Crumb Rubber-concrete Panels under Blast Loads Preprint

To improve the blast resistance of a wall system, it is necessary to enhance its energy absorption capabilities and/or increase its mass. Much research has been performed on improving the ductility, and thus the resistance, of a wall system using elastic materials externally attached to the tension side of a wall. This project investigated the static resistance of wall systems with elastic materials added internally to the wall system. Thus, shredded rubber is added to the concrete mix and is used to partially replace the coarse aggregates normally used in a concrete mix design. It is hypothesized that partially replacing coarse aggregates with shredded rubber is expected to improve the blast resistance of the concrete wall panels by improving its ductility. Two rubber contents were evaluated and compared to normal concrete design without any rubber. Concrete cylinders as well as full-scale concrete wall samples with coarse aggregate partially replaced with rubber were evaluated under simulated uniform loading to develop static resistance functions. Generally, it was found that the rubber reduced the compressive strength of the samples and increased the cracks that developed in the samples during testing. The maximum load and the overall resistance of the walls decreased with increasing rubber contents. Also, the failure mode for concrete samples with rubber was different from those without any rubber. CE Database subject headings: Concrete; Crumb Rubber; Energy Absorption; Static Resistance; Blast.