Construction and Building Materials 176 (2018) 539–548

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Construction and Building Materials

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/conbuildmat

Fatigue performance of waste rubber concrete for rigid road pavements

Rosalía Pacheco-Torres ⇑, Elena Cerro-Prada, Félix Escolano, Fernando Varela
Departamento de Ingeniería Civil: Construcción, Infraestructura y Transporte, Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingeniería Civil, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Alfonso XII, 3,
Madrid, Spain

h i g h l i g h t s

Estimation of fatigue life of rubberized concrete for rigid pavements was assessed.

Optimum combination of size and percentage of rubber particles was explored.

A novel test was specifically designed to simulate traffic load conditions.

Optimizing size and proportion of added rubber enhances durability of concrete pavements.

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The handling and storage of end-of-life tyres is an environmental problem and constitutes a considerable
Received 26 July 2017 worldwide challenge. This paper investigates the suitability of using discarded waste tyre rubber parti-
Received in revised form 13 April 2018 cles in concrete rigid road pavements. The objective is to optimize size and proportion of rubber particle
Accepted 5 May 2018
to improve the material performance. A tests program was carried out to know the effect of rubber size
and rubber content on mechanical properties of concrete pavements. Mixtures with rubber particles of
variable sizes (1–4, 10 and 16 mm) added in different proportions (10, 20 and 30%) are considered. A
Keywords:
novel test to evaluate deformation (in terms of transversal micro-cracks) suffered by the material under
Rubber concrete
Waste tyre rubber
cyclical efforts similar to traffic loads is proposed. The results show that there exists an optimal combi-
Cyclic loading nation of size and proportion of rubber particles that improves the performance of the material under
Fatigue cyclic load stresses, which makes the material suitable for the construction of rigid concrete pavements.
Durability Ó 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Long life pavement

1. Introduction and objectives
There is an increasing concern over the high levels of waste gen-
eration per capita, especially waste elements that are impossible to
split into original components, such as rubber waste derived from
end-of-life tyres. According to the predictions made by the LMC
Automotive, by 2024 the vehicle fleet will have grown by >25%
worldwide and is estimated that around 355 million tyres are pro-
duced in the EU per annum [1,2]. Contrary to other products such
as paper or glass, the use of recycled material in the manufacture of
new tyres is impractical, among other aspects due to strict safety
requirements [3], therefore, the increasing demand of new tyres
brings about more raw materials consumption. In this context, Eur-
ope is currently facing the challenge of reducing the consumption
of raw materials, particularly those that are import-dependent,
such as natural rubber. In 2008, the European Commission
approved The Raw Materials Initiative, establishing a strategy to
⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: rosalia.pacheco@upm.es (R. Pacheco-Torres).
address the problem of access to raw materials, based on a fair
and sustainable supply of ‘‘secondary raw materials” obtained
through recycling [4].
Waste tyre rubber has been characterised as a toxic and haz-
ardous waste [5]. Recovery and disposition of end-of-life tyres is
recognized as ‘‘black pollution” [6], as this waste has a strong envi-
ronmental, economic and social impact. A large part of discarded
tyres ends up stockpiled in waste disposal sites (usually unsuper-
vised) without having been subjected to any specific treatment
prior to storage. The growing number of these waste disposal sites
poses phytosanitary risk, increasing likelihood of fires and segrega-
tion of the space they occupy in relation to their environment. The
handling and storage of end-of-life tyres is already an environmen-
tal problem with public health and aesthetic implications in devel-
oped countries, and it is becoming problematic in developing
countries. The increase in per capita income favours the expansion
of automobile for personal use as well as public investments in
road systems, which encourages the purchase of new vehicles
and consequently the increasing of discarded tyres [7].

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2018.05.030
0950-0618/Ó 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
540 R. Pacheco-Torres et al. / Construction and Building Materials 176 (2018) 539–548
The handling of waste tyres constitutes a considerable chal-
lenge, due to the difficulty to turn the material into a reusable
raw material. In an attempt to reduce the magnitude of this issue,
the scientific and technological community is trying to develop
alternatives for worldwide reduction and recycling of this product.
Waste tyres can be utilized in several construction materials, such
as asphalt, culverts, bricks, paving blocks and acoustic panels [8].
Among these recycling options, the industrial use in concrete man-
ufacturing offers great potential in large-scale consumption of
these waste materials. The production of concrete with rubber as
a substitute of aggregates is an emerging field for the reuse of dis-
carded tyres [9,10], being applicable not just in plain concrete, but
also in roller-compacted concrete, self-compacting concrete and
high strength concrete. This solution is environmentally beneficial
and allows reducing the amount of material stored in waste dis-
posal sites.
Road pavements are constantly subjected to high level of loads
acting in a cyclic manner. The derived damage needs unexpansive
and speedy repairing, in order to avoid traffic interruptions. Only in
Spain, for instance, maintenance of road surfaces takes up to 80% of
financial investment in road management. For this reason, most
intervention is limited to prompt repairs. This methodology, how-
ever, has the following flaws: (i) a punctual action does not elimi-
nate the root of the problem; and (ii) additional material is used for
repairing works. The use of high-performance materials, extends
the useful life of pavements, reducing maintenance and repair
costs, along with the consumption of additional materials and
the inconvenience caused to the users. Currently, there is a grow-
ing interest in the use of rigid concrete for roads, due to enhanced
durability, with the aim to reduce the increasing cost and strong
environmental impact that products deriving from oil causes,
which are usually used in asphalt pavements. However, the envi-
ronmental impact of concrete should not be ignored, and new
material formulations must be proposed to increase the useful life
of road pavements and reduce the need to use materials in
maintenance.
The inclusion of rubber from discarded tyres in concrete pave-
ments is an interesting alternative that provides a novel use for
this material once the tyre has finished its useful life. This alterna-
tive allows reducing the amount of waste collected in landfills, as
well as diminishes the volume of raw materials needed for new
roads (and consequently remarkably reduces the environmental
impact associated with mining such resources). Finally, certain
critical properties of concrete pavements would also be improved,
such as the durability for cyclic efforts and the level of noise pro-
duced, increasing the safety and comfort on the roads. Therefore,
reusing this material in concrete road pavements clearly provides
environmental and social benefits.
The objective of this paper is to evaluate the fatigue perfor-
mance of concrete mixed with discarded waste tyre particles. For
that purpose, a test was specifically designed to simulate the load
conditions to which a rigid pavement would be subjected due to
traffic loads. Measurements of deformation of the material over
the course of the test are also intended. An experimental program
was conducted using rubberized concrete with different content of
rubber of several sizes each time. Mechanical properties and fati-
gue performance were evaluated and compared with plain con-
crete. As an innovative approach, the methodology proposed in
the present study (a) considers one rubber particle size by each
mix in different proportions, and (b) evaluates deformation (in
terms of transversal micro-cracks) suffered by the material under
cyclic loads during the test period. Therefore, this research aims
to explore the optimum combination of size and percentage of
the rubber to be added to the material for improving resistance
and deformation under cyclic loads.
2. Literature review
2.1. Effect of rubber on the properties of concrete
The addition of rubber to the concrete mixture implies the
introduction of a flexible material in a rigid compound altering
its performance and properties. Thus, the density of the material
gets reduced because rubber is less dense than traditional aggre-
gates [11], along with variations of the water absorption coefficient
[12] and permeability [13]. The particle size of waste tyre rubber
clearly affects load transfer capabilities [14], and is well known
that the bond between rubber particles and cement paste is
weaker than in traditional rigid aggregates [15]. Consequently,
the optimization of the rubber particle sizes allows improving
the interaction between the components of the mixture. Depend-
ing on nominal size, rubber particles are classified as ash, granular
or fibbers (see Table 1) [11,16–19].
The origin and form of the rubber is of vital importance, as
affects the workability of the mixture [18]. Large quantities of rub-
ber reduce significantly the workability of the mixture; it is esti-
mated that a rubber content of 40–45% of the total volume of
aggregates produces a reduction of the flow of concrete and makes
difficult to handle it manually [20]. Kotresh et al. reported a wors-
ening of workability with an increase in slump test value of 17% for
a 10% chipped tyre rubber [21]. Gupta et al. managed to keep the
workability of the material by varying the quantity super plasti-
cizer around 3% for mixes with 0 to 25% of partial replacement of
fine aggregate by rubber fibbers [11]. Although this reduction of
workability is widely accepted [22], these authors exclusively anal-
ysed one size of rubber particles, leaving room for studying the
possibility that smaller sized particles might produce loss of
workability.
Generally speaking, the concrete resistance to compression is
reduced with either sand or coarse aggregate substitution or
replacement. Compressive strength reduction around 46–48% has
been reported for a 20% replacement of fine aggregates [23]. Sim-
ilar results were reported for a 20% replacement of coarse aggre-
gate [19]. A maximum of 92% of compressive strength was
obtained by a 100% of rubber replacing fine aggregates (0–5 mm
size) [20]. Recently, Rezaifar et al. demonstrated that this negative
effect is mitigated when metakaolin is incorporated in the mix [8].
After an optimization analysis, the authors stated that the combi-
nation of 3.3% volume replacement of sand by crumb rubber and
19.5% volume of cement replacement by metakaolin maximized
the compressive strength and minimized water absorption. The
addition of nanosilica also mitigates this compressive strength loss,
moreover an increase of the elastic modulus of rubber concrete
was observed [24].
Resistance to bending tension and tensile strength are also
reduced when adding rubber to the concrete, mainly due to signif-
icant differences of the elastic modulus of both materials [25].
Likewise, there is a consensus regarding improvement of impact
Table 1
Classification of the rubber particles used in previous studies according to size.
Name Size Ref.
Ash 0.15 –1.9 mm [16]
Granular
Fine aggregate <4.75 mm; >75 mm [17]
Crumb rubber 4.75 mm [18]
Coarse aggregate >4.75 mm [19]
Chip <12 mm [11]
Fibers 2–5 mm in width; [11]
up to 20 mm in length
 R. Pacheco-Torres et al. / Construction and Building Materials 176 (2018) 539–548
resistance, while at the same time a decrement in the tensile
strength is found [26]. However, the material ductility improves
with the addition of rubber particles. Mohammed et al. demon-
strated that crumb rubber makes compacted concrete pavements
more ductile, stating that elastic modulus decreases 42–45% for
20 and 30% of crumb rubber replacement of fine aggregate [24].
The balance between flexibility properties provided by the rub-
ber and the reduced resistance of the concrete determines the
characteristics of the new material obtained. Whilst the literature
widely reports on the mechanical properties of concrete with rub-
ber [8,11,15,19,20,23,25], there are few in-depth studies on the
durability of the material. Existing works approach the problem
from various angles. One of the most extensively explored has been
that of chemical stability. Thomas and Gupta [23] studied the suit-
ability of replacing fine aggregate with crumb rubber of different
sizes and proportions, showing an increase from 21 to 25 mm of
depth of carbonation for a crumb rubber substitution of 20% of
total weight of aggregated and an improved resistance to brittle
failure of the material. Other works evaluated the durability of rub-
ber fibber concrete assessing the chloride ion penetration resis-
tance among other factors. Oikonomou et al. reported an increase
in chloride ion penetration resistance when adding certain rubber
content, while decreased by up to 35.85% for a 15% of sand replace-
ment by tyre rubber size less than 1 mm [22]. On the other hand, a
reduction of chloride-ion penetration when replacing sand by rub-
ber tyre ash was observed [11,12], although no trend was estab-
lished in the variation of chloride ion diffusion with respect to
the change in rubber fibber content. These results highlight the
importance of the size of the added rubber particles for the dura-
bility of the material.
Concerning water penetrability, Ganjian et al. reported an
increase of water permeability depth and water absorption in con-
crete mixtures after incorporating different proportions of rubber
aggregate [13]. Mixtures with 10% tyre rubber replacement were
classified as medium permeability according to the standard DIN
1048 (which implies a permeability depth from 30 to 60 mm in
4 days). However, mixtures with less amount of tyre replacement
(5 and 7.5%) were classified as low permeability (permeability
depth less than 30 mm in 4 days). Worth mentioning that by
reducing permeability in concrete durability against external con-
ditions, such as freeze–thaw cycles, improves.
There are few recent examples in which the effect of the size of
the particles on the mechanical properties of the material is indi-
vidually studied. Li et al. evaluated the effect of rubber particle of
3 sizes (4.04, 0.864 and 0.221 mm) on the mechanical properties
of waste-rubber-modified recycled-aggregate concrete for road
construction, concluding that compressive strength decreases a
18% more in the case of smaller rubber chips [25]. In addition, this
difference in strength reduction is less appreciable for high content
of rubber. The bending strength loss is more sensitive to rubber
addition, decreasing from 12 to 34% for rubber contents from 10
to 40% of sand replacement respectively for a rubber size of
0.221 mm. Yu and Zhu also evaluated the influence of three rubber
sizes (2–4, 1–3 and 0–2 mm) on consistency and mechanical prop-
erties of crumb rubber mortar [27]. The results reported an
increase of consistency by 54% and 0.3% for a rubber size of 2–4
and 1–3 mm respectively, in a proportion of 50% of cement mass.
In addition, the consistency decreased dramatically up to 59%
when the rubber content corresponded to the smallest size (0–2
mm). According to the authors, mortar porosity is sensitive to rub-
ber content, especially if small sized rubber is used.
Studies on mechanical properties of rubberised concrete are
well documented. However, information about the effects of rub-
ber size on the fatigue performance of the material remains lim-
ited. The resistance of rubber concrete under fatigue stresses is
generally evaluated in terms of number of load cycles applied until
541
ultimate failure. Zhang et al. evaluated the fatigue life of crumb
rubber concrete (25% by volume of sand replacement) under par-
ticular environmental conditions of humidity and high tempera-
ture [28]. The results indicated that crumb rubber concrete
performs better than ordinary concrete under fatigue loads even
under high moisture conditions, and fatigue life of water saturated
and dry rubber concrete is 3.56 and 2.4 times longer compared to
plain concrete, respectively. The tests were done with specimens
formed with crushed rubber particles of different diameters (1–
1.5 and 2–3 mm). Higher particle size ( 5 mm) was study by Feng
et al., reporting that concrete’s fatigue life increased up to 5.83
times of cycles compared to plain concrete [6]. According to their
results, the highest level of improvement of the performance of
the material was obtained for a waste rubber replacement of
20%. Ganesan et al. reported an enhancement of fatigue life up to
44% for Self-Compacting Rubberized Concrete (SRC) with 15–20%
of rubber particles with a maximum size of 4.75 mm when sub-
jected to the loading range of 90% of the flexural strength [9].
The application of pre-treatments to rubber particles improves
the properties of the rubberized concrete. Increases of fatigue life
of 14 and 16% have been reported after a pyrolysis treatment and
water-soaking treatment of rubber particles, respectively [16,29].
A pre-coated treatment of silica fume and pulverized fuel ash also
enhances the bonding between the rubber and the cement phase
[20]. However, these treatments clearly increase cost and time
efforts, thus questioning its large-scale application in road
pavements.
2.2. Pathologies of rigid concrete surfaces
Concrete pavements present considerable advantages com-
pared to other types of pavements, standing out among them a
longer useful life with a high service rate, higher resistance to
adverse climate conditions, lower requirements of supporting
structure and shorter execution and maintenance delays. In terms
of energy efficiency, given the higher albedo coefficient of concrete
compared to asphalt, the material reflects a higher radiation coef-
ficient, reaching lower surface temperature than traditional pave-
ments. In this sense, the material clearly helps reducing the ever
more frequent ‘urban heat island’ effect [30]. Outside the city,
due to the lighter colour of their surface, these pavements provide
savings in the illumination of roads. Nevertheless, this construction
technology brings an important drawback due to its high initial
cost.
The use of concrete as asphalt-reinforcement on flexible pave-
ments is also a usual practice. However, this solution provides
long-term advantages, since the repair can be done directly on
the existing flexible surface, without needing to eliminate or repair
the sub-base or the sub-surface. In addition, given the capacity of
concrete slabs to bridge the underlying problems, the typical
cracks present in asphalt reinforcements are not formed. This solu-
tion is highly effective in projects with financial restrictions and
high traffic levels, where traffic interruptions are unacceptable.
The use of concrete as reinforcement material in flexible pave-
ments is also performed to correct the profile of a road and
increase the safety of vehicles on a damaged road.
One of the common phenomena of concrete surfaces is the
appearance of corner fissures. These fissures extend vertically
through the entire thickness of the slab, appearing at less than
1.30 m at each side of the corner (see Fig. 1). Corner fissures are
caused mainly by repeated heavy loads (stress or fatigue) com-
bined with a draining action. A deficient transmission of loads
through the joints between slabs contributes to the appearance
of this phenomenon. An increased resistance of concrete to cyclic
charges is the most feasible solution to reduce the risk of appear-
ance of this kind of fissures, without having to increase the con-
542 R. Pacheco-Torres et al. / Construction and Building Materials 176 (2018) 539–548
Fig. 1. Corner fissures in concrete pavements.
sumption of material per surface area or to modify the width of the
road (a solution that in some occasions is not acceptable). Conse-
quently, finding new materials with a higher resistance to fatigue
stress is crucial for building safer, less expensive and more durable
roads.
The addition of rubber waste to bituminous mixtures to be used
in flexible surfaces has been extensively explored, although its
inclusion in rigid surfaces still requires a more in-depth study. A
review of the literature reveals that, despite the numerous recent
studies assessing the mechanical properties, such as the resistance
of concrete with rubber additives, to compression and tension
[11,21,23,26,31,32], deeper knowledge is required on the fatigue
performance of the material in roadworks [16].
Due to their tensile properties, rubber particles block the expan-
sion of micro-cracks and delay the occurrence of new cracks under
cyclic loading. This effect enhances fatigue life of the material [6]
and is a key aspect in the evaluation of its performance under cycli-
cal efforts similar to traffic loads. Traditional tests designed to eval-
uate the fatigue resistance of plain concrete seem generally
applicable to rubber concrete. However, the degree of deformation
suffered by the material and the delay in the appearance of micro-
cracks is not evaluated in conventional tests. In most of the previ-
ous works, the rubber particles sizes added to the mixture cover a
continuous gradation that allows the replacement of sand or coarse
aggregate, making it difficult to compare the performance of the
material with additives of different sizes under the same study
and test conditions. From reported works analysis, a lack of exper-
imental results on the size effect of the added particle in fatigue
resistance and deformation process of rubber concrete is found.
3. Materials and methods
3.1. Raw materials
The materials used for preparation of concrete mixtures were
fine aggregate, coarse aggregate, ordinary Portland cement, drink-
ing water, water reducer and tyre rubber particles. The fine aggre-
gates (sand) used were silica with a continuous gradation and 4
mm particle size, density 2630 kg/m3 and the equivalent of sand
higher than 90, according to [33–35]. The sand equivalent coeffi-
cient indicates the proportion of fine particles coming from crush-
ing or clay pollution, considered suitable for its use in concrete if
the coefficient  75. The coarse aggregates used were silica gravel,
both crushed and pebbles, with a maximum size of 32 mm. The
density of coarse aggregates was 2607 kg/m3, absorption percent-
age 0.54%, Los Angeles (LA) coefficient 29% and the shape index
was 0.24, in accordance with [34–37]. The material is considered
suitable for use if absorption 5%, LA <40 and shape index > 0.20.
The Portland cement was type I 42.5-R, with a density of 3030
kg/m3. ‘ViscoCrete-5920’ from SikaÒ was added as an admixture
to obtain the desired workability, with density of 1080 kg/m3 in
a percentage of 0.1% in relation to the volume of the cement.
The tyre rubber pieces used in this study were obtained from
local suppliers and no prior treatment of any nature was given
before adding them to the mix. The main characteristics of each
grading, according to [33,34], are summarized in Table 2.
3.2. Mix design and preparation of specimens
A proportion inferior to 5% of rubber does not produce any sig-
nificant changes in the properties of the concrete [13,38]. On the
other hand, a proportion higher than 40% causes problems with
the workability of the mix [39] and formation of rubber to rubber
connections [29]. Preliminary Slump-tests were conducted to find
out the workability of mixes with different rubber contents, deter-
mining that the maximum admissible content of rubber was 30% of
cement volume. The volume fractions of rubber particles added
tested in this study were 0, 10, 20 and 30% with respect to cement
volume. These values are in agreement with other works
[15,25,26,40].
Considering the three particle sizes used, the following concrete
mixes were prepared: a reference concrete and 9 mixes with addi-
tion of 10, 20 and 30% of cement volume of tyre rubber of 1–4, 10
and 16 mm size. Table 3 details the composition of the mixtures.
R0 corresponds to plain concrete whereas RC corresponds to con-
crete with rubber particles of size S (size 1, size 2 and size 3 corre-
spond to 1–4, 10 and 16 mm, respectively). 10P, 20P and 30P mean
the proportion of rubber aggregates by% of cement volume.
Conventional concrete was produced in a power-driven vertical
axis mixer. The materials were previously oven dried to remove
additional moisture. Firstly, the dry materials were mixed for 60
s to obtain a homogeneous mixture. Then, the water and super-
plasticizer were added to the mixture. The mixing process contin-
ued for 120 s, until a homogeneous and workable material was
obtained. Finally, rubber particles were manually added, proceed-
ing to mixing for 120 s. The grade of plain concrete under study
was M35. Prismatic beams (100  100  400 mm) for the bending
test, and cylindrical specimens (diameter of 150 mm and height of
300 mm) for compressive and indirect tensile strength tests were
prepared according with EN 12390-1:2012 [41]. The specimens
were tested after curing during 28 days, under standard curing
conditions (temperature = 20 ± 2 °C, relative humidity >95%). Each
mix being tested comprised three specimens.
3.3. Mechanical resistance tests
Resistance to compression, indirect tensile strength and resis-
tance to bending tension tests were carried out in accordance with
the international standards [42–44]. The elastic modulus (MoE)
was obtained according to [45]. The fatigue resistance was tested
following a novel test described below.
3.4. Fatigue test procedure
The main object of this study was to analyse the performance of
the mix when submitted to fatigue stress. Given the absence of a
Table 2
Description of the grading of the rubber used.
Grading Density [kg/m3] Absorption coefficient [%]
1–4 mm 1132 2.24
10 mm 1128 1.47
16 mm 1134 1.26
 R. Pacheco-Torres et al. / Construction and Building Materials 176 (2018) 539–548 543

Table 3
Concrete mix composition.

Mixture Cement Fine aggregate Coarse aggregate Water Plasticizer [%]* Rubber grading Rubber Rubber
[kg/m3] [kg/m3] [kg/m3] [kg/m3] content [kg] content [%]*
R0 397.05 623.20 1153.44 200.00 0.10 0 0 0
RC.S1/10P 397.05 623.20 1153.44 200.00 0.10 1–4 mm 14.81 10%
RC.S1/20P 397.05 623.20 1153.44 200.00 0.10 1–4 mm 29.62 20%
RC.S1/30P 397.05 623.20 1153.44 200.00 0.10 1–4 mm 44.42 30%
RC.S2/10P 397.05 623.20 1153.44 200.00 0.10 10 mm 14.81 10%
RC.S2/20P 397.05 623.20 1153.44 200.00 0.10 10 mm 29.62 20%
RC.S2/30P 397.05 623.20 1153.44 200.00 0.10 10 mm 44.42 30%
RC.S3/10P 397.05 623.20 1153.44 200.00 0.10 16 mm 14.81 10%
RC.S3/20P 397.05 623.20 1153.44 200.00 0.10 16 mm 29.62 20%
RC.S3/30P 397.05 623.20 1153.44 200.00 0.10 16 mm 44.42 30%

*% with respect the cement volume.

standard test, a novel method was specifically designed to measure 4. Results

the deformation caused by programmed cycles of application of
load. Prismatic beams (100  100  400 mm) similar than those
described for the bending test were used.
In the fatigue test, the specimen is subjected to efforts with
varying magnitude and direction, and being repeated at a certain
frequency. Material submitted to these efforts suffers a rupture
under a lower load than in the case of a shear tensile stress. The
order of load applications has a significant effect on the final value
of the damage caused by fatigue, indicating that the total number
of load cycles applied is affected by the application sequence. Even
when using very low levels of stress, a defect due to fatigue is
caused if the number of loading and unloading cycles is sufficiently
high.
The bending tension to which the material is submitted, is char-
acterised by means of the following parameters: maximum values
(rmax) and minimum values (rmin) of the tension; difference
between the maximum and minimum values (DrF); and mean
tension value (rmed). In a fatigue test, the load is repeated in n
cycles (with n = i. . .j), with a maximum and minimum value in
each cycle to determine the threshold value DrF below which no
fatigue rupture occurs. This threshold is known as the fatigue limit
[46,47]. A specimen cyclically submitted to this stress suffers a risk
of fatigue rupture when:
rmaxn  rminn > DrF
In the designed fatigue rupture test, a pre-load equal to 70% of
the ultimate strength was applied within a range of 5%. The ulti-
mate strength was individually obtained for each mix, as the mean
bending strength of a set of 3 specimens. Therefore, unlike in pre-
vious studies [48], the pre-load reached value was different in each
mix. This pre-load value occurred in three stages to avoid the pre-
mature rupture of the piece. The frequency of application of the
load was 2.5 cycles/s, until the specimen fractured.
A system was specifically designed to measure the deformation
of the specimens due to the cyclic repetition of the load cycles. The
measuring device comprised a strain gauge strip 50/120LY41 pre-
pared to measure deformations of 50 mm mesh, adhered to the
lower part of the specimen, at a distance of 10 mm from the lower
edge and coinciding with the symmetry axis of the prism, as shown
in Fig. 2. The strip was fixed with bicomponent glue, which
remained inert to the other materials and was protected by a sili-
cone band.
The load cycles were applied by a servo hydraulic testing
machine Ibertest UMIB-600. While the specimen is subjected to
the fatigue cycles, the strain gauge strip measures the deformation.
Measurements of the strain gauge strip were collected in the data
acquisition system and visualized in the data analysis device. Fig. 3
shows the experimental setup and details the properties of the
devices used.
4.1. Resistance to simple compression, indirect tensile, bending
strength and elasticity modulus (MoE)
Table 4 summarizes the values of average resistance of simple
compressive strength, indirect tensile, bending strength and elas-
ticity modulus (MoE) obtained for each of the analysed composites,
and the reduction coefficient in relation to plain concrete.
In the three grading sizes studied, a moderate reduction
(between 0.79 and 0.86) of the resistance to compression on add-
ing 10% rubber (RC.S1/10P, R.S2/10P and RC.S3/10P) was observed.
In the case of the particles size 1 (1–4 mm), the loss of resistance
for the higher percentages is similar (0.76 for samples RC.S1/20P
and RC.S1.30P). As for the intermediate grading (size 2) when
increasing the rubber proportion to 20% (RC.S2/20P), decreasing
in resistance compared to the previous proportion is not noticeable
(0.80). This resistance loss does however become more apparent
when increasing the rubber proportion to 30%, dropping to 0.68
for mix RC.S2/30P. The highest grading (size 3) produces the lowest
loss of resistance when added in the smallest proportion (RC.
S3/10P). However, when increasing the presence of rubber, this
grading suffers higher losses of resistance, which decreases to
0.73 (RC.S3/20P) and 0.68 (RC.S3/30P).
The resistance to indirect tensile strength equally decreases
ð1Þ when increasing the presence of rubber in the mix. For size 1, after
a 0.93 reduction of the resistance when adding 10% rubber (RC.
S1/10P), no noticeable difference is observed when increasing the
rubber proportion to 20% (RC.S1/20P). On the other hand, an
increase of the proportion to 30% (RC.S1/30P) develops consider-
able loss of resistance in the sample, dropping up to 0.81. As for
the intermediate grading, a significant loss of resistance to indirect
tensile strength is appreciated between the mixes RC.S2/10P and
RC.S2/20P, with a reduction of between 0.92 and 0.83. When add-
ing 30% of rubber (RC.S2/30P), the sample loses less resistance
compared to the previous ones (0.80). That was the case with the
resistance to compression, when adding the lowest proportion of
rubber (10%), the highest grading (RC.S3/10P) exhibits the lowest
loss of resistance, losing 0.97 compared to plain concrete. In the
mix RC.S3/20P, the material shows a moderate loss of resistance
to indirect tensile strength (0.84). As the rubber proportion was
increased to the maximum considered in this study (RC.S3/30P),
the highest loss of resistance of all mixes studied was observed
(0.67).
Concerning to bending strength, the mix RC.S1/10P (smallest
grading in lowest proportion) shows an improved resistance of
up to 1.08 compared to the initial value without rubber, whereas
the remaining grading sizes showed a loss of resistance. When
increasing the rubber proportion to 20%, the smallest loss of resis-
tance was shown in size 2, going from 0.99 to 0.94 for the mixes
544 R. Pacheco-Torres et al. / Construction and Building Materials 176 (2018) 539–548

Fig. 2. Preparation of specimens for fatigue tests. (a) Detail of the position of the strain gauge strip on the specimen (elevation and lateral views, distances in mm), and (b)
picture of the specimen and equipment setup.

lower for the same rubber content. In addition, the influence of

Fig. 3. Test control scheme for fatigue tests.
RC.S2/10P and RC.S2/20P, respectively. For a rubber proportion of
30%, a minor loss or resistance was observed compared to the pre-
vious proportion in the lowest grading (reduction to 0.91). As
occurred with the resistance to compression and indirect tensile
strength, the mix with a higher grading in the lowest proportion
(RC.S3/10P) showed the least pronounced loss of resistance
(0.97). However, with increasing rubber proportion, the loss of
resistance was the highest of all mixes studied, falling to 0.81 in
the mix RC.S3/30P. Although a reduction in flexural strength is
reported, compared to the results of [15], the loss of resistance is
the size of the added particles has been demonstrated.
Table 4 displays the values of the elasticity modulus (MoE)
obtained for each case of this study. In all grading sizes a reduction
of the MoE was observed when rubber was added to the material.
As a reference value, the MoE of plain concrete is 33.48 GPa. In case
of rubber concrete, the highest value of MoE (27.99 GPa) was
reported for the mix RC.S1/10P with was prepared with the small-
est rubber size and lowest content. On the contrary, the lowest
value of MoE (23.03 GPa) was reported for the mix RC.S2/30P, pre-
pared with maximum content of rubber particles of intermediate
size. The results highlight the importance of the size of the aggre-
gated particles in the evolution of the elasticity as the rubber con-
tent is increased. In the case of the smallest grading size, MoE of
the material was more sensitive to the proportion of rubber, with
a reduction of between 16 and 30% when reaching the highest pro-
portion (RC.S1/30P). As for the intermediate grading, hardly any
difference in the reduction of the MoE in the 10 and 20% rubber
proportions (RC.S2/10P and RC.S2/20P) was observed. However,
this grading exhibited the greatest reduction of MoE. When using
the highest proportion of rubber, a decrease up to 32% compared
to the material without rubber (RC.S2/30P) was observed. In the
largest grading size, the reduction of MoE was lower compared
to the rest, keeping more constant, ranging between 21% (RC.
S3/10P) and 26% (RC.S3/30P).
4.2. Resistance to fatigue
The failure modes for the specimens are compared with plain
concrete in Fig. 4. For each mix, the average fatigue life (in seconds)
of the three specimens tested was: RC.S1/10P 710; RC.S1/20P
1726; RC.S1/30P 1609; RC.S2/10P 2654; RC.S2/20P 1828; RC.
S2/30P 575; RC.S3/10P 944; RC.S3/20P 2278; RC.S3/30P 43. It can
be seen that the rupture of the material improves significantly as

Table 4
Test results: average resistance to simple compression, indirect tensile, bending strength and modulus of elasticity (MoE).

Mixture Compression Indirect tensile Bending Modulus of elasticity

strength strength strength
Resistance Strength Resistance Strength Resistance Strength MoE (GPa) Elasticity
(MPa) Reduction (MPa) Reduction (MPa) Reduction Reduction
R0 38.51 1.00 33.10 1.00 5.14 1.00 33.48 1.00
RC.S1/10P 30.55 0.79 30.60 0.93 5.57 1.08 27.99 0.16
RC.S1/20P 29.23 0.76 30.31 0.92 4.76 0.93 25.49 0.24
RC.S1/30P 29.19 0.76 26.75 0.81 4.66 0.91 23.59 0.23
RC.S2/10P 30.94 0.80 30.31 0.92 5.08 0.99 25.88 0.23
RC.S2/20P 30.65 0.80 27.51 0.83 4.84 0.94 25.30 0.24
RC.S2/30P 26.25 0.68 26.52 0.80 3.95 0.77 23.03 0.31
RC.S3/10P 32.93 0.86 32.03 0.97 4.96 0.97 26.25 0.22
RC.S3/20P 28.21 0.73 27.94 0.84 4.7 0.91 25.74 0.23
RC.S3/30P 26.27 0.68 21.93 0.66 4.18 0.81 24.48 0.27
 R. Pacheco-Torres et al. / Construction and Building Materials 176 (2018) 539–548
more rubber is added to the mix. In the specimens with zero (R0)
or minor rubber content (RC.S1/10P, RC.S2/10P, RC.S3/10P) at the
time of fracture, the crack passed through the entire thickness of
the piece, causing a fragile rupture of the latter. As the rubber con-
tent increased, the crack increased in length and depth. In the cases
of 30% of rubber content (RC.S1/30P, RC.S2/30P and RC.S3/30P), the
fracture occurs without necessarily penetrating through the entire
thickness of the specimen. This phenomenon happens to occurs
due to an effective bond between concrete and rubber particles.
Part of the energy is absorbed by the rubber particles, thus increas-
ing the required energy to continue the breaking of the specimen.
Fig. 5 shows the results of the fatigue test as detailed in the pre-
vious methodology. The results are shown in comparison to the
properties of plain concrete. On the horizontal axis, the fatigue
resistance reduction (by comparison with plain concrete) of each
mix of the study is indicated, whereas the vertical axis shows the
deformation rates expressed as coefficient of the deformation
value for the studied mix, compared to the deformation value of
the concrete without rubber. For each mix, the average data of
three analysed specimens are detailed. For purpose of reference
data, the plain concrete specimens broke under an average load
of 17.12 kN and suffered an average deformation of 139 lm/m.
For deeper understanding the behaviour of each mixture com-
pared to plain concrete, two red reference lines have been plotted.
The horizontal red line indicates the deformation suffered by plain
concrete. Values below this line are not classified as good results as
the deformation behaviour after adding rubber is not improved.
The vertical red line marks a reduction of 10% of the fatigue resis-
tance with respect to the plain concrete; the points located to the
right of this line represent a fatigue resistance loss not admissible
with respect to plain concrete. In view of the results of Fig. 5, the
points situated within the area delimited below both lines are con-
sidered to meet the requirements of fatigue resistance while, at the
same time, allowing a higher level of deformation of the specimen.
Thus, admitting a reduction not exceeding 0.10 of the fatigue resis-
tance, the deformation of the mix is between 1.76 (RC.S1/20P) and
1.11 (RC.S3/10P) larger than the concrete without added rubber.
For each grading, the performance of the mix with regard to the
deformation/fatigue resistance ratio is strongly dependent on the
proportion of rubber added. In the lower grading, the mix RC.
S1/20P showed a deformation of around 1.76 compared to the con-
crete without rubber. In the case of mix RC.S1/30P, with the high-
est proportion of rubber, the deformation of the material was
significantly reduced to 0.55. No data were provided for mix RC.
S1/10P, due to the premature breakage of the test specimens.
As for the intermediate grading of 10 mm, in the mix RC.S2/10P
a deformation is of 1.14 is obtained and the resistance is only
reduced by 0.03. In the mix RC.S2/20P, the deformation increases
to 1.22, with a resistance reduction of 0.06 compared to the plain
concrete. In a higher proportion of rubber, the mix RC.S2/30P suf-
fers the biggest deformation of all the specimens analysed (1.82).
However, the fatigue resistance is reduced approximately by 0.2.
In the case of the highest grading, the mix RC.S3/10P supports a
deformation of up to 1.11, with an acceptable reduction of resis-
tance equal to 0.07. In the intermediate proportion (RC.S3/20P),
the deformation of the material increases slightly, but the resis-
tance is reduced to below the limit of 0.10. The mix RC.S3/30P,
with the highest content of rubber, shows a clear deterioration of
the properties of the material, with the deformation dropping to
0.74 and a resistance reduction of 0.29.
These results make evident that, the mixes RC.S1/20P, RC.
S2/10P, RC.S2/20P and RC.S3/10P, – representing the specimens
containing rubber of nominal size of 1–4 mm at 20%, 10 mm at
10 and 20% and 16 mm at 10%, respectively – suffered an increased
deformation with only a minor reduction of 0.10 compared to plain
concrete. Fig. 6 compares the deformation values during the entire
545
duration of the test for the indicated specimens before failure
occurred. The horizontal axis shows the course of the test in load
cycles (at 2.5 cycles per second), while the vertical axis indicates
the deformation in lm/m. The material with no added rubber
withstands 7075 load cycles.
A difference in performance of the deformation of the material
was observed during the course of the test. In the case of mix RC.
S1/20P (Fig. 6a) the deformation value was the highest of all com-
pared specimens. However, the duration of the test (4500 cycles)
was shorter compared to the mixes with rubber of size 2. In addi-
tion, the deformation was not uniform over time and various scales
of deformation are observed, due to a failure in the interphase
between the rubber particles and the cement paste. In the case of
mix RC.S2/10P (Fig. 6b) the material performs in a stable manner,
reaching final deformation in the initial phase of the test without
any significant variation being observed. The duration of the test
for this mix was the longest of all those observed, exceeding
7300 cycles. The mix RC.S2/20P, with an intermediate size of a
higher proportion (20%) also supports the strength for a longer
duration (close to 7000 cycles) although its final deformation
was smaller compared to the previous case. The irregularities
observed in the graphic during the first stage of the test may be
due to maladjustment of the measuring elements at the beginning
of the test. It can be appreciated that the mix RC.S3/10P, being the
material with the largest size in the proportion of 10%, withstood
the shortest duration of the test (close to 3000 cycles) of all the
specimens, but reaching a deformation value similar to mixes RC.
S1/20P and RC.S2/10P.
5. Discussion of the results
The results in Table 4 indicate the relation between the loss of
resistance under simple compression of the material and the grad-
ing of the rubber added. It should be noticed that the optimum pro-
portion bears a relation to the grading of the material. When only a
small proportion of rubber is added (10%), a lower degree of resis-
tance loss when using a grading size of 16 mm, compared to the
smaller sizes, was observed. On the contrary, when increasing
the proportion of rubber, this reduction was smaller when
smaller-sized grading was used. In the case of the highest grading
(size 3), the results show a nearly linear resistance loss, with
increasing proportion of rubber. This trend is not appreciated for
the rest of the cases studied.
Reduced resistance to bending strength values are consistent
with previous works [40]. Results shown that bending strength
loss was strongly dependent on the size of the rubber particles
added. The performance of the material exhibits a similar evolution
for the intermediate and highest grading sizes (10 and 16 mm,
respectively). A moderate loss of resistance to this stress is seen,
which becomes more evident, with increased rubber proportion
to 30%. Likewise, a notable improvement of the stress under bend-
ing tension is observed in the case of a proportion of 10% of rubber
and small particle size (1–4 mm).
Results from Table 4 point out the influence of rubber particles
size on the strength loss of the material. From the obtained results,
is noteworthy that large particles (16 mm) added in a small pro-
portion promote a reduction of the resistances, being lower com-
pared to smaller rubber sizes. When increasing the rubber
content, lower strength losses are reported if rubber is added in
smaller grading (1–4 mm). This implies that, in a small proportion,
the presence of large particles interferes to a less extent in the
mechanical behaviour of the concrete, taking into account that
the weight of rubber is more concentrated in certain points, while
if the rubber particle size is smaller the material is more dispersed
in the mix. However, as the content of rubber in the sample
546 R. Pacheco-Torres et al. / Construction and Building Materials 176 (2018) 539–548
Fig. 4. Failure of specimens.
Fig. 5. Deformation rate and fatigue strength reduction of the mixes tested.
increases, the presence of larger particles of a material with less
mechanical resistance affects the strength of the mixture in greater
degree.
The results indicate that MoE decreases with added rubber
(Table 4) and the resultant material exhibits larger flexibility. In
addition, the modification of MoE is strongly conditioned by the
particle size, and adding a higher proportion of rubber produces
lower MoE, as expected.
The failure shape of the specimens shown in Fig. 4 indicated an
improved plastic performance of the mix when a high proportion
of rubber was added, leading to the hypothesis that, rubber pro-
motes increasing the flexibility of concrete, while at the same time
providing certain cohesion by delaying fragile rupture. This perfor-
mance is beneficial in the case of concrete surfaces subjected to
cyclic stresses (as is the case of road pavements), by reducing the
likelihood of corner fissures. However, if they do appear, the dam-
aging effect is reduced, as the width of the crack occurring in the
surface is smaller than in the case of mixes without rubber, allow-
ing for a quicker and less expensive repair with a lower amount of
material involved, therefore improving the durability of the mate-
rial facing this kind of stresses.
As was mentioned before, the addition of rubber results in a
generalized loss of resistance of the material. The data in Fig. 5
demonstrate the balance between the improvement of the defor-
mation of the material and the loss of resistance. The results of
the fatigue tests underline the importance of the size of the rubber
particles, when determining the adequate proportion of rubber in
order to improve the deformation of the material without dimin-
ishing the resistance below the admissible level.
The results indicate that, for certain combinations of size of rub-
ber particles and the amount added, an increase in deformation
suffered by the material occurs assuming a small and acceptable
reduction of the resistance. These results highlight that it is possi-
ble to optimize the specific surface for contact between rubber and
cement paste, in order to increase the number of load cycles sup-
ported and the deformation suffered by the material.
The results of Fig. 6 show an improvement of the rubber-
cement paste interphase in the case of small and average-sized
particles, acquiring a higher deformation value than that of plain
concrete. However, the use of larger sizes leads to failure in the
interphase, resulting in a fracture of the material at a more prema-
ture point. The results confirm that, for the same proportion of rub-
ber (10%), the performance of the mix was more stable with
particles of an intermediate size than those of a smaller size
(Fig. 6b and c), also reaching a higher deformation. For a proportion
of rubber of 20%, although small-sized particles deform the mate-
rial to a larger extent, the particles of an intermediate size are
those showing a more stable deformation and withstanding a
higher number of load cycles.
The data presented in Figs. 5 and 6 showed that, when subject-
ing the material to fatigue stresses, the intermediate size (10 mm)
added in moderate proportions of 10 to 20% (mixes RC.S2/10P and
RC.S2/20P) assured an improved relationship between resistance
loss and a regular increase in deformation. In the case of RC.
S2/30P, an increased fatigue resistance to a higher number of load
cycles was also observed.
The results of this study demonstrate the weakening of the
interphase between cement paste and larger size rubber particles,
in agreement with previous works [11,49]. In mixes with rubber
size 3, an improved behaviour of the material, when submitted
to fatigue, was observed only when adding the lowest proportion,
as its resistance was significantly affected with higher proportions.
In the case of intermediate-sized particles (size 2) a performance
improvement was observed in both the 10 and the 20% rubber con-
tents. For small-sized particles (size 1) an improvement of the
deformation was observed only for the intermediate proportion,
showing a premature rupture of the material when adding a small
proportion (10%), and a loss of deformability when adding the lar-
gest proportion (30%).
 R. Pacheco-Torres et al. / Construction and Building Materials 176 (2018) 539–548
Fig. 6. Deformation graphic of selected specimens.
The performance of the various mixes assessed over time
evinces the importance of the relation between the specific surface
of the added rubber particles (deriving from the size of the latter)
and the amount present in the mix. As is inferred from results of
Fig. 5, whenever high volumes of rubber (30%) are added, the mate-
rial performance weakens (either in terms of fatigue resistance or
material deformability) for all sizes of rubber particles. This sug-
gests an excessive increase of the specific contact surface between
two materials with too dissimilar deformation modulus. The
results clarify the performance of the different size rubber
particles-cement paste interphase, and how this relationship is
strongly influenced by the total proportion of rubber in the mix.
6. Conclusions and future direction of research
The efficient handling of hard-to-eliminate waste, such as tyre
rubber, resulting from end-of-life tyres poses a scientific, technical
and regulatory challenge, and its inclusion in concrete road sur-
faces offers a viable alternative to reduce the volume of this waste
that is being stored. This paper proposed a novel experimental pro-
cedure to measure deformation (in terms of transversal micro-
cracks) of the material when is subjected to cyclic loads that sim-
ulate traffic loads conditions. The effect of rubber particle size on
the mechanical properties and fatigue resistance has been evalu-
ated. The methodology herein described is expected to be useful
for future standardization of a specific methodology to test the
resistance of waste rubber concrete when exposed to fatigue stres-
ses. The following specific conclusions can thus be drawn:
o Mixes with 10% rubber particles sized 10 and 16 mm and mixes
with 20% particles of sizes 1–4 mm and 10 mm achieved a
deformation ratio under fatigue stresses higher than that of
plain concrete, with an acceptable loss of resistance, which
makes them suitable aggregates to improve the resistance and
deformability of the material when submitted to fatigue
stresses.
547
o Out of all the combinations analysed, the addition of 10% rubber
with 10 mm nominal size, withstands the highest number of
load cycles, showing a constant deformation. This result sug-
gests that this waste rubber concrete composite, at these mix-
ing conditions, features almost no permanent deformation,
thus offering an adequate solution to reduce the risk of fissures
appearing in the corners on rigid concrete pavements. In addi-
tion, 10 mm size rubber particles are the most abundant in
the recycling process, and can therefore be considered the most
suitable option to reduce the amount of disposed waste.
o As a general rule, rubber percentages above 20% are excluded,
as they considerably reduce the mechanical properties of the
concrete.
The study confirms that incorporation of rubber waste in rigid
concrete pavement mixes is feasible, demonstrating an improved
MoE with the rubber particles acting as binder and avoiding com-
plete fragile rupture. The results highlight differences in deforma-
tion under cyclic loads depending on the rubber particles size and
total rubber content, demonstrating an improved performance
under fatigue loading of the material.
The results put forward the viability of reusing tyre rubber for this
type of pavements and the environmental benefits of this option. We
therefore believe that the use of recycled tyre rubber in concrete
road pavements can be considered as value added materials for sus-
tainable development and an adequate use of resources. The addi-
tion of recycled tyre rubber in concrete road pavements brings
environmental benefits in terms of reduced demand of raw materi-
als (as sand and aggregates) and is a viable option for recycling of
waste tyre. In addition, it also brings acoustic benefits as the use of
waste tyre rubber as partial replacement of fine aggregate in con-
crete reduced noise level. This quality contributes to reducing noise
due to road traffic, especially in urban areas, contributing to an
improvement in the quality of life of citizens.
In this work the optimal combination of size and proportion of
waste rubber particles inserted in cement-based materials have
548 R. Pacheco-Torres et al. / Construction and Building Materials 176 (2018) 539–548
been explored. In subsequent work, deeper studies on the beha-
viour of hydration products at the interphase between cement
paste and medium sized rubber particles should be conducted. Fur-
ther investigations on fatigue performance of the material under
higher strain loads are intended.
Conflict of interest
None.
Acknowledgments
This study was funded by research contract No. 43721837095
between Constructora San José S.L. and the Fundación General
Universidad Politécnica de Madrid.
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