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Waste Management 28 (2008) 2472–2482

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Mechanical properties of concrete containing a high volume

of tire–rubber particles
Ali R. Khaloo *, M. Dehestani, P. Rahmatabadi
Civil Engineering Department, Sharif University of Technology, Center of Excellence in Structures and Earthquake Engineering, Tehran, Iran

Accepted 5 January 2008

Available online 26 March 2008

Abstract

Due to the increasingly serious environmental problems presented by waste tires, the feasibility of using elastic and flexible tire–rubber
particles as aggregate in concrete is investigated in this study. Tire–rubber particles composed of tire chips, crumb rubber, and a com-
bination of tire chips and crumb rubber, were used to replace mineral aggregates in concrete. These particles were used to replace 12.5%,
25%, 37.5%, and 50% of the total mineral aggregate’s volume in concrete. Cylindrical shape concrete specimens 15 cm in diameter and
30 cm in height were fabricated and cured. The fresh rubberized concrete exhibited lower unit weight and acceptable workability com-
pared to plain concrete. The results of a uniaxial compressive strain control test conducted on hardened concrete specimens indicate large
reductions in the strength and tangential modulus of elasticity. A significant decrease in the brittle behavior of concrete with increasing
rubber content is also demonstrated using nonlinearity indices. The maximum toughness index, indicating the post failure strength of
concrete, occurs in concretes with 25% rubber content. Unlike plain concrete, the failure state in rubberized concrete occurs gently
and uniformly, and does not cause any separation in the specimen. Crack width and its propagation velocity in rubberized concrete
are lower than those of plain concrete. Ultrasonic analysis reveals large reductions in the ultrasonic modulus and high sound absorption
for tire–rubber concrete.
Ó 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction Eldin and Senouci, 1993, 1994; Toutanji, 1996; Fedroff

Modification of concrete properties by the addition of
appropriate materials is a popular field of concrete
research. The brittle nature of concrete and its low loading
toughness compared to other materials, has prompted the
use of waste tire particles as a concrete aggregate to possi-
bly remedy or reduce these negative attributes. Elastic and
deformable tire–rubber particles could improve concrete
properties.
Waste tire management and disposal is a major environ-
mental concern in many countries. Stockpiling is danger-
ous, not only due to a potential negative environmental
impact, but also because it presents a fire hazard and pro-
vides a breeding ground for rats, mice, vermin, and mos-
quitoes (Khatib and Bayomy, 1999; Guneyisi et al., 2004;
*
Corresponding author. Fax: +98 21 6601 4828.
E-mail address: khaloo@sharif.edu (A.R. Khaloo).
et al., 1996; Topcu, 1995; Siddiquel and Naik, 2004; Her-
nandez-Olivares et al., 2002; Ghaly and Cahill, 2005; Li
et al., 2004). Waste tire management is increasingly becom-
ing a significant environmental, health, and aesthetic prob-
lem that is not easily solved. The use of waste tires as a
concrete additive is a possible disposal solution.
The importance of recycling of waste tires coupled with
the interest in overcoming the aforementioned concrete
defects have motivated a significant body of research per-
taining to rubberized concrete. Properties, testing, and
design of rubber as an engineering material were investi-
gated in 1960 (Eldin and Senouci, 1993). Eldin and Senouci
(1993, 1994) used tire–rubber particles as concrete aggre-
gates, elucidating rubberized concrete properties, and pro-
posed an analytical approach to predict the strength in
rubberized concrete. Khatib and Bayomy (1999) studied
rubberized Portland cement concrete and offered some
practical uses of rubberized concrete, including reduction

0956-053X/$ - see front matter Ó 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.wasman.2008.01.015
 A.R. Khaloo et al. / Waste Management 28 (2008) 2472–2482 2473

factors. Their paper contains limitations and concerns of Table 2

using tire–rubber concrete as well. Li et al. (2004) used Rubber specification (ANSI tests)
waste tires in the form of fibers and developed waste tire Reclaimed rubber specification: American National Standards Institute
fiber modified concrete. The static and dynamic behavior Chemical Unit Actual Standard Test
of recycled tire–rubber-filled concrete was investigated by test method
Hernandez-Olivares et al. (2002). Siddiquel and Naik MLT+4 at 37.5 Max 70 JIS K 6313
(2004) presented an overview of research published on 100 c0
the use of scrap tires in Portland cement concrete. Guneyisi Ash Content % 5 Max 70 JIS K 6313
Acetone % 5 Max 70 JIS K 6313
et al. (2004) investigated the properties of rubberized con- Extract
cretes containing silica fume through six designated rubber Polymer % 46 Min 40 JIS K 6313
contents. These previous findings reveal that the properties Content
of rubberized concrete are affected by type, size, content, Sp. Gravity g/cm3 1.14 1.17+/ JIS K 6313
and the procedure of incorporating the rubber into the at 25 c0 0.02
Hardness SHA 53 55+/5 JIS K 6313
concrete. Tensile kg/ 41 Min 70 JIS K 6313
In this paper, tire–rubber concrete properties are inves- cm2
tigated using mechanical and non-destructive testing for Elongation % 200 Min 300 JIS K 6313
different sizes of tire particles. The experimental observa- Standard recipe reclaim
tions and subsequent explanations of tire–rubber concrete
ZNO ST. ACC.CBC Sulfur Curing Packing
behavior under compressive strain are presented. Ultra- ACID condition
sonic analysis investigates sound absorption and the ultra-
5 1 1 3 140 c0 , Rolls of
sonic modulus of tire–rubber concrete. 20 min 15 kg

2. Experimental design
In order to investigate the mechanical properties of tire–
rubber concrete, specimens of a cylindrical shape 15 cm in
diameter  30 cm in height were fabricated. These speci-
mens were different in the content and type of tire particles
as a portion of total aggregates in concrete.
2.1. Materials
Constituent materials for concrete mixes included a
Type I Portland cement meeting ASTM C150 require-
ments, crushed stone gravel with a maximum size of
20 mm as a coarse aggregate, natural sand with a
4.75 mm maximum size as fine aggregate, and tire–rubber
particles provided by the Yazd Tire Company in Iran. Tire
particle specifications are summarized in Tables 1 and 2.
These specifications were provided by tire manufacturers
according to ANSI (American National Standard Insti-
tute) tests. Two types of scrap tire–rubber particles were
used: crumb rubber, which was a fine material with grading
close to that of the aforementioned sand, and coarse tire
chips produced by mechanical shredding. Tire particle
groups are shown in Fig. 1. Particles of tire finer than
0.15 mm may disturb the cement paste reaction (Neville,
1995); thus these particles were removed from the tire
aggregate source using a sieve # 100 based on the ASTM
C136 method. Tire particles were not pretreated before
their incorporation into the concrete mixture. The proper-
ties of fine and coarse aggregates were determined accord-
ing to ASTM standard test methods C127, C128, C129,
and C136. The grading of tire–rubber materials was deter-
mined based on the ASTM C136 method. The grading
curve of rubber materials was determined by using crushed
stones in each sieve in order to provide adequate pressure
on tire–rubber particles to pass the sieves. Grading curves
are presented in Fig. 2. Data regarding the properties of
the aggregates and the rubber particles are given in Table
3. The specific gravity of the cement was evaluated to be
3.15 g/cm3.

Table 1
Rubber–tire specification
Rubber powder specification
1 Specific gravity 1.16 g/cm3
2 Ash content 5%
3 Plasticizer 10%
4 Carbon black 29%
5 Polymer 50%
6 Sieve residue on mesh 40 3.36%
7 Sieve residue on mesh 60 80%
Packing: bags of 30 kg
Fig. 1. Type of tire–rubber particles.
2474 A.R. Khaloo et al. / Waste Management 28 (2008) 2472–2482

2.2. Concrete mixtures

The experimental setup and specimen fabrication are

summarized in Tables 4 and 5, respectively. To unify the
rubber content, a designated percentage for each mix type
was converted to a total aggregate volume percentage. The
equivalent values of rubber content by total aggregate vol-
ume are given in Table 4.
Specimens were demoulded 24 h after casting, and were
then water cured for 7 days. Thereafter, the specimens were
kept in a curing room at a temperature of 30 °C, with a rel-
ative humidity of 60%, until the time of testing.
Fig. 2. Grading of mineral aggregates and tire particles. A normal, non-air-entrained, Portland cement concrete,
with a 30 MPa targeted compressive strength, was designed
as the control mix following ACI Standard 211.1-81
(American Concrete Institute, 2002). The mix required a
0.45 water–cement ratio. Other constituents are given in
Table 5 for P specimens. This control mix was used as
Table 3
Properties of aggregate and rubber the basis for preparing three rubberized concrete mixes
specified by C, F, and CF mixes. In the C mixes, the coarse
Aggregate Specific Absorption Fineness Unit weight
type gravity (%) modulus (kg/m3) aggregates of the control mix were replaced by rubber
chips, and in the F mixes, the sand in the control mix
Coarse 2.65 2.66 NA 1701.3
aggregate was replaced by crumb rubber. In the CF mixes, chip
Fine 2.67 5.01 4.35 1716.8 and crumb rubber particles were used as replacements for
aggregate gravel and sand, respectively. For a C50F50 mix, crumb
Rubber 1.16 49.56 NA 1150 rubber replaced 50% of the sand volume and tire chips
Particles replaced 50% of the coarse aggregate volume.

Table 4
Experimental program
Specimen Tire content (%) by Fine tire Coarse tire Fine mineral Coarse mineral Replicates in Replicates in
designation total aggregates aggregate (%) aggregate (%) aggregate (%) aggregate (%) compressive test ultrasonic test
P 0 0 0 100 100 3 2
C25 12.5 0 25 100 75 3 2
C50 25 0 50 100 50 3 2
C75 37.5 0 75 100 25 3 2
C100 50 0 100 100 0 3 2
F25 12.5 25 0 75 100 3 2
F50 25 50 0 50 100 3 2
F75 37.5 75 0 25 100 3 2
F100 50 100 0 0 100 3 2
C25F25 25 25 25 75 75 3 2
C50F50 50 50 50 50 50 3 2

Table 5
Concrete mixture proportions
Specimen Water Cement Coarse tire aggregate Fine tire aggregate Gravel Sand Moisture of gravel Moisture of sand
(lit) (kg) (kg) (kg) (kg) (kg) (%) (%)
P 227 350 0 0 900 900 0 0
C25 229 350 152.375 0 675 900 2.6 5.5
C50 299 350 304.18 0 450 900 2 6.4
C75 356 350 456.3 0 225 900 3 8
C100 442 350 609.5 0 0 900 3 7
F25 215 350 0 149.5 900 675 3 7
F50 282 350 0 299 900 450 4 7.5
F75 384 350 0 452.1 900 225 3 2.5
F100 453 350 0 602.8 900 0 3 7
C25F25 298 350 152.375 149.5 675 675 3 6
C50F50 434 350 304.2 301.4 450 450 4 9
 A.R. Khaloo et al. / Waste Management 28 (2008) 2472–2482 2475

Several specimens were fabricated from each of the C

a 8.5 Coarse
and F mixes, wherein the coarse or fine mineral aggregate
7.5 Fine
was replaced by rubber aggregates in increments of 25%
by volume. C25F25 and C50F50 were also fabricated. Combined
6.5

slump (cm)
5.5
2.3. Test methods
4.5
To evaluate the properties of fresh concrete, slump and
3.5
unit weight were measured according to ASTM C143 and
ASTM C138 (ASTM, 1988), respectively. A compressive 2.5
strain-control test was conducted for hardened concrete
1.5
specimens to obtain the stress–strain curves for all of the 0 10 20 30 40 50
specimens. The test was performed by a universal testing Tire content (%) of total aggregates
machine and a sensitive data acquisition system. The
machine yielded a loading value variation due to a constant b 2500
rate of specimen deformation. This rate was chosen to be Coarse
0.005 mm/sec. The ends of the cylinders were capped with Fine

Unit weight (kg/m3 )

traditional sulfur mortar following the requirements of
ASTM C617 (ASTM, 1988) prior to testing. Compressive
strengths of the cylindrical specimens were evaluated after
50 days. The tangential moduli of elasticity at 40% of the
ultimate stress on the elastic portion of the stress–strain
curves were evaluated.
A non-destructive test using an ultrasonic pulse device
was conducted for cylindrical specimens to evaluate the
velocity of wave transmission in the material, and also,
the dynamic (ultrasonic) modulus of elasticity of the hard-
ened concrete. The velocity of wave transmission in the
concrete was measured in the longitudinal direction of
the specimen.
3. Experimental results and discussion
3.1. Properties of fresh concrete
Variations of slump and unit weight of fresh concrete
with respect to tire aggregate concentration are presented
in Fig. 3. The workability, defined as the ease with which
concrete can be mixed, transported, and placed, of fresh
concrete is affected by the interactions of tire particles
and mineral aggregates. As shown in Fig. 3a, the slump
for F mixes increased with tire aggregate concentrations
lower than 15%, and reached a maximum value when the
tire aggregate concentration was 15%. Tire aggregate con-
centrations exceeding 15% reduced the slump. The slump
for C mixes decreases to a minimum value with tire aggre-
gate concentrations of 15%. The slump fluctuates slightly
over the minimum value for tire aggregate concentrations
exceeding 15%. Slump reduction for combined mixes was
less than that of C mixes. In general, the rubberized con-
crete specimens have acceptable workability in terms of
ease of handling, placement, and finishing. As shown in
Fig. 3, the ordinary procedure for evaluating the slump
of the investigated mixes does not support the actual state
of the mix workability. These findings suggest that another
method is required to properly measure the slump of rub-
berized concrete (Eldin and Senouci, 1994).
2200
Combined
1900
1600
1300
0 10 20 30 40 50
Tire content (%) of total aggregates
Fig. 3. Properties of fresh concrete (a) slump and (b) unit weight of fresh
rubberized concrete mixtures.
The unit weight of the concrete ranged from 2409 to
1324 kg/m3, depending on rubber content. Increasing the
rubber content reduces the unit weight of the concrete,
resulting in lighter concretes. The unit weights of the C,
F, and CF mixes were reduced 45%, 34%, and 33%, respec-
tively, compared to plain concrete. The unit weight reduc-
tion is a result of the lower unit weight of tire–rubber
particles replacing the much heavier mineral aggregates.
Thus, rubber–tire concrete could be used wherever light-
weight concrete is required. For example, tire–rubber con-
crete containing low tire–rubber concentrations can be
used in structures to reduce earthquake damage. Due to
the high water absorption of tire particles, the ratio of
the fresh concrete unit weight to the hardened unit weight
in tire–rubber concrete is greater than that of plain con-
crete. Therefore, tire–rubber concrete is expected to be
more porous than plain concrete. A smaller reduction in
unit weight, compared to that of the F and CF mixes,
was realized for C mixes with rubber concentrations lower
than 40%. At higher concentrations, the result is reversed.
3.2. Hardened concrete properties
3.2.1. Effective parameters
Due to the non-polar nature of rubber particles and
their tendency to entrap air in their rough surfaces, tire–
rubber concrete specimens contain a higher air content.
2476 A.R. Khaloo et al. / Waste Management 28 (2008) 2472–2482
Furthermore, due to their tendency to repel water, when
tire particles are substituted for mineral aggregates in the
control mixture, the tire particles attract air, with the
amount depending on the internal pressure in the mixture.
Air can then adhere to the tire particles (Siddiquel and
Naik, 2004), thus, increasing the tire content results in a
higher air content in tire–rubber concrete mixtures, thereby
decreasing the unit weight of the mixtures. A higher air
content suggests a subsequent strength reduction in con-
crete specimens. For example, in air-entrained concrete,
8% entrained air reduces the strength of the concrete spec-
imens by 45% (Neville, 1995).
Due to a low modulus of elasticity with respect to min-
eral aggregates, rubber aggregates act as large pores, and
do not significantly contribute to the resistance to exter-
nally applied loads. Thus, a tire–rubber concrete specimen
loses its strength depending on its tire content. For exam-
ple, the effective cross section of a specimen resisting an
external load decreases according to the tire particle con-
centration of that specimen. Assume a to be the volumetric
percentage of the tire particle concentration in the mixture,
and k is the relative dimensional length reduction. These
parameters satisfy the following condition
Fig. 4. Failure types of specimens.
a
k3 ¼ ð1Þ
100
and the reduced effective cross section Ae can be expressed
as
  a 23 
2
Ae ¼ ð1  k ÞA ¼ 1  A ð2Þ
100
where A is the nominal cross section of the specimen. For
example, a tire aggregate concentration of 20% of the total
concrete volume reduces the effective cross section by 34%.
The low elastic modulus of tire particles has these parti-
cles behave as weak inclusions in the hardened concrete
mass. The effect of stress concentration should be consid-
ered for these inclusion-like particles. For a more detailed
discussion of this topic, refer to (Eldin and Senouci, 1993).
3.2.2. Visual observation of concrete specimen behavior
The failure duration, defined as the duration to concrete
failure, for plain concrete is abrupt and explosive. In con-
trast, the tire–rubber concrete failure duration is more
gradual, since the concrete becomes more flexible with
increasing tire particle substitution of mineral aggregates.
 A.R. Khaloo et al. / Waste Management 28 (2008) 2472–2482
Tire–rubber concretes are able to withstand loads beyond
the peak load, which is referred to as post-failure strength.
Failure states in plain concrete specimens, as shown in
Fig. 4, are accompanied with the separation of pieces or
slices from the specimen. For concrete containing tire par-
ticles, the failure state was not accompanied by any detach-
ment due to the bridging of cracks by rubber particles.
Tire–rubber concrete specimens did not exhibit any detach-
ment, despite losing a considerable amount of strength as
shown by the F25 and C25 specimens in Fig. 4.
Tire–rubber concrete specimens present large deforma-
tions compared to plain concrete specimens. During the
unloading process, the flexible behavior of tire particles
decreases the internal friction among the concrete elements,
and recovers extra strain.
Failure properties, like discontinuities and cracks,
propagated uniformly and gradually in tire–rubber con-
Fig. 5. compressive stress–strain response of rubber–tire concrete, (a) responses of concrete types shown all together, response of concrete with (b) 12.5%,
(c) 25%, (d) 37.5% and (e) 50% tire content by total aggregate volume.
2477
crete specimens. In contrast, the propagation of failure
symptoms were abrupt and concentrated for plain con-
crete. Fig. 4 demonstrates that the failure parameters grow
uniformly from the bottom to the top of a C25 of
specimen.
The lateral deformations of tire–rubber concrete speci-
mens are larger than those of plain concrete specimens;
however, because of the porosity due to the substitution
of tire particles, Poisson’s ratios for tire–rubber concrete
are slightly more than those for plain concrete. It is impor-
tant to note that the behavior of rubberized concrete is not
perfectly elastic, therefore Poisson’s ratio is not constant
for the entire loading process. Poisson’s ratio increases
and approaches 0.5 as the behavior of rubberized concrete
becomes plastic-like. As shown in Fig. 4, considerable lat-
eral deformations are observable in tire–rubber concrete
specimens after an entire loading process.
2478 A.R. Khaloo et al. / Waste Management 28 (2008) 2472–2482
Fig. 5 (continued)
3.2.3. Stress–strain response
The stress–strain curves for the investigated rubber
types and concentrations are shown in Fig. 5. The curves
indicate that the behavior of tire–rubber concrete is more
nonlinear compared to that of plain concrete, implying a
different failure type for tire–rubber concrete. The nonlin-
ear behavior for tire–rubber concrete mixtures may also
be due to the lower compressive strength of these mixtures.
To compare the nonlinearity between the plain control
concrete and tire–rubber concrete, a nonlinearity index
was defined as the ratio of the slope of the line connecting
the origin to 40% of the ultimate stress, to the slope of the
line connecting the origin to the ultimate stress. A higher
nonlinearity index implies a more nonlinear stress–strain
curve. Fig. 6a illustrates how the nonlinearity index is
determined. The nonlinearity indices for different concen-
trations of rubber and various types of mixtures are sum-
marized in Fig. 6b. As shown in Fig. 6b, the nonlinearity
index increases as the rubber content increases for all mix-
tures. A comparison between the investigated mixtures
reveals that the C mixture behavior is more nonlinear than
the F and CF mixtures behavior. The increased nonlinear-
ity for tire–rubber concrete can explain the observations of
the more global and well dispersed failures of the tire–
rubber concrete specimens. The substitution of rubber for
mineral aggregates appear to permit more uniform crack
development and provide gentler crack propagation, com-
pared to plain concrete.
Considering the stress–strain curves, tire–rubber con-
crete specimens experience larger deformations compared
to plain concrete specimens under the same loading condi-
tions. Hence, these curves support the assertion that tire
particle usage in concrete results in concrete failures with
larger deformations and higher energy dissipation.
Et is defined as the slope of the line tangent to the stress–
strain curve at the point with 40% of the ultimate stress and
can be obtained using Eq. (3), wherein drt and det are stress
changes and the corresponding strain changes at the point
with 40% of the ultimate stress
drt
Et ¼ @ 40% of ultimate stress ð3Þ
det
Et can be a suitable indicator of the tire–rubber concrete
stiffness attributed to elastic deformation. The values of
Et for different mixtures and tire concentrations are given
in Table 6. Significant decreases in Et for tire–rubber con-
crete specimens imply large deformations of those speci-
mens. A comparison between C and F specimens shows
that, for specimens having less than 25% rubber concentra-
tion, C specimens have higher Et values compared to F
specimens. Hence, larger elastic deformations are observed
for F specimens at the same elastic loading condition. For
specimens having more than 25% rubber concentration, C
and F specimens have identical Et values, which results in
equal elastic deformations for the same elastic loading
condition.
Failure state or softening phases of C specimens were
accompanied by a larger deformation compared to F spec-
imens at the same loading condition. C specimens exhibited
higher strength compared to F specimens at the failure
state for the same strain condition. This extra strength is
due to the existence of fibers in coarse tire–rubber particles.
As shown in Fig. 5, the CF specimen stress–strain curves
located between the C and F specimens stress–strain curves
contain the same tire concentration. The combined stress–
strain curve demonstrated stress values which were close to
those of the F mixture, but the curve’s shape dominantly
resembled the C mixture curve. This suggests that the ulti-
mate stress of CF tire–rubber concrete depends on the fine
 A.R. Khaloo et al. / Waste Management 28 (2008) 2472–2482 2479

3.2.4. Compressive strength

a
0.6 As shown in Table 6, the ultimate compressive strength
reduces significantly with increasing amounts of rubber
Ultimate Stress
concentration, and the strengths for all mixes approach a
minimum of 1 MPa. The ultimate strength for C specimens
Stress (MPa)

0.4
β
are slightly more than that of F specimens for total rubber
α concentrations lower than 25%; however for total rubber
0.2 40% of Ultimate Stress concentrations greater than 25%, the ultimate strength
results are reversed. Ultimate strengths of combined speci-
Nonlinearity Index= tg β / tgα
mens were nearly between the ultimate strengths of the C
0 and F specimens, but closer to F specimen strengths.
0 0.04 0.08 0.12 0.16
The systematic reduction of ultimate strength in tire–
Strain (mm/mm)
rubber concrete might restrict the use of tire–rubber con-
b 8 crete, with tire–rubber concentrations exceeding 25%, in
structural applications. Reduction in tire–rubber concen-
7 Coarse
Fine
tration and rubber particle pretreatments are required to
6 enhance the ultimate strength and other mechanical prop-
Nonlinearity Index

Combined
5 erties of rubber-particle concrete. Pretreatment is available,
4
ranging from an inexpensive and easy treatment with
water, to complicated and expensive physical, chemical,
3 and mechanical treatments. A typical treatment for tire–
2 rubber particles is a NaOH solution to improve rubber
1
adhesion with the cement paste (Segre and Joekes, 2000).
Another report, in contrast, states that a NaOH and silone
0
0 15 30 45 60 pretreatment of rubber does not significantly change the
Tire rubber content by total aggregate (%) compressive strength and splitting tensile strength of rub-
ber-concrete composites, when compared to untreated
Fig. 6. (a) Evaluation of nonlinearity index and (b) nonlinearity index for composites (Albano et al., 2005).
various types of rubberized concrete.

3.2.5. Toughness
aggregate concentration, while the shape of the stress– Toughness of tire–rubber concrete was determined by
strain curve is primarily affected by the coarse aggregate calculating the area under the stress–strain curve up to
concentration. These observations imply the stress–strain 80% of the ultimate stress in the post-peak region. The
response for CF tire–rubber concrete is located between toughness value is defined as a ratio between the area under
the corresponding C and F stress–strain curves equaling the stress–strain curve up to 80% of the ultimate stress, to
the total respective tire particles concentration. Hence the area under the stress–strain curve up to the ultimate
any desired stress–strain curve between the C and F curves stress. Fig. 7a illustrates how each of the areas was deter-
can be obtained by tuning coarse and fine tire mined. It should be noted that the 80% factor of ultimate
concentrations. stress was selected to limit further reductions in strength
level. Thus, the toughness index (Ti) is expressed as follows
T 80%
Table 6 Ti ¼ ð4Þ
Ultimate strengths and tangential moduli of elasticity for various concrete T 100%
types containing different tire–rubber contents
The toughness indices for different rubber concentrations
Concrete mixture Total rubber Stressmax (MPa) Et (GPa) and different mixtures are presented in Fig. 7b. Tire–rubber
content (%)
concrete exhibited greater toughness as compared to the
Control P 0 30.77 7.41 plain concrete. Toughness indices maximize as rubber con-
C-type C25 12.5 6.52 2.47 centration approaches 25% of the total aggregate volume.
C50 25 1.49 0.31 Beyond rubber concentrations of 25%, toughness indices
C75 37.5 0.65 0.12 decrease due to the systematic reduction in strength. The
C100 50 0.37 0.03
toughness index for a combined C25F25 mixture is higher
CF-type C25F25 25 1.17 0.42 than that of the F50 and C50 mixtures.
C50F50 50 0.53 0.04
F-type F25 12.5 6.36 1.15 3.2.6. Reduction factors (RF) for hardened concrete
F50 25 1.22 0.31 properties
F75 37.5 0.81 0.11 Mechanical property results of rubberized concrete
F100 50 0.55 0.04
showed that property values were primarily dependent on
2480 A.R. Khaloo et al. / Waste Management 28 (2008) 2472–2482

a 7
Ultimate Stress
a 1.0

6 F25 All Data

0.8
80% of Ultimate
5 Stress Poly. (All Data)
Stress (MPa)

4 T 100% =A 0.6

SRF
T 80% =A+B
3 Toughness Index=(A+B)/B 0.4
A
2
B
0.2
1

0 0.0
0 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05 0 15 30 45 60
Strain (mm/mm) Rubber content by total aggregate volume (%)

b 7 b 1.0
Coarse All Data
6
0.8
Toughness Index

Fine
5 Combined
Poly. (All Data)
4 0.6

3
2
1 0.2
0
0 10 20 30 40 50
Rubber content by total aggregate volume (%)
Fig. 7. (a) Evaluation of toughness index and (b) toughness index values
for various amounts of rubber contents.
the total rubber concentration. Therefore, it is convenient
to establish a function to investigate the influence total rub-
ber concentration has on the mechanical properties of con-
crete. Hence, the reduction factor (RF) is defined for a
mechanical property as the ratio of the compressive
strength or tangential modulus of elasticity in rubber-con-
cretes containing a rubber concentration, R, to the value of
the control plain concrete. The variation of the RF-deter-
mined compressive strength and tangential modulus of
elasticity corresponding to rubber concentration are pre-
sented in Fig. 8a and b, respectively. The RF was unity
for a 0% of rubber concentration (control specimen), and
gradually decreased with increasing rubber concentration
from 0% to 50% by total aggregate volume. Khatib and
Bayomy (1999), in a similar study, examined several math-
ematical functions, including various degrees of polyno-
mial functions, and proposed the following equation to
quantify the reduction in the compressive strength
m
SRF ¼ a þ bð1  RÞ
Since the strength reduction factor (SRF) equals unity for
0% of R, the following condition can be satisfied
aþb¼1
In Eqs. (5) and (6), the SRF varies from 1 to 0; R is the rub-
ber content in a volumetric ratio of total aggregate volume,
and a, b, and m are the functional parameters. Khatib and
Bayomy (1999) found the functional parameters a, b, and
m to be 0.1, 0.9, and 7 in concrete aged 28 days, respec-
tively. A similar procedure was conducted in the present
study to examine the reduction factors for ultimate stress
ERF
0.4
60 0.0
0 15 30 45 60
Rubber content by total aggregate volume (%)
Fig. 8. (a) Strength reduction factor and (b) elastic modulus’ reduction
factor of all types of rubberized concrete containing different rubber
content.
and the tangential modulus of elasticity. A regression anal-
ysis was utilized to determine the functional parameters.
Eqs. (7) and (8) yield the ultimate SRF and tangential elas-
tic modulus reduction factor (ERF) in terms of rubber con-
centration in a volumetric ratio of total aggregate volume.
The R-square values were determined to evaluate the accu-
racy of the equations
12
SRF ¼ 0:02 þ 0:98ð1  RÞ R square ¼ 0:99 ð7Þ
11
ERF ¼ 0:01 þ 0:99ð1  RÞ R square ¼ 0:98 ð8Þ
A comparison with results reported in literature demon-
strates that the strength obtained in this study is lower than
those reported by the others. For example, for a 7.5% total
rubber concentration, the SRF attained by Khatib and
Bayomy (1999) was 0.6 after 28 days; Li et al. (2004) ob-
ð5Þ tained a SRF of 0.55 from a 7.5% total rubber concentra-
tion. Eq. (7) from this study gives the SRF a value of 0.4
from a concentration of 7.5% of total rubber. This anomaly
can be attributed to a lack of pretreatment of the tire–rub-
ð6Þ
ber particles, improper calibration of equations based on
concretes with higher tire–rubber contents, and tire type.
3.2.7. Sound absorption
The ultrasonic echo technique is a valuable tool for test-
ing concrete elements. The ultrasonic test is performed by
an instrument composed of a transducer and a receiver.
Acoustic waves were sent by the transducer and propagate
 A.R. Khaloo et al. / Waste Management 28 (2008) 2472–2482 2481

from the flat surface of cylindrical specimen, through the L

v¼ ð9Þ
length of the specimen, and are received at the other flat t
side of the specimen. The time duration for an acoustic
wave to propagate through the longitudinal direction of where L is the specimen’s longitudinal length of 30 cm, and
the specimen was recorded for each specimen in this study. t is the duration obtained from the ultrasonic test. Ultra-
The time duration for a specimen was evaluated several sonic moduli were evaluated using the velocities of the
times to obtain a stable count. For all specimens, the veloc- ultrasonic pulses. The ultrasonic modulus can be obtained
ity of the ultrasonic pulses was evaluated by using Eq. (9) using Eq. (10) (Neville, 1995)

ð1 þ tÞð1  2tÞ
EU ¼ qv2 ð10Þ
ð1  tÞ

where q and v are the hardened concrete unit weight and

a 2300 the velocity of the ultrasonic pulses, respectively. The var-
Coarse iable, t, is Poisson’s ratio for the mixtures, and was as-
2100
Fine sumed to be 0.3. Variation of Poisson’s ratio was
Unit weight (kg/m3 )

1900 Combined neglected in this study. Hardened concrete unit weight,

ultrasonic pulse velocity, and the values of the ultrasonic
1700 moduli for all types of the specimens are shown in Fig. 9.
Fig. 9 indicates that the velocity of the ultrasonic waves re-
1500 duce significantly with increasing tire–rubber content.
Wave velocity transfer through a material is one of the
1300 most important factors on which mechanical wave energies
depend. Therefore tire–rubber concrete is potentially a suit-
1100
0 10 20 30 40 50 able material for the dampening of sound and other shak-
Tire content (%) of total aggregates ing energies, and can be used in noisy sites to serve as
sound insulation. Due to the significant reduction in the
b ultrasonic modulus with increasing tire–rubber concentra-
5500 Coarse tion, a porous composition is expected for tire–rubber
Velocity of ultrasonic pulse (m/s)

Fine concrete.
4500 Combined
4. Conclusions and recommendations
3500
1. Fresh rubberized concrete mixtures with increasing rub-
ber concentrations present lower unit weights compared
2500 to plain concrete. Workability of rubberized concrete
with coarse rubber particles is reduced with increasing
1500 rubber concentration; however, rubberized concrete
0 10 20 30 40 50 with fine rubber particles exhibits an acceptable work-
Tire content (%) of total aggregates ability with respect to plain concrete.
2. The substitution of mineral aggregates with tire–rubber
c 60 particles in concrete results in large reductions in ulti-
Coarse mate strength and the tangential modulus of elasticity.
50
Due to the considerable decrease in ultimate strength,
Ultrasonic Modulus (GPa)

Fine
rubber concentrations exceeding 25% are not recom-
40 Combined
mended. Pretreatment of tire particle surfaces should
30
be considered for possible improvement of tire–rubber
concrete mechanical properties. An investigation is
20 needed to identify the influence of rubber’s mechanical
properties on the ultimate strength of rubberized
10 concrete.
3. More ductile behavior is observed for rubberized con-
0 crete compared to plain concrete specimens under com-
0 10 20 30 40 50
Tire content (%) of total aggregates pression testing. Unlike plain concrete, the failure state
in rubberized concrete does not occur quickly and does
Fig. 9. Results of the ultrasonic test: (a) hardened concrete unit weight,
(b) influence of rubber–tire on ultrasonic pulse velocity in concrete and (c)
not cause any detachment in the specimen’s elements.
values of the ultrasonic moduli for different concrete types. Crack width in rubberized concrete is smaller than that
2482 A.R. Khaloo et al. / Waste Management 28 (2008) 2472–2482
of plain concrete, and the propagation of failure symp-
toms is more gradual and uniform. The failure state in
tire–rubber concrete compared to plain concrete is char-
acterized by more deformation.
4. The results of the combined mixture of tire particles
were between the corresponding C and F specimens with
the same total tire concentration. The stress–strain
response of the combined mixtures demonstrates that
the ultimate stress of the combined tire–rubber concrete
is chiefly dependent on the fine aggregate concentration,
while the shape of the stress–strain curve depends on the
coarse aggregate concentration. These findings reveal
that, although the mechanical properties of rubberized
concrete are mainly dependent on the total rubber con-
tent, the concentrations of coarse or fine particles can be
adjusted for different behavior.
5. Rubberized concrete is an effective absorber of sound
and shaking energy. A large reduction in the ultrasonic
modulus with increasing rubber concentration demon-
strates a porous composition for rubberized concrete.
This study has exclusively focused on the mechanical
and physical properties of tire–rubber concrete for fine,
coarse, and combined rubber replacements of mineral
aggregates. There is a need for future studies to investigate
energy absorption of tire–rubber concrete under dynamic
loading, and also the durability of tire–rubber concrete
under adverse weathering conditions.
Acknowledgements
Supports of Research Committee of Sharif University of
Technology (SUT) and Center of Excellence in Structures
and Earthquake Engineering are greatly appreciated. The
authors are indebted to the staff of concrete laboratory at
Civil Engineering Department of SUT for their valuable
assistance.
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