Crumb Rubber Concrete Performance under Near-Field Blast and Ballistic Demands

Abstract

To address the ever-increasing quantity of scrap tires produced in the United States, a study is conducted on the use of crumb rubber in concrete for use in structures against near-field blast and ballistic demands. Crumb rubber concrete (CRC) is produced by replacing a volume percentage of the traditional coarse and/or fine aggregate with crumb rubber particles. Crumb rubber is produced in various gradations from used vehicle tires through a variety of shredding processes. The influence of crumb rubber on the constitutive and structural performance of concrete under quasi-static loading has been examined in past research. CRC has been shown to have decreased strength and stiffness while still being a useable structural material. This research study examines the use of CRC for the specialized application of blast and ballistic protection. The program characterizes resistance of CRC to contact and near-contact high explosive detonations, and examines depth of penetration, and perforation using V50 methods. The results of the experimental and analytical investigation found that (1) the addition of crumb rubber results in decreased resistance to ballistic demands and near-field blast loads, (2) the reduction is less than that estimated by accepted predictor methods, and (3) when normalized by weight rather than thickness, the use of CRC results in an improvement in resistance to ballistic and near-field blast demands.