predicted exploitation freeze-thaw resistance.

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

Article history: Cement CEM I 42.5 N was used for the investigation. Waste tire crumb rubber classified into fractions 2/4
Received 8 November 2016 and 4/6 was used for the tests. Sand in concrete mixes was replaced by crumb rubber at the proportion
Received in revised form 24 January 2017 from 5% to 20%. Compressive strength, water absorption, ultrasonic pulse velocity in concrete modified
Accepted 19 February 2017
with crumb rubber were measured in the tests. Structural performance indicators of concrete specimens
were calculated. The tests results revealed that compressive strength dropped 68–61.3%. The calculation
of structural performance indicators showed that higher content of crumb rubber in the mix reduces the
Keywords:
relative pore and capillary wall thickness and the spare pore space. With higher content of crumb rubber
Crushed rubber powder
Industrial waste
in the specimens the spatial inhomogeneity indicator gradually increases because the bigger amount of
Effective porosity coarser rubber granule causes uneven distribution of pores and capillaries by their length. When up to
Structural performance indicators 20% of fine aggregate in concrete mixes is replaced by crumb rubber the predicted freeze-thaw resistance
Predicted freeze-thaw resistance increases.
Ó 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Nowadays waste handling and utilization has become a serious
economic problem. Economic activities have a negative effect on
nature. Therefore, the testing of the possibilities to utilise house-
hold and technological waste, such as furnace slag, agloporite, per-
lite, wood chippings and sawdust, crushed glass, shredded tire
rubber, zeolites, small polystyrene granules (1–3 mm), polypropy-
lene fibres, etc. is very important [1–6]. Almost all kinds of rock
and a lot of industrial waste as well as organic raw materials are
used in the production of construction materials. Natural fillers
are obtained by means of processing natural rocks or from natural
materials, for example wood, straw, flax etc. Some specific prod-
ucts or industrial waste, the structure of which was modified in
the manufacturing process, are classified as artificial fillers, such
as expanded clay, slag, polymers and others.
⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: giedrius.girskas@vgtu.lt (G. Girskas).
Waste tires have become a serious global problem. Every year
almost 1000 million tires are disposed and 50% of them are not
recycled. In 2030 the annual accumulation of tires will reach
1200 million. It is a very important ecological issue that needs an
immediate solution [7–13]. Besides, waste tires present a fire haz-
ard, especially in hot summers [19]. Decomposition of tires in the
natural environment takes a long time as they are weatherproof
and non-biodegradable. Obviously, the utilization of waste tire
rubber will remain a problematic issue in the future. Vehicle tires
are the main product of rubber industry. It is necessary to recycle
used tires by separating the metal, textile and rubber that may be
further used as reclaimed raw materials in the manufacturing of
other products [7].
In mechanical-pressurised destruction of waste tires one tech-
nological line can recycle from 6 to 11 thousand tons of tires per
year and from one ton produce approx. 550 kg crumb rubber,
270 kg metal scrap and 180 kg textile fibre. The diameter of rubber
granules may range from 0.1 mm to 3.0 mm, according to the
needs. The following fractions can be separated by means of
sieving: 0.1–0.4 mm; 0.5–1.0 mm; 1.1–1.5 mm; 1.6–2.0 mm;

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2017.02.107
0950-0618/Ó 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 G. Girskas, D. Nagrockienė / Construction and Building Materials 140 (2017) 36–42
2.1–3.0 mm and so on. Most of the properties that are important in
using tires for their intended purpose are also essential in the use
of tire waste as a raw material. Recycled tires maintain the follow-
ing characteristics: slow growth of bacteria; resistance to mould,
heat and moisture; resistance to sunlight or UV radiation, oil prod-
ucts, most thinners, acids and other chemical agents. In terms of
physical characteristics tires are non-toxic and non-
biodegradable; their weight and plasticity enable to use them
uncut, shredded, granulated or powdered.
In the last decade the variety of materials and products manu-
factured from recycled tires has significantly increased. In civil
engineering uncut or cut tires are used for the building of noise
screens, insulation, light fillers, bridge supports, erection of land-
fills [7,12,13,15]. Product manufacturers use smaller fractions
obtained by means of modern recycling technologies in the pro-
duction of vehicle spare parts, coating, pigments [16–18]. The fine
fraction of shredded tires is used in road building and repair
[14,27].
Waste tire recycling technologies have also developed from
simple mechanical machines used for tire pressing and cutting to
complex multistage mechanical-chemical and/or thermal process-
ing equipment [20]. Crumb rubber of certain fractions is used as an
additive (up to 10–15%) in the manufacturing of new tires; as an
additive (up to 25%) in the manufacturing of technical rubber prod-
ucts; manufacturing of rubber pipes (added up to 40%); roofing
materials (up to 40%); track sleeper spacing (up to 60%) (from
14–15 to 60–70 tons per track kilometre); floor mats (10–100%);
footwear soles (10–100%); wagon wheels (10–100%); tennis court
flooring; road building; additive in construction concrete.
American researchers analysed the possibilities of using steel
scrap from waste tires in Portland cement concrete. The use of
crumb rubber and tire shreds in Portland cement concrete was
among the main goals of the scientific research. The study, how-
ever, mainly focused on the use of steel granules in concrete mixes.
The main variable of calculations in the study was the percentage
of steel granules by volume. The test results showed that with the
use of steel granules the compressive strengths reduces, but the
hardness of the material significantly increases. Besides, there
were no significant changes in the performance of prepared con-
crete mixes [21].
Researchers from Venezuela investigated concrete specimens
by non-destructive methods. They tested the ultrasonic pulse
velocity in concrete specimens with and without rubber admix.
They found that in specimens where 5 wt% of fine aggregate was
replaced with 0.59 mm fraction rubber admix the ultrasonic pulse
velocity dropped 19%, and in specimens with 10 wt% of the same
fraction rubber admix the ultrasonic pulse velocity dropped 41%
compared to the control specimen. In tests with rubber admix of
smaller fraction, i.e. 0.29 mm, the ultrasonic pulse velocity
dropped 23% and 56% in the samples with 5 wt% and 10 wt% rubber
admix respectively [22].
Chinese researchers also tested shrinkage, freeze-thaw resis-
tance and thermal conductivity of rubber modified concretes. The
test results showed that the softness of rubber particles from waste
tires helps to reduce the shrinkage of concrete mixes. Rubber pow-
der admix in cement concrete can significantly improve the freeze-
thaw resistance of concrete products. However 3/4 fraction rubber
particles with coarse surface have a very little positive effect on
freeze-thaw resistance properties. The appropriate amount of rub-
ber admixtures may significantly reduce the thermal conductivity
of concrete, however too high content of rubber admix can cause a
negative effect [30].
Good practice examples in Singapore and Asian countries prove
that recycled tyre rubber may be used to manufacture both normal
and high-performance concrete in tropical conditions. Tests with
fresh concrete included slump, weight and air entrainment
37
measuring. Hardened concrete was tested by non-destructive
methods including density and ultrasonic pulse velocity measur-
ing, as well as destructive methods to measure the compressive
strength and axial destruction of concrete cylinders and obtain
the stress-deformation curves. Modifications of water-cement
ratio (W/C), aggregate substitution with rubber, rubber type,
cement substitution with mineral admixtures and the change in
the properties of rubber modified concrete were evaluated at dif-
ferent setting times and compared. Forecasts were done for normal
and high-performance concrete modified with recycled rubber tak-
ing into consideration the characteristics of the mix and hardened
concrete [23].
Crumb rubber may be used to replace a weight fraction of sand
in the manufacturing of concrete products. Rubber granules tend to
adhere well to Portland cement binder (cement paste) and bond
well with the matrix. Mechanical properties (compressive and
splitting strength) and density of concrete modified with crumb
rubber depends not only on the rubber content but also and W/C
ratio [24–26].
2. Materials and composition of the mixes
Cement CEM I 42.5 N was used for the tests. Plysical, chemical
and mechanical properties of Portland cement CEM I 42.5 N pre-
sented in Table 1. It is a classical hydraulic binder. 0/4 fraction sand
and 4/16 fraction gravel were used for the production of speci-
mens. Physical characteristics of sand and physical – mechanical
characteristics of gravel as well as particle-size distribution of fine
aggregates were laboratory tested according to the methodology
specified in the following standard EN 1097 series: EN 1097 – 7,
EN 1097 – 6, EN 1097 – 5, EN 1097 – 3, EN 933 – 1, EN 1476 – 7.
The characteristics of the fine aggregate are listed in Table 2.
Crumb rubber obtained from mechanical grinding of waste tires
and divided into fractions 2/4 and 4/6 were used for the test. 7
batches of specimens were made. The control batch of specimens
without rubber admixture was marked 0. Two fractions of different
granule size 2/4 and 4/6 were used. Different weight percentages
of crumb rubber substituting the fine aggregate were used: 5%,
10% and 20%. The selected polycarboxylate ether-based superplas-
ticizer was added at 0.5% by weight of cement. Water and cement
ratio was 0.35. The compositions of mixes with rubber additive are
presented in Table 3. The mixes were designed in order to evaluate
the effect of the rubber admixture on the characteristics of the
specimens and their Structural performance indicators.
3. Test methods
The quality and durability of concrete depends on compressive
strength, which is described as the ability to resist the destructive
internal strains caused by external compressive loads.
100  100  100 mm cubes were used to evaluate this property
according to the methodology described in the Standard EN
12390-3. The density of concrete was measured according to EN
Table 1
Physical, chemical and mechanical properties of Portland cement CEM I 42.5 N.
Characteristics Results
Specific density 2750–3200 kg/m3
Bulk density 900–1500 kg/m3
Melting point >1250 °C
pH (when water temperature T = 20 °C) 11–13.5
Volume stability at curing <10 mm
Initial setting time >60 min
Compressive strength after 2 days 22 ± 3 Mpa
Compressive strength after 28 days 50 ± 3 Mpa
38 G. Girskas, D. Nagrockienė / Construction and Building Materials 140 (2017) 36–42

Table 2 into a water tub of 2–3 mm. Specimen mass in water m3 and mass
Physical – mechanical properties of sand and gravel. in air m4 were obtained under cyclic vacuuming conditions. Firstly,
Characteristics Gravel Sand the specimens were dried to the constant mass in the drying
Particle density 2281 kg/m 3
2498 kg/m3 chamber at 110 ± 5 °C temperature. Afterwards the cooled speci-
Bulk density 1672 kg/m3 1589 kg/m3 mens were placed into the desiccator and vacuumed at 1.92–
Voids 27% 36% 2.22 kPa (0.95–1.02 atm). After 50–60 min of vacuuming the spec-
Particle-size distribution 4/16 fraction 0/4 fraction imens in the desiccator were topped with 20 ± 0.5 °C water. After
Moisture content 0.15% 0.2%
Aggregate crushing value 13.8% –
20–30 min the system was filled with air and afterwards the spec-
Water absorption 1.9% – imens were repeatedly vacuumed for 20–30 min. The cyclic pro-
cess was repeated several times. At the end the system was filled
with air, the specimens were removed from the desiccator and
12390-7. Ultrasonic pulse velocity was measured according to EN placed for 24 h in the water tub at 20 ± 0.5 °C. After the soaking
12504-4. Structural performance indicators (Table 4) of concrete the specimens were weighted by hydrostatic scales and the mass
specimens were determined according to the methods described in water m3 was measured. The specimens were then dried with
in scientific literature [28–29]. The calculation of the structural a dry cloth and the mass in air m4 was measured. The effective
performance indicators of concrete was done following the soaking porosity of the specimens characterises the effective potential of
of the specimens in water. In the test of moisture uptake by capil- voids, i.e. the pores and capillaries that are easily filled with water.
lary suction under normal conditions the maximum and minimum The total porosity indicator characterises the total porous space of
values hmax and hmin of capillary suction were determined by the interconnecting voids in the specimen. The spare pore space char-
height of water penetration in the specimen as well as mass m2 acterises the amount of spare pores and capillaries, which are dif-
of the specimens after the capillary suction under normal condi- ficult to reach by water or ductile ice in other than cyclic
tions. These indicators were obtained by soaking the specimens conditions. The bigger is the spare pore space the higher is the

Table 3
Compositions of concrete specimens with waste rubber admixtures.

Marking of products Content of materials in 1m3 of concrete mix

Rubber content, % Rubber content, kg Cement, kg Sand 0/4, kg Gravel 4/16, kg Chemical agents, kg Water, l
0 – – 451 875 949 2.255 160
5 (2/4) 5 43.8 451 831.2 949 2.255 160
10 (2/4) 10 87.5 787.5
20 (2/4) 20 175 700
5 (4/6) 5 43.8 451 831.2 949 2.255 160
10 (4/6) 10 87.5 787.5
20 (4/6) 20 175 700

Table 4
Structural performance indicators calculation methodology [28].

Parameter Equations Parameter description and units

W – water absorption W ¼ m1mm 0
0
 100 m0 – the weight of the specimen dried to the constant mass in
N - spatial inhomogeneity hmin the drying chamber at 110 ± 5 °C temperature, in grams;
N ¼ hmaxhmin
indicator m1 – the weight of the specimen saturated in water at
V – volume of specimens V ¼ m4qm3 20 ± 0,5 °C for 72 ± 1 h, in grams.
V
m2 – the weight of the specimen moisture uptake by capillary
WE – effective porosity of WE ¼ mV0  m1mm 0
 100
0 suction under normal conditions, in grams g
specimens
m3 – the weight of the specimen saturated under vacuum
WR – total porosity of the WR ¼ mV0  m4mm 0
 100
0 conditions in water, in grams;
specimen
  m4 – the weight of the specimen saturated under vacuum
R – spare pore space WE
R ¼ 1W  100
R conditions in air, in grams;
D – specific thickness of pore and D ¼ 100W R m5 – the weight of the specimen saturated in the vacuum by
WR
capillary wall means of capillary suction when saturation is done on the
G1 – capillary mass flow rate in G1 ¼ m5 m
S
0 surface that would be exposed to freezing during normal
the vacuum in the direction of operation, in grams
freezing hmax – the maximum value of capillary suction by the height of
G2 – the rate of capillary mass G2 ¼ m6 m
S
0 specimen saturation after 30 min, in mm;
flow perpendicular to the hmin – the minimum value of capillary suction by the height of
direction of freezing in the specimen saturation after 30 min, in mm
vacuum qv – water density, in g/cm3
g1 – capillary mass flow rate g1 ¼ m2 m
S
0 g1 – capillary mass flow rate under normal conditions, g
under normal conditions S – operating surface area of the specimen, cm2
FRE2 – exploitation frost R1:465 D0:759 G10:383 G20:852 WE – effective porosity of the specimen, %
FRE2 ¼ 0:223  N0:168 g 11:034
resistance of the specimens WR – total porosity of the specimen, %
G1 – capillary mass flow rate in the vacuum in the direction of
freezing, g/cm2
G2 – the rate of capillary mass flow perpendicular to the
direction of freezing in the vacuum, g/cm2
FRE2 – exploitation frost resistance of the specimens, in cycles
 G. Girskas, D. Nagrockienė / Construction and Building Materials 140 (2017) 36–42 39

operational freeze-thaw resistance of the specimen. The ease of the cement matrix; the replacement of higher density and strength
water uptake by pores and capillaries characterises the effective aggregates with lower density and strength aggregates will cause
porosity, whereas water uptake in vacuum conditions charac- the compressive strength to reduce because the strength charac-
terises the total open porosity. The total porosity WR is explained teristics of a composite material (concrete in our case) depends
by water uptake under vacuum conditions when the air is removed on the strength of its components.
from the network of pores and capillaries. The highest average density of 2403 kg/m3 was found in the
control specimen (Fig. 2) and the lowest average density of
2145 kg/m3 was found in the batch 20 (2/4) where the highest con-
4. Test results tent of 20 wt% of fraction 2/4 crumb rubber was used. The rubber
admixture also caused the reduction in the density of concrete
Fig. 1 illustrates the results of the average compressive strength specimens. The density reduced in proportion to the higher con-
of concrete specimens modified with rubber admixture. The con- tent of rubber admixture. Concrete specimens with bigger rubber
trol specimen without rubber admixture had the highest average granules were denser compared to the specimens modified with
compressive strength of 62.5 MPa. The addition of 5 wt% of fraction finer rubber granules. This relationship can be also related to the
2/4 crumb rubber caused the compressive strength to reduce to drop in compressive strength.
43.6 MPa, crumb rubber added at 10 wt% reduced the compressive Rubber admixtures added into concrete mix reduce the ultra-
strength to 33.7 MPa, crumb rubber added at 20 wt% reduced the sonic pulse velocity (Fig. 3). It was found that the higher content
compressive strength to 20.0 MPa. In the case of fraction 4/6 the of crumb rubber in the specimens is directly related to the lower
compressive strength of concrete specimens was slightly higher velocity of ultrasonic pulse. Ultrasonic pulses directed to the spec-
compared to the compressive strength of specimens modified with imen surround the voids and thus the velocity of the pulse drops.
fraction 2/4 crumb rubber. In specimens modified with fraction 4/6 Concrete specimens with coarser rubber particles demonstrated
crumb rubber the drop of compressive strength in relation to the higher ultrasonic pulse velocity compared to the specimens with
weight fraction of crumb rubber was as follows: a drop of finer rubber particles. It can be argued that the value of ultrasonic
7.3 MPa with 5 wt% crumb rubber, a drop of 22.8 MPa with 10 wt pulse velocity depends only on the content of rubber admixture
% crumb rubber and a drop of 24.2 MPa with 20% wt% crumb rub- while the size of rubber granules is irrelevant. The highest ultra-
ber. Therefore, the compressive strength test revealed that fraction sonic pulse velocity value of 4679 m/s was obtained in the control
2/4 crumb rubber reduces the compressive strength more than specimen without the rubber admixture and the lowest velocity of
fraction 4/6 crumb rubber. The drop of compressive strength 4079 m/s was recorded in batch 20 (2/4) with fraction 2/4 crumb
caused by the addition of crumb rubber can be explained by sev- rubber added at 20 wt%.
eral reasons: rubber particles are more flexible and weaker than Fig. 4 illustrates the average water absorption values in con-
the surrounding cement matrix, therefore the cracks first of all crete specimens modified with rubber admixture. The highest
start developing at the contact zone of the rubber granule and average water absorption 4.95% was recorded in the batch 20

0 5(2/4) 10(2/4) 20(2/4) 5(4/6) 10(4/6) 20(4/6)

0 5(2/4) 10(2/4) 20(2/4) 5(4/6) 10(4/6) 20(4/6)
70 62.5 5000
4679
Ultrasonic pulse velocity m/s
Compressive strength, MPa

55.2 4800
60 4619
43.6 39.7
50 4600
4453
4412
40 33.7 4400
24.2 4119 4115
4079
30 4200
20.0
20 4000

10 3800
0 3600
Compositions of concrete Compositions of concrete
Fig. 1. Compressive strength of crumb rubber modified concrete. Fig. 3. Ultrasonic pulse velocity in rubber modified concrete.

0 5(2/4) 10(2/4) 20(2/4) 5(4/6) 10(4/6) 20(4/6) 5.4

2500 5.2 4.94
2403 4.95
2450 5
Water absorbtion, %

2354 4.8 4.56

2400
2323 4.46
2350 4.6
Density, kg/m3

2279 2286 4.4

2300 3.98
4.2
2250 3.88
2170 4
2200
2145 3.8
2150 3.49
3.6
2100 3.4
2050 3.2
2000 3
0 5 (2/4) 10 (2/4) 20 (2/4) 5 (4/6) 10 (4/6) 20 (4/6)
1950
Compositions of concrete Compositions of concrete

Fig. 2. Density of rubber modified concrete. Fig. 4. Water absorption of concrete specimens.
40 G. Girskas, D. Nagrockienė / Construction and Building Materials 140 (2017) 36–42

(2/4) and the lowest average water absorption of 3.49% was (a)
recorded in the batch of control specimens. The test results 21
18.63
revealed that moisture uptake increases with higher content of 16.66
18
rubber admixtures in the specimens. Rubber granules form effec- 16.07
15.16 15.32

Spare pore space, %

tive open pores and capillaries that are easily filled with water, 15
11.65 12.38
therefore all specimens modified with rubber admixture had
12
higher water absorption values compared to control specimens.
Specimens with finer rubber particles demonstrated a faster 9
moisture uptake than specimens with coarser rubber particles.
6
Specimens containing 5–10 wt% of fraction 2/4 rubber waste
absorb 2.87% more moisture and in specimens with 20 wt% of rub- 3
ber admixture water saturation is almost the same.
0
Fig. 5(a) illustrates the average effective porosity results in con- 0 5 (2/4) 10 (2/4) 20 (2/4) 5 (4/6) 10 (4/6) 20 (4/6)
crete specimens with rubber admixture. The highest average effec- Compositions of concrete

Relative pore and capillary wall thickness, %

tive porosity of 10.43% was found in batch 20 (2/4), and the lowest (b)
value of 8.16% was recorded in the control batch. The increase in 12
the effective porosity of concrete modified with crumb rubber 8.97
10
can be explained by the higher content of entrained air in concrete 8.47 8.51
7.58 7.63 7.57
mixes and closed pores present in rubber particles. The increase of 8 7.47
the effective porosity increases the freeze/thaw resistance of con-
crete. Light rubber admixture increases the content of entrained 6
air and produce the spare pore space, dampers the internal strains
caused by freeze-thaw cycles. Fig. 5(b) illustrates the average val- 4
ues of the total porosity in the batches of concrete specimens mod-
2
ified with crumb rubber. The highest total porosity of 11.81% was
obtained in batch 20 (2/4) and the lowest total porosity of
0
10.03% was obtained in the control batch. 0 5 (2/4) 10 (2/4) 20 (2/4) 5 (4/6) 10 (4/6) 20 (4/6)
The spare pore space indicator was calculated from the effective Compositions of concrete
and total porosities of rubber modified hardened cement pastes.
The spare pore space indicator shows the portion of void space in Fig. 6. Structural performance indicators: a) spare pore space, b) relative pore and
capillary wall thickness.
the specimen that initially is empty but gradually fills with water
during cyclic testing. Fig. 6(a) illustrates the average results of
was obtained in batch 20 (2/4) with 20 wt% of fraction 2/4 crumb
the spare pore space in concrete specimens with rubber admixture.
rubber. It was observed that the spare pore space in specimens
The highest average spare pore space of 18.63% was obtained in the
decreases with the weight fraction of rubber admixture. According
control batch, and the lowest average spare pore space of 11.65%
to the obtained results it may be stated that when 20% of fine
aggregate is substituted by fraction 2/4 crumb rubber, the spare
pore space reduces 37.5%; when fraction 4/6 crumb rubber is used,
12 the spare pore space reduces 33.5%. Therefore the finer is the
(a) 9.89 10.43 9.81 10.22
rubber admixture the smaller is the spare pore space. Fig. 6(b)
10 8.86 8.77
illustrates the relative pore and capillary wall thickness in rubber
Effective porosity, %

8.16
modified concrete specimens. The highest relative pore and capil-
8
lary wall thickness of 8.97% was obtained in control specimens
without rubber admixture and the lowest wall thickness of 7.47%
6
was obtained in batch 20 (2/4). It was observed that the addition
4 of rubber admixture reduces the relative pore and capillary wall
thickness. The same amount of coarser rubber admixture resulted
2 in bigger relative pore and capillary wall thickness.
Fig. 7 illustrates the average results of spatial inhomogeneity
0 indicator in the batches of rubber modified concrete specimens.
0 5 (2/4) 10 (2/4) 20 (2/4) 5 (4/6) 10 (4/6) 20 (4/6)
This spatial inhomogeneity indicator indicates the uneven
Compositions of concrete

15 4
Spatial inhomogeneity indicator

3.22
(b) 11.65 11.81 11.58 11.67 3.5
10.56 10.52 2.91
12
3
Total porosity, %

10.03 2.27
2.09
9 2.5
1.75
2
1.60
6 1.5 1.09

1
3
0.5

0 0
0 5 (2/4) 10 (2/4) 20 (2/4) 5 (4/6) 10 (4/6) 20 (4/6) 0 5 (2/4) 10 (2/4) 20 (2/4) 5 (4/6) 10 (4/6) 20 (4/6)
Composition of concrete Composition of concrete

Fig. 5. Structural performance indicators: a) effective porosity, b) total porosity. Fig. 7. Spatial inhomogeneity indicator.

35
Exploitation frost resistance, in cycles
30
25
22.23
18.24
15.77
20
15
10
5 granules was slightly higher than in specimens containing finer
0 depends only on the rubber admixture content and the rubber
0 5 (2/4) 10 (2/4)
Compositions of concrete
Fig. 8. Operational freeze-thaw resistance.
distribution of pores and capillaries by their size and is an impor-
tant factor of operational freeze-thaw resistance. The lowest aver-
age spatial inhomogeneity indicator 1.09 was obtained in control
specimens without rubber admixture and the highest spatial inho-
mogeneity indicator 3.22 was obtained in batch 20 (2/4). It was
almost 3 times higher than in the control specimen. It was
observed that the addition of rubber admixture increases the spa-
tial inhomogeneity indicator. Specimens with higher content of
smaller size rubber particles had a higher spatial inhomogeneity
indicator than specimens with coarser rubber admixture. It is
because the bigger amount of bigger size rubber particles cause
the pores and capillaries to distribute unevenly by their size.
The durability of concrete is defined by operational freeze-thaw
resistance. The resistance of a porous body to freezing is a physical
property showing the ability of a porous body to maintain certain
physical parameters (compressive strength, weight, dimensions
etc.) within some predefined limits when, after soaking in water,
the body is repeatedly frozen and defrosted. The method of freez-
ing by volume does not reveal the structural characteristics of a
material; therefore sometimes a product, which is actually
freeze-thaw resistant, is rejected and vice versa. The results of test-
ing identical specimens under different simulated operational con-
ditions by using a one-side freezing method are very close or
equivalent to the results obtained under operational conditions
or in the field testing. Nevertheless, all these tests have limitations,
i.e. they take a long time. Test results can be obtained much faster
by applying the accelerated or shortcut exploitation frost resis-
tance prediction methods. These methods are based on empirical
formula using the exploitation frost resistance indicator and other
basic physical characteristics of the material or product. The pre-
dicted exploitation frost resistance of concrete specimens is illus-
trated in Fig. 8. The bold line in Fig. 8 marks the exploitation
frost resistance of control specimens. It is 15.77 predicted freeze-
thaw cycles. When 5 wt% of fraction 2/4 and fraction 4/6 crumb
rubber is added to the concrete mix, the number of freeze-thaw
cycles increases 15.66% and 1.27% respectively. The addition of
crumb rubber at 10 wt% has even better positive effect of the pre-
dicted freeze-thaw resistance, i.e. it increases 40.96% in the case of
adding fraction 2/4 crumb rubber and 17.37% when fraction 4/6
crumb rubber is added. The results of testing the specimens with
20 wt% of crumb rubber showed that with fraction 2/4 crumb rub-
ber the exploitation freeze-thaw resistance increased more than
89%, and with fraction 4/6 crumb rubber the freeze-thaw resis-
tance increased 27.46%. The test results proved that when up to
20 wt% of sand in concrete mix is substituted by crumb rubber,
the total and effective porosity increases and subsequently the pre-
dicted exploitation freeze-thaw resistance of concrete products
increases.
G. Girskas, D. Nagrockienė / Construction and Building Materials 140 (2017) 36–42 41
5. Conclusions
29.86
1. Modification of concrete with rubber admixture significantly
reduces the compressive strength of the specimens. The test
20.1 results showed that the substitution of 20 wt% of fine aggregate
15.97 18.51
with fraction 2/4 and fraction 4/6 crumb rubber causes the
compressive strength to drop 68% and 61.3% respectively.
2. The test results revealed that rubber admixture reduces the
ultrasonic pulse velocity in concrete specimens. The ultrasonic
pulse velocity in concrete specimens containing coarser rubber
rubber granules. It can be stated that ultrasonic pulse velocity
20 (2/4) 5 (4/6) 10 (4/6) 20 (4/6) particle size is irrelevant.
3. The test results revealed that with higher content of rubber
admixture in concrete specimens the relative pore and capillary
wall thickens and the spare pore space decreased. With higher
content of rubber admixture in concrete specimens the spatial
inhomogeneity indicator increased steadily because coarse rub-
ber particles and their bigger amount caused uneven distribu-
tion of pores and capillaries by their length.
4. The test results revealed that crumb rubber added at 20 wt%
increase the predicted exploitation freeze-thaw resistance of
concrete products 89% in the case of fraction 2/4 crumb rubber
and 27.46 wt% in the case of fraction 4/6 crumb rubber.
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Giedrius Girskas Research at the, Scientific Institute of Thermal Insulation, Labo-
ratory of Building Products Technology, Vilnius Gediminas Technical University
(VGTU), PhD (2015). Research interests: concrete technology, concrete durability,
frost resistance of concrete, concrete with additives, synthetic and natural zeolites
in concrete. Phone: +370 5 251 23 36. e-mail: giedrius.girskas@vgtu.lt.
Dzigita Nagrockiene Prof. at the Department of Building Materials, Vilnius Ged-
iminas Technical University (VGTU). PhD (2003). Research interests: concrete
durability, concretes with superplasticizers, frost resistance of concrete, materials
science, concrete technology. Phone: +370 5 274 52 19. e-mail: dzigita.nagrock-
iene@vgtu.lt.