Effect of rubber particles on the flexural behaviour of reinforced crumbed rubber concrete beams

This paper investigates the flexural behaviour of reinforced beams made of Crumbed Rubber Concrete (CRC) mixes of similar compressive strengths. For this purpose, twelve beams of identical reinforcement arrangements and support conditions were prepared using six different CRC mixes. These beams were tested to failure under a two-point bending load, and their flexural responses were measured during the experiments. Relevant material property tests of the constituent materials were also carried out. These experimental results were used to compare beam response between beams made of similar strength CRC mixes. The applicability of available design guidelines for conventional concrete, on predicting the flexural capacities of CRC beams were also investigated. Additionally, finite element analysis were conducted using constitutive material model for normal concrete to simulate the flexural behaviours of these beams. Simulation results were then used to determine the accuracy of the constitutive model for predicting the behaviour of CRC.