Concrete made with old tires proves itself in real-world setting

A number of studies have shown how old rubber tires can be used to make versions that are stronger, more heat-resistant and flexible enough for use as a road material. A new study has assessed its value in real-world settings by using concrete containing old tires as a residential slab and monitoring its performance over several years, where it outshone conventional concrete in a number of ways.

The type of concrete at the center of this study is known as crumb rubber concrete, and its production involves grinding rubber tire down into crumbs of a similar consistency to sand. These crumbs can then be used to replace a certain proportion of the sand typically mixed in with the cement, water and other ingredients to form concrete, lessening the reliance on the natural material and giving the discarded rubber a second life.

To investigate its practical application in residential settings, the scientists poured two crumb rubber-reinforced concrete slabs at the University of South Australia campus in 2018, along with two conventional concrete slabs. These formed the entrances to a civil engineering laboratory that sees a lot of foot traffic, with the team closely monitoring the materials' performance over time.

“We found that reinforced crumb rubber concrete (with up to 20 percent sand replacement by volume) is superior to conventional concrete in some ways, with higher impact resistance, toughness and ductility, a higher damping ratio, better thermal and acoustic insulation, and a lighter weight," said study author Dr Osama Youssf.

https://newatlas.com/materials/crumb-rubber-concrete-tires-residential-building-slab/