Assessment of the brittleness index of rubberized concretes

Many properties of concrete can be changed by adding industrial waste materials in it. In this study, the effect of different amount of rubber chips on the brittleness of rubberized concretes were investigated. These kinds of concretes are used especially in structures which are exposed to crashing effects. The laboratory tests were conducted by using 15, 30 and 45% by weight two different sized coarse aggregate. On the prepared cylindrical specimens loading, unloading and reloading tests were carried out for 7 and 28-day, and sigma-epsilon hysteresis loops were also drawn. Then the brittleness index values of these series were determined. The variation of brittleness index values were evaluated for different amount of rubber chips, compressive strength and toughness values. Finally, it was observed that concretes which contain 15% rubber chips gave the highest brittleness index values with low compressive strength and toughness values. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.