A comparative study on the characteristic compressive strength of reclaimed rubber concrete

Disposal of waste tires is found to be one of the major problems faced by the local authorities throughout the world. A few countries recycle the waste tires which is called as Reclaimed rubber(RR) useful in concrete replacing conventional aggregates. This research work is focused on comparing the characteristic compressive strength test results of reclaimed rubber concrete used in M40 grade experimentally and analytically using genetic algorithm. A total of 105 cubes were cast and compressive strength tests were carried out using a Universal testing Machine.1000 sets were taken and 100 iterations were run during training of GA models. A base study was carried out in this research work partially replacing cement with three types of admixtures such as Plaster of Paris (POP), Fly Ash (FA), Reclaimed Rubber (RR) and Silica Fume (SF). It was found that SF produced maximum strength in concrete and was used in the main study with reclaimed rubber. All the admixtures used were replaced by cement at 2 percent increments in concrete. Tests were conducted on 21 cube samples with a combination of optimum SF percent and various proportions of RR replacing coarse aggregates in concrete mix. Characteristic compressive strength of concrete cubes reveal that the maximum strength is obtained at 12 percent replacement of cement and 8 percent replacement of coarse aggregates respectively. Moreover the GA results were found to be in line with the experimental results obtained.