Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 February 2011
Disposal of 200 million waste tires in the US each year has become a major problem. An environmentally sound innovative technology of recycling rubber in cement matrix was examined. Using silane coupling agent the rubber was bonded to the hydrating cement making a lighter composite, which absorbed more energy than ordinary Portland cement. The bonding information was obtained by peel strength analysis. SEM was used to understand the mode of fracture in pure cement paste, cement bonded rubber composite and rubber filled cement paste. It was found that cracks propagate through the rubber particle in rubber bonded cement composite while in unbonded rubber cement mix, the cracks propagate around the interface. The density and shrinkage measurements are also discussed.