Dynamic mechanical properties and failure mechanism of sustainable lightweight aggregate rubber concrete

Abstract

Developing high-performance sustainable concrete is an ongoing pursuit in the civil engineering. In the current study, a sustainable lightweight aggregate rubber concrete was developed. The cellular artificial lightweight aggregate produced from sludge is used as coarse aggregate, while recycled rubber particles from waste tires are utilized as fine aggregate. Subsquently, the dynamic mechanical behaviors and failure mechanisms of sustainable lightweight aggregate rubber concrete were experimentally investigated. It is found that the elastic failure characteristics of rubber particles provide additional crack paths for the conical failure of artificial lightweight aggregate, enhancing the mortar's flexibility and dynamic energy dissipation capacity. Meanwhile, the microporous structure of artificial lightweight aggregate can both attenuates the stress waves and simultaneously absorbs the harmful air introduced by air-entrainment of rubber particles. Dynamic test results indicate that, with a reasonable proportion of artificial lightweight aggregate and rubber particles, the dynamic specific strength and energy absorption of the resulting concrete are 3% and 6% higher, respectively, than those of normal concrete. This work can provide a good reference for the design and application of sustainable concrete, especially in the field of impact resistance.

Keywords

• Sustainable concrete
• Artificial lightweight aggregate
• Recycled rubber utilization
• Dynamic mechanics
• Multi-scale failure mechanism