Properties of Rubberized Engineered Cementitious Composites Containing Nano-Silica

• Published in: Materials Vol. 14; no. 13; p. 3765
• Main Authors: Loganathan, Rubendran, Mohammed, Bashar S.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 05.07.2021; MDPI
• Subjects: Additives; Aggregates; Cement; Composite materials; Compressive strength; Concrete mixing; Creep (materials); crumb rubber; Density; Design; Drying; drying shrinkage; elastic modulus; engineered cementitious composite; Entrapment; Flexural strength; Fly ash; Gravity; High temperature; Mathematical models; Mechanical properties; Model accuracy; Modulus of elasticity; nano-silica; Physical properties; Poisson's ratio; Polyvinyl alcohol; Response surface methodology; Rubber; Shrinkage; Silicon dioxide; Spalling; Tensile strength; Tires; Malaysia
• ISSN: 1996-1944; 1996-1944
• DOI: 10.3390/ma14133765

To avoid explosive spalling during elevated temperature, crumb rubber (CR) is being added to the manufacturing of engineered cementitious composites (ECC). However, the addition of CR particles adversely affects the mechanical properties of ECC. Therefore, to overcome this issue, nano-silica (NS) is added into rubberized ECC mixture as cementitious material additives. Response surface methodology (RSM) has been utilized to optimize the mixtures of the rubberized ECC with variables: CR (0, 2.5, and 5 vol.%), polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) fiber (0, 1, and 2 vol.%), NS (0, 1, and 2 vol.%), and fly ash (0, 25, and 50 vol.%). The experimentally measured responses are flexural strength, direct tensile strength, elastic modulus, Poisson’s ratio, creep, and drying shrinkage. Mathematical models to predict the targeted responses have been developed using RSM. As a result, a high correlation between the factors and responses has been exhibited by the developed models and the accuracy of fit, where less than 9.38% of the variation was found between the predicted and validated results. The experimental results revealed that the rubberized ECC with the incorporation of nano-silica exhibited a higher compressive strength, direct tensile strength, flexural strength, elastic modulus, Poisson’s ratio, and lower drying shrinkage.