Fire performance of recycled rubber-filled high-strength concrete: Fid-Bau Portal

Fire performance of recycled rubber-filled high-strength concrete

Hernandez-Olivares, F. / Barluenga, G.

The paper presents the behavior of a high-strength concrete (HSC) with silica fume (SF) modified with different amounts of solid particles recycled from crumbed used truck tires. The aims of including elastomeric materials in a cementitious matrix are reducing the stiffness of HSC in order to make it compatible with other materials and elements of the building, unexpected displacement of foundations and shrinkage, recycling of solid wastes and improving fire performance. The inclusion of low volumetric fractions of rubber reduces the risk of explosive spalling of HSC at high temperatures because water vapor can exit through the channels left as the polymeric particles get burnt. The temperature reached at a fixed depth of the fire-tested specimens is reduced as the percentage of rubber increase. A set of mechanical, destructive and nondestructive tests were accomplished in order to obtain optimum quantities of crumbed used tires rubber in the composition, taking into account workability, stiffness and, obviously, strength. The results obtained show that a relatively high-volume fraction of rubber (3%) does not reduce significantly the strength, although it reduces the stiffness. Higher values of rubber produce a progressive reduction of strength and stiffness but might improve the dynamic behavior.