STUDIES ON DURABILITY OF WASTE RUBBER MIXED CONCRETE

Concrete is one of the most widely used construction material in the world. The construction industries are looking for making concrete more “greener” by reducing its ecological effects on environment and they are in need of finding cost effective materials for increasing the strength of concrete structures. Cement and aggregate, which are the important constituents used in concrete production, are then vital materials needed for the construction industry. This inevitably led to a continuous and increasing demand of natural materials used for their production. Parallel to the need for the utilization of the natural resources emerges a growing concern for protecting the environment and need to preserve natural resources (such as aggregate) by using alternative materials which are recycled or waste materials. In this project, a study was carried out on the use of recycled rubber tires as a partial replacement for fine aggregates in concrete construction using locally available waste tires. The work was carried out by conducting tests on the raw materials to determine their properties and suitability for the experiment. Concrete mix designs are prepare using IS method for M20 grade of concrete. The specimens were cast with percentage replacements of the fine aggregate by 5,10,15 and 20% of rubber as fine aggregate. Workability, compressive strength, heat and durability against acid is testedThe main findings of this investigation revealed that the rubber materials could be used successfully as an addition to concrete composites. Due to exceptionally low density, recycled modified rubber concrete blocks or rubber mixture can be used in non-load bearing structures where lightweight materials recommended.