Concrete using Recycled Tyre Rubber
Engineers in Melbourne have recently discovered a technique that will replace 100% of conventional aggregates in concrete (such as gravel and crushed rock) with recycled tyre rubber that will meet building codes, promising a boost for the circular economy.
RMIT Universtity’s team (Professor Yu-Fei Wu, Dr Rajeev Roychand and Dr Mohammad Saberian) proposes that the new greener and lighter concrete may also lead to significant manufacturing and transportation costs, an exciting bonus!
At present, small amounts of rubber particles from types are being used to replace concrete aggregates however, previous attempts to replace 100% of the aggregates with rubber have lead to weak concrete products that have not met industry standards or building codes. This breakthrough promises to change all of that!
Published in the Resources, Conservation & Recycling journal, this recent study presents a manufacturing process for structural lightweight concrete where the traditional coarse aggregates in the mix are completely replaced by rubber from recycled car tyres.
“We have demonstrated with our precise casting method that this decades-old perceived limitation on using large amounts of coarse rubber particles in concrete can now be overcome. The technique involves using newly designed casting moulds to compress the coarse rubber aggregate in fresh concrete that enhances the building material’s performance.”
Lead author and PhD researcher from RMIT University’s School of Engineering, Mohammad Momeen Ul Islam
Study co-author and team leader, Professor Jie Li, said this manufacturing process will unlock environmental and economic benefits for the construction industry.
