Effect of rubber particles on impact resistance of concrete at a temperature of - 20 ℃

Studies have shown that rubberised concrete is a potential pavement material. Pavement materials are generally expected to possess concrete with high impact resistance, especially in regions where winter temperatures remain lower than the freezing point for long periods. However, knowledge about the performance of rubberised concrete on impact under low temperatures is still limited. In this study, experiments were conducted to evaluate the compressive strength, elasticity modulus, bending strength, and impact resistance of rubberised concrete at room temperature (20 °C) and at a sub-zero temperature (− 20 °C). Meanwhile, a new U-shaped specimen drop-weight test was performed as an impact test. The results indicated that although the impact toughness of both rubberised and plain concrete types decreased at low temperatures, rubber particles also had positive effects on concrete impact resistance at − 20 °C. In addition to macroscopic tests, mercury injection and molecular dynamics simulations were performed to understand the mechanism through which rubber particles improve the impact resistance of concrete at low temperatures. The pores that could not freeze accounted for 1.55% of the total pores in plain concrete; this value was 2.36% in concrete with a rubber particle density of 50 kg/m3. From the results of this study, we can conclude that the addition of rubber can change the distribution of water or ice in concrete pores, which leads to an improvement in the toughness of concrete at a low temperature (- 20 °C).

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Opracowanie rekordu ze środków MEiN, umowa nr SONP/SP/546092/2022 w ramach programu "Społeczna odpowiedzialność nauki" - moduł: Popularyzacja nauki i promocja sportu (2022-2023)