Rubber modified concrete improved by chemically active coating and silane coupling agent

In the study, a new approach was employed to improve the performance of rubber modified cement concrete by developing a cementitious coating layer around rubber particles with silane coupling agent. To validate the effectiveness of the approach, coated and uncoated rubber modified concrete were evaluated through laboratory experiments. The compressive strength, split tensile strength, chloride ion resistance, and energy absorption capability were characterized through laboratory tests for concrete containing different contents of crumb rubber. The results show that the compressive and split tensile strength of the concrete incorporating coated rubber improved by 10–20%, compared to concrete with uncoated rubber. Although concrete with uncoated rubber exhibited lower chloride ion resistance than control concrete without rubber, concrete with coated rubber could maintain chloride ion resistance similar to that of control concrete. The energy absorption capability of concrete was also improved through the cementitious layer developed using silane coupling agent.