Compressive strength prediction of crumb rubber mortar based on mesoscale model

• Published in: Engineering failure analysis Vol. 152; p. 107485
• Main Authors: Chen, Huailiang, Li, Danda, Ma, Xing, Zhong, Zheng, Abd-Elaal, El-Sayed
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01-10-2023
• Subjects: Compressive strength; Crumb rubber mortar (CRM); Mesoscale modeling; Crumb rubber mortar (CRM); Mesoscale modeling; Compressive strength
• ISSN: 1350-6307; 1873-1961
• DOI: 10.1016/j.engfailanal.2023.107485

•A mesoscale model was developed for simulating compression testing of crumb rubber mortar.•The effect of randomly distributed rubber particles on the compressive strength of CRM was studied.•The effect of the interface layer on the compressive strength of CRM was investigated.•Rubber content is the controlling factor affecting the reduction of compressive strength of mortar.•Rubber can be considered as pores to analyze their effect on compressive strength.
A mesoscale model was developed to study the compressive performance of crumb rubber mortar (CRM). The internal structure of CRM was considered as a three-phase composite consisting of rubber, mortar, and interfacial transition zone (ITZ). The effects of ITZ, rubber aggregate distribution, mortar matrix strength, rubber aggregate shape, and treating rubber as pores on the compressive strength of CRM were studied. The influence of the presence of ITZ on the compressive strength of CRM was lower than 2 % and was negligible.
The location of rubber particles has an effect on the strength of CRM. The use of small-sized rubber particles resulted in a more uniform internal structure of the CRM samples and less variation in strength among different samples. Adding rubber reduces the compressive strength of mortar, and the strength reduction rate is mainly affected by the rubber content. Rubber particles can be equivalent to pores to analyze their influence on the compressive strength and failure mode of CRM. The stress concentration that occurs around the position of the rubber particles is a major factor that causes the strength of CRM to decrease. A prediction formula was presented to calculate the compressive strength of CRM, which agreed well with the experimental results.