Date of Last Revision

2023-05-02 23:50:38

Major

Civil Engineering

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science

Date of Expected Graduation

Spring 2017

Abstract

Rubber, as an additive to concrete, would hypothetically cause a concrete specimen to take on some mechanical characteristics of the rubber to a certain degree. In particular, the concrete’s durability should increase when exposed to fluctuating temperature conditions due to the rubber additive. This experiment sets out to test crumb rubber as a concrete additive, cured under various atmospheric conditions. The effects shall be measured via a simple concrete compression test.

Unfortunately, several errors took place during experimental process that led to inconclusive results. However, it can be reasonably considered from testing Matrix One that the addition of crumb rubber does show a minor increase the durability of concrete in a compression test by approximately 5% when compared to the control samples. However, this was at the cost of approximately 50% of the compressive strength of the specimen. Testing Matrix Two also showed a drop in compressive strength by about 20%, but had other errors that made it difficult to draw any conclusion from. Finally, several possible hypotheses are discussed as to why these errors in testing may have occurred, though these hypotheses are also inconclusive without further research and testing.

Research Sponsor

Dr. David Roke

First Reader

Robert Bunnell

Second Reader

NA

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