The Impact of NaOH Treatment on Rubberized Concrete Deck Slabs in Bridge Engineering
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24113/ijoscience.v10i7.526Abstract
Rubberized concrete brings together traditional concrete with recycled waste tires, thus addressing environmental challenges through the enhancement of material properties in terms of strength, flexibility, and durability. However, its extensive use is limited by the hydrophobic rubber particle-hydrophilic cement matrix bond, which gives rise to mechanical deficiencies. This paper looks into the possibility of overcoming such limitations in a NaOH treatment to improve rubberized concrete for bridge deck-type applications. Chemically, NaOH modifies the surface of rubber particles and enhances the bonding at the interface, significantly improving compressive and tensile strength, resistance to fatigue, and durability in extreme conditions, including freeze-thaw cycles, UV exposure, and chloride attacks. Experimental studies and molecular dynamics simulations validate the enhancements, thereby supporting the suitability of the material for sustainable infrastructure. This paper also discusses scaling up NaOH treatment for industrial applications, in terms of low-cost processing and material handling efficiency under environmental regulations. Emerging technologies in the form of nanomaterial additives and optimized mix designs will be highlighted to further enhance mechanical properties and the applicability of rubberized concrete. Long-term field studies confirm the economic and environmental advantages of the material, thus NaOH-treated rubberized concrete can be considered as a sustainable, durable, and cost-effective option for modern construction practices and infrastructure development.
Downloads
Metrics
References
Kumar, R.; Dev, N. Assessment of Mechanical and Impact Resistance Properties of Rubberized Concrete After Surface Modification of Rubber Crumb. Iran. J. Sci. Technol. Trans. Civ. Eng. 2021, 1–17. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40996-021-00784-8
Mhaya, A.M.; Huseien, G.F.; Faridmehr, I.; Abidin, A.R.Z.; Alyousef, R.; Ismail, M. Evaluating mechanical properties and impact resistance of modified concrete containing ground Blast Furnace slag and discarded rubber tire crumbs. Constr. Build. Mater. 2021, 295, 123603. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2021.123603
Chaturvedy, G.K.; Pandey, U.K. Performance characteristics of rubberized concrete: A multipoint review. Innov. Infrastruct. Solut. 2022, 7, 43. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41062-021-00637-3
Hamid, S.; Naji, K.; Younis, A.; Ebead, U. Material performance and cost effectiveness of seawater-mixed rubberized concrete. Case Stud. Constr. Mater. 2021, 15, e00735. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cscm.2021.e00735
Bu, C., Zhu, D., Lu, X., Liu, L., Sun, Y., Yu, L., ... & Zhang, W. (2022). Modification of rubberized concrete: a review. Buildings, 12(7), 999. https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings12070999 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings12070999
P. Kara De Maeijer, B. Craeye, J. Blom, L. Bervoets, Crumb rubber in concrete—The barriers for application in the construction industry, Infrastructures. 6 (2021) 1–20, https://doi.org/10.3390/infrastructures6080116. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/infrastructures6080116
L. Lavagna, R. Nistico, ` M. Sarasso, M. Pavese, An analytical mini-review on the compression strength of rubberized concrete as a function of the amount of recycled tires crumb rubber, Materials. 13 (2020) 1234, https://doi.org/ 10.3390/ma13051234. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/ma13051234
J. Xu, Z. Yao, G. Yang, Q. Han, Research on crumb rubber concrete: From a multiscale review, Constr. Build. Mater. 232 (2020), 117282, https://doi.org/10.1016/ j.conbuildmat.2019.117282. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2019.117282
R.A. Assaggaf, M.R. Ali, S.U. Al-Dulaijan, M. Maslehuddin, Properties of concrete with untreated and treated crumb rubber – A review, J. Mater. Res. Technol. 11 (2021) 1753–1798, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmrt.2021.02.019. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmrt.2021.02.019
M.A. Musarat, W.S. Alaloul, S. Ayub, M.B.A. Rabbani, W. Farooq, M. Altaf, Chemical and physical behavior of rubberized concrete: A review, in, Int. Conf. Decis. Aid Sci. Appl. IEEE 2021 (2021) 441–445, https://doi.org/10.1109/ DASA53625.2021.9682385. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/DASA53625.2021.9682385
Tran, T. Q., Thomas, B. S., Zhang, W., Ji, B., Li, S., & Brand, A. S. (2022). A comprehensive review on treatment methods for end-of-life tire rubber used for rubberized cementitious materials. Construction and Building Materials, 359, 129365. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2022.129365 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2022.129365
L. He, H. Cai, Y. Huang, Y. Ma, W. Van Den Bergh, L. Gaspar, J. Valentin, Y. E. Vasiliev, K.J. Kowalski, J. Zhang, Research on the properties of rubber concrete containing surface-modified rubber powders, Journal of Building Engineering 35 (2021) 101991, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jobe.2020.101991.
Zhang, R., Wang, H., Ji, J., Suo, Z., & Ou, Z. (2022). Influences of different modification methods on surface activation of waste tire rubber powder applied in cement-based materials. Construction and Building Materials, 314, 125191. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2021.125191
ASCE (2021) “National Infrastructure Report Card 2021.” American Society of Civil Engineers, Reston, VA USA.
WSDOT (2023) “Interactive Gray Notebook.” Washington State Department of Transportation, Olympia, WA USA. [Online] https://wsdot.wa.gov/about/data/gray-notebook/
Pishue, B. (2022) “2022 INRIX Global Traffic Scorecard.” INRIX, Kirkland, WA USA.
ARTBA (2022) “Work Zone Data: At a Glance.” American Road & Transportation Builders Association, Washington, DC USA. https://workzonesafety.org/work-zone-data/
J. Yu, H. Zheng, D. Hou, J. Zhang, W. Xu, Silane Coupling Agent Modification Treatment to Improve the Properties of Rubber-Cement Composites, ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng. 9 (38) (2021) 12899–12911. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acssuschemeng.1c03789
J. Yu, N. Wang, M. Wang, J. Zhang, D. Hou, Recyclable rubber-cement composites produced by interfacial strengthened strategy from polyvinyl alcohol, Constr. Build. Mater. 264 (2020), 120541. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2020.120541
A. Zhou, Z. Yu, H. Wei, L.-H. Tam, T. Liu, D. Zou, Understanding the Toughening Mechanism of Silane Coupling Agents in the Interfacial Bonding in Steel FiberReinforced Cementitious Composites, ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 12 (39) (2020) 44163–44171. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.0c12477
L. He, H. Cai, Y. Huang, Y. Ma, W. Van Den Bergh, L. Gaspar, J. Valentin, Y. E. Vasiliev, K.J. Kowalski, J. Zhang, Research on the properties of rubber concrete containing surface-modified rubber powders, J. Build. Eng. 35 (2021), 101991. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jobe.2020.101991
R. Zhang, H. Wang, J. Ji, Z. Suo, Z. Ou, Influences of different modification methods on surface activation of waste tire rubber powder applied in cement-based materials, Constr. Build. Mater. 314 (2022), 125191. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2021.125191
Kang, J., Liu, Y., Yuan, J., Chen, C., Wang, L., & Yu, Z. (2022). Effectiveness of surface treatment on rubber particles towards compressive strength of rubber concrete: A numerical study on rubber-cement interface. Construction and Building Materials, 350, 128820. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2022.128820 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2022.128820
Agarwal, P., Pal, P., & Mehta, P. K. (2023). Finite element analysis of reinforced concrete curved box-girder bridges. Advances in Bridge Engineering, 4(1), 1. https://doi.org/10.1186/s43251-023-00080-7 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s43251-023-00080-7
Prakash, B., Tiwari, A. K., Dash, S. R., & Patra, S. (2024, February). Structural evaluation and performance based optimization of approach slab design for mitigating bridge approach settlement through an Indian case study. In Structures (Vol. 60, p. 105864). Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.istruc.2024.105864 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.istruc.2024.105864
Appana, P. M., Mohammed, B. S., Abdulkadir, I., Ali, M. O. A., & Liew, M. S. (2022). Mechanical, microstructural and drying shrinkage properties of naoh-pretreated crumb rubber concrete: RSM-based modeling and optimization. Materials, 15(7), 2588. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15072588 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15072588
Li, L.; Yu, T.; Wu, Y.; Wang, Y.; Guo, C.; Li, J. Research on the Properties of a New Type of Polyurethane Concrete for Steel Bridge Deck in Seasonally Frozen Areas. Coatings 2022, 12, 1732 https://doi.org/10.3390/coatings12111732 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/coatings12111732
Sun, L.; Hao, X.; He, J.; Cai, Y.; Guo, P.; Ma, Q. Preparation and Performance Study of Rapid Repair Epoxy Concrete for Bridge Deck Pavement. Materials 2024, 17, 2674 https://doi.org/10.3390/ma17112674 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/ma17112674
Kang, H.; Oh, K.; Ahn, K.; Jiang, B.; He, X.; Oh, S. Property Analysis of Double-Sided Composite Waterproofing Sheet for Simultaneous Application on Asphalt Concrete and Latex-Modified Concrete Pavements for Bridge Decks. Appl. Sci. 2022, 12, 9779. https://doi.org/10.3390/app12199779 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/app12199779
He, S.; Jiang, Z.; Chen, H.; Chen, Z.; Ding, J.; Deng, H.; Mosallam, A.S. Mechanical Properties, Durability, and Structural Applications of Rubber Concrete: A State-of-the-Art-Review. Sustainability 2023, 15, 8541. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15118541 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/su15118541
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 skm0071994@gmail.com, Satyendra Dubey, Siddhart Deb
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
IJOSCIENCE follows an Open Journal Access policy. Authors retain the copyright of the original work and grant the rights of publication to the publisher with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons CC BY License that allows others to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon your work, even commercially, as long as they credit you for the original creation. Authors are permitted to post their work in institutional repositories, social media or other platforms.
Under the following terms:
-
Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
- No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
