Effect of Acidic Environments Containing Hydrochloric Acid on Rubberized Concrete

Aggressive environment reduces the mechanical and durability-related properties of concrete. In this study, the effects of exposing the concrete containing crumbed tire rubber (CTR) to aggressive environmental conditions, including hydrochloric acid (HCl) is investigated. For this purpose, 5, 10, and 15% of the fine aggregate of the mixing design were partially replaced with the CTR, and then at the age of 7 days, when the concrete reached almost 70% of the initial strength, the samples were placed in water containing 2% HCl for 28 and 90 days. In this study, the effect of using Nano-SiO2(NS) in the rubberized concrete and its behavior in acidic environments by replacing 5 and 10% by weight of cement with NS was also studied. Compressive strength and mass loss were evaluated at 28 and 90 days after casting. The results showed that the detrimental effects of HCl on the compressive strength of concrete significantly increased with an increasing in CTR content of concrete. The results also indicated that the impact of HCl acid on mass loss is improved by increasing the percentage of CTR so that the sample with the 15% crumbed tire showed a 7% lower weight reduction than the control sample.