Mechanical Properties and Mesoscopic Simulation of Silica Fume/Rubber Concrete

Abstract

Abstract: In order to increase the replacing amount of waste rubber within concrete and to ensure its mechanical strength meet the designed standard, the paper investigated the effects of silica fume content and waste rubber content on the 28 d compressive strength, flexural strength and splitting tensile strength of concrete. The morphology of concrete was explained by using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and the failure process was simulated by using ABAQUS finite element software at the microscopic level. The results show that the adding of waste rubber reduces the mechanical properties of concrete. The higher the waste rubber content is, the lower the mechanical properties is. Silica fume can improve the mechanical properties of rubber concrete, and the optimal content is 7% (mass fraction). The mechanical properties of concrete hybrid incorporating of 7% silica fume and 15% (volume fraction) rubber are consistent with the control one, and 28 d compressive strength, flexural strength and splitting tensile strength are 50.3, 3.56, and 2.64 MPa, respectively, meeting the designed requirements of C40 concrete, which are 24.2%, 13.4%, and 10.0% than those of concrete single doped with 15% rubber concrete. There are a lot of defects on the interface between rubber and cement mortar, and the higher the waste rubber is, the more the microscopic defects is. The adding of waste rubber leads to the micro-cracks transfer from the coarse aggregates interface to rubber particles, and the higher the rubber content is, the more the micro-cracks is. The incorporating of silica fume is effective in reducing the rubber particle interface cracks, and improve concrete strength.

Key words: rubber concrete, silica fume, mechanical property, microstructure, mesoscopic simulation

CLC Number:

TU528

YANG Gang, GE Langchao, XIE Senhui, FENG Xiaojun, SONG Zilong, HE Jionghui, LI Gengying. Mechanical Properties and Mesoscopic Simulation of Silica Fume/Rubber Concrete[J]. BULLETIN OF THE CHINESE CERAMIC SOCIETY, 2025, 44(3): 1032-1040.

References

[1] 田晓龙, 郭磊, 王孔烁, 等. 废旧轮胎循环与资源化利用发展现状[J].中国材料进展, 2022, 41(1): 22-29+66-67.
TIAN X L, GUO L, WANG K S, et al. Development status of recycling and resource utilization of waste tires[J].Materials China, 2022, 41(1): 22-29+66-67 (in Chinese).
[2] 亢景付, 任海波, 张平祖. 橡胶混凝土的抗裂性能和弯曲变形性能[J].复合材料学报, 2006, 23(6): 158-162.
KANG J F, REN H B, ZHANG P Z. Cracking-resistance and flexural property of rubberized concrete[J].Acta Materiae Compositae Sinica, 2006, 23(6): 158-162 (in Chinese).
[3] 陈旭勇, 程子扬, 詹旭, 等. 纳米SiO₂-橡胶粉再生混凝土力学性能试验研究及数值模拟[J].材料导报, 2021, 35(23): 23235-23240+23245.
CHEN X Y, CHENG Z Y, ZHAN X, et al. Experimental and numerical research on mechanical properties of recycled concrete with nano-SiO₂-rubber powder[J].Materials Reports, 2021, 35(23): 23235-23240+23245 (in Chinese).
[4] 李婕, 孙煦东, 何文福. 不同粒径纳米二氧化硅混凝土宏微观性能研究[J].混凝土, 2022(2): 90-93.
LI J, SUN X D, HE W F. Research on the macro and micro performance of concrete under the action of different nano SiO₂ particle size[J].Concrete, 2022(2): 90-93 (in Chinese).
[5] 陈斌. 微硅粉和玄武岩纤维对橡胶混凝土性能影响的试验研究[D].淮南: 安徽理工大学, 2021.
CHEN B. Experimental study on effects of micro-silica powder and basalt fiber on properties of rubber concrete[D].Huainan: Anhui University of Science and Technology, 2021 (in Chinese).
[6] LI J, ZHANG J H, QIAN G P, et al. Three-dimensional simulation of aggregate and asphalt mixture using parameterized shape and size gradation[J].Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering, 2019, 31(3): 4019001-4019004.
[7] 周晶靖. 橡胶混凝土细观高温演化规律及高温损伤机理[D].北京: 中国矿业大学, 2024.
ZHOU J J. Mesoscopic high temperature evolution law and high temperature damage mechanism of rubber concrete[D].Beijing: China University of Mining and Technology, 2024 (in Chinese).
[8] LIU Y F, CHO S, SPENCER B F, et al. Concrete crack assessment using digital image processing and 3D scene reconstruction[J].Journal of Computing in Civil Engineering, 2016, 30(1): 4014124.
[9] KARIM S H, EL MARZAK M, BENAICHA M, et al. Numerical analysis of the thermomechanical behavior of rubber concrete at high temperatures[J].Structural Concrete, 2023, 24(3): 3236-3250.
[10] KAMEL M M A, FU Y, FENG X W, et al. Mesoscopic analysis of rounded and hybrid aggregates in recycled rubber concrete[J].Materials, 2023, 16(19): 6600.
[11] 刘锋, 钟根全, 夏晓舟, 等. 基于细观层次橡胶混凝土单轴受压力学分析[J].建筑材料学报, 2010, 13(6): 733-738.
LIU F, ZHONG G Q, XIA X Z, et al. Mechanical analysis of rubberized concrete subjected to uniaxial compression on meso-level[J].Journal of Building Materials, 2010, 13(6): 733-738 (in Chinese).
[12] 闻硕. 基于细观模拟的橡胶混凝土压缩力学特性研究[D].西安: 西安理工大学, 2022.
WEN S. Research on compressive mechanical properties of rubber concrete based on microscopic simulation[D].Xi'an: Xi'an University of Technology, 2022 (in Chinese).
[13] 潘蕾. 橡胶混凝土抗冲击性能数值仿真分析[D].广州: 广州大学, 2022.
PAN L. Numerical simulation analysis of impact resistance of rubber concrete[D].Guangzhou: Guangzhou University, 2022 (in Chinese).
[14] 赵维超. 基于细观力学的混凝土力学性能数值模拟研究[J].煤炭技术, 2019, 38(10): 31-34.
ZHAO W C. Numerical simulation of mechanical properties of concrete based on micromechanics[J].Coal Technology, 2019, 38(10): 31-34 (in Chinese).
[15] 王娟, 管巧艳, 冯凌云, 等. 橡胶混凝土轴压强度细观数值仿真[J].中国科技论文, 2016, 11(13): 1516-1519.
WANG J, GUAN Q Y, FENG L Y, et al. Microscopic numerical simulation of axial compressive strength of rubber concrete[J].Science and Technology, 2016, 11(13): 1516-1519 (in Chinese).
[16] 王晨霞, 王金旭, 王宇飞, 等. 硅灰对再生混凝土抗盐冻性能及微观结构的影响[J].长江科学院院报, 2024, 41(6): 171.
WANG C X, WANG J X, WANG Y F, et al. Effect of silica fume on salt-freeze resistance and microstructure of recycled concrete[J].Journal of Yangtze River Scientific Research Institute, 2024, 41(6): 171 (in Chinese).
[17] 高嵩, 班顺莉, 郭嘉, 等. 硅灰对再生混凝土界面过渡区的影响[J].材料导报, 2023, 37(11): 97-103.
GAO S, BAN S L, GUO J, et al. Effect of silica fume on interfacial transition zone of recycled concrete[J].Materials Review, 2023, 37(11): 97-103 (in Chinese).
[18] 夏冬桃, 吴晨, 崔凯, 等. 粉煤灰和硅灰取代率对碱矿渣混凝土力学性能影响分析[J].西南交通大学学报, 2023, 59(5): 1116-1125.
XIA D T, WU C, CUI K, et al. Analysis of effect of replacement rate of fly ash and silica fume on mechanical properties of alkali slag concrete[J].Journal of Southwest Jiaotong University, 2023, 59(5): 1116-1125 (in Chinese).
[19] 乔建刚, 杨海洋, 范宇格. 硅灰掺量对预制混凝土界面黏结性能影响研究[J].应用化工, 2023, 52(6): 1752-1755.
QIAO J G, YANG H Y, FAN Y G. Study on effect of silica fume content on interface bonding performance of precast concrete[J].Applied Chemical Industry, 2023, 52(6): 1752-1755 (in Chinese).