The Ideal Percentage of Rubberized Engineered Cementitious Composite (RECC) as Partial Sand Replacement

Abstract

The demand for materials to retrofit earthquake-prone high-rise buildings and road vehicle tire manufacturing has led to crumb rubber as a partial sand replacement. This trend, in turn, has contributed to the rapid growth of urbanisation. Engineered Cementitious Composite (ECC) comprises sand, cement, fibres, and admixtures as primary materials and does not require the addition of coarse aggregates to the mix. This study aims to determine the ideal percentage of Rubberized Engineered Cementitious Composite (RECC) as a partial sand replacement. The mechanical properties, such as the compressive and splitting tensile strength, were evaluated at varying percentages of crumb rubber (0%, 5%, 10%, 15%, and 20%). Due to the increased percentages of crumb rubber as a partial sand replacement into ECC, the compressive strength and tensile strength of RECC were significantly reduced. Despite these reductions, all the mixture achieved its minimum acceptable compressive strength of 35 MPa, and tensile strength is 2.31MPa. The ideal percentage of crumb rubber as partial sand replacement in ECC or RECC is 5%. However, more extensive tests can be conducted in the future to determine the flexural strength of different percentages of crumb rubber.