ENGINEERING PROPERTIES AND STRUCTURAL...

ENGINEERING PROPERTIES AND STRUCTURAL PERFOMANCE OF

RUBBERIZED CONCRETE PAVING BLOCKS

LING TUNG CHAI

A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the

requirements for the award of the degree of

Doctor of Philosophy (Civil Engineering)

Faculty of Civil Engineering

Universiti Teknologi Malaysia

JULY 2008

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Dedicated to God and

to my beloved physical and spiritual family members.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

This study would not have been possible without the assistance and support

of those who guided me in the course of my graduate work. First, I would like to

thank God for His grace and mercy throughout this research. It is by His hands and

wisdom in guiding me to finish my work within the study period.

Secondly, I would like to extend my thanks to my honorable supervisor, Prof.

Ir. Dr. Hasanan Md. Nor for his support, encouragement, and academic guidance

during the course of my study. I would like to specially thank his patience and

tolerance towards me, in which he always trusts me that I am able to do it. His

diligence, dedication and working attitude are good examples for me to follow. I

would also like to express my sincere thanks to the Ministry of Science, Technology

and Innovation (MOSTI), Malaysia under IRPA research grant no. 03-02-06-0129-

EA0001

Thirdly, I would also like to thank and show my appreciation to all

technicians from (1) Highway Laboratory and (2) Structural and Materials

Engineering Laboratory at Faculty of Civil Engineering; (3) Material Engineering

Laboratory and (4) Applied Mechanics and Materials Testing Laboratory at Faculty

of Mechanical Engineering; and (5) Acoustic Laboratory at Faculty of Electrical

Engineering. Technical help and valuable suggestion provided by Sunway Paving

Solution Co. Ltd. (Senai Plant, Johor) is gratefully acknowledged. Last but not least,

I am grateful to my physical and spiritual family members for their love, support and

encouragement.

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ABSTRACT

Waste tyres could be utilized as partial replacement in order to preserve natural resources such as sand and to prevent the environment from further damage due to improper disposal of the tyres. There also been considerable research and development in the use of high toughness recycled tyres in concrete mixture to improve some engineering properties. In response to these demands, series of investigations were conducted and divided into three major parts in this project. For Part I, the laboratory trials were conducted to study the correlation between rubberized concrete paving blocks (RCPB) mixtures at different percentages of crumb rubber, water-cement ratio and strength. The effects of crumb rubber size, cement content and dosage of styrene-butadiene rubber latex were also investigated. To promote a practical use and acceptance of using RCPB by potential end users, Part II was carried out to investigate the manufacturing processes and the feasibility of producing RCPB in a commercial plant setting. A total of 4,300 RCPB containing 10% (10-RCPB), 20% (20-RCPB) and 30% (30-RCPB) of rubber and control concrete paving blocks (CCPB) were produced and tested for voids, abrasion, sound absorption, skid resistance, scanning electron microscopy, and long-term strength development in compression, flexural and splitting-tensile. The effect of compressive strength under three curing conditions of RCPB was also assessed. A relationship for the strength development between compression, flexural and splitting-tensile was therefore established. In Part III of this study, Highway Accelerated Loading Instrument (HALI) was developed. The concept of HALI development, including design, fabrication, calibration and performance monitoring, is also presented. RCPB pavement was tested with HALI and subjected to 10,000 cycles of load repetition. Additional tests, including shear resistance, skid resistance, and impact resistance were also conducted in order to have a better understanding of the effects of RCPB on the pavement behaviour. Results obtained from three-dimensional models showed CCPB tend to yield slightly better than other types of RCPB. Despite better skid resistance and interlocking force of CCPB, the other types of RCPB containing crumb rubber showed a great improvement in toughness. The plant manufactured RCPB can be categorized as high strength and low toughness (CCPB); high strength and moderate toughness (10-RCPB); low strength and high toughness (20-RCPB and 30-RCPB). Therefore, all types of RCPB can be introduced to various types of pavement according to the traffic volume and the application of the pavement.

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ABSTRAK

Tayar buruk boleh digunakan sebagai gantian separa untuk mengurangkan penggunaan sumber semulajadi seperti pasir dan melindungi alam sekitar daripada pembuangan tayar yang tidak teratur. Terdapat juga pertimbangan dalam penyelidikan dan pembangunan bagi mencampurkan tayar buruk yang mempunyai kekerasan yang tinggi dalam konkrit bagi meningkatkan sifat kejuruteraan konkrit. Untuk memenuhi keperluan tersebut, beberapa ujian yang telah dilaksanakan dibahagikan kepada tiga bahagian utama dalam projek ini. Untuk Bahagian I, ujian makmal dijalankan untuk mengkaji hubungan di antara peratusan getah, nisbah air-simen dan kekuatan mampatan bagi turapan blok konkrit bergetah (RCPB). Kesan daripada saiz getah, kandungan simen dan dos susu getah stirena butadiene juga dikaji. Untuk mempromosikan kegunaan dan kebolehterimaan penggunaan RCPB oleh pengguna yang berpotensi, Bahagian II telah dijalankan untuk mengkaji pemprosesan dan pratikaliti bagi menghasilkan RCPB di kilang secara komersil. Sebanyak 4300 RCBP yang mengandungi 10% (10-RCPB), 20% (20-RCPB) dan 30% (30-RCPB) getah termasuk turapan blok konkrit kawalan (CCPB) telah dihasilkan dan diuji untuk lompang udara, lelasan, serapan bunyi, rintangan pengeliciran, mikroskopi elektron pengimbasan, perkembangan jangka panjang bagi kekuatan mampatan, lenturan, tegangan pecah. Kesan daripada tiga jenis keadaan pengawetan terhadap kekuatan mampatan RCPB juga diperhatikan. Hubungan untuk perkembangan di antara kekuatan mampatan, lenturan dan tegangan pecah ditentukan. Dalam Bahagian III bagi kajian ini, alat Highway Accelerated Loading Instrument (HALI) telah cipta. Konsep pembangunan HALI termasuk rekabentuk, pembuatan, kalibrasi dan pengujian perlaksanaan, juga dibentangkan. Turapan RCPB diuji dengan HALI dan dikenakan 10000 kali beban berulangan. Pengujian tambahan, termasuk rintangan ricih, rintangan pengelinciran dan rintangan hentaman juga dijalankan untuk menambahkan pengetahuan kesan-kesan RCPB terhadap kelakuan turapan. Secara keseluruhan, keputusan yang diperolehi daripada model tiga dimensi, menunjukkan CCPB lebih baik daripada RCPB. Meskipun CCPB mempunyai lebih baik rintangan pengelinciran dan kekuatan penguncian, RCPB yang mengadungi getah menujukkan penambahan ketahanlaksakan yang tinggi. Penghasilan RCPB di kilang boleh dikategorikan kepada kekuatan tinggi dan ketahanlasakan rendah (CCPB); kekuatan tinggi dan ketahanlasakan sederhana (10-RCPB); kekuatan rendah dan ketahanlasakan tinggi (20-RCPB dan 30-RCPB). Oleh yang demikian, semua jenis RCPB berpotensi untuk diaplikasikan dalam pelbagai jenis turapan jalan berdasarkan bilangan trafik dan kegunaan bagi turapan berkenanan.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER TITLE PAGE

TITLE PAGE i

DECLARATION PAGE ii

DEDICATION PAGE iii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT iv

ABSTRACT v

ABSTRAK vi

TABLE OF CONTENTS vii

LIST OF TABLES xv

LIST OF FIGURES xvii

LIST OF SYMBOLS xxiv

LIST OF APPENDICES xxvii

1 INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Introduction 1

1.2 Research Background 2

1.3 Objectives 5

1.4 Scope of Investigation 6

1.5 Significance of the Research 8

2 LITERATURE REVIEW 10

2.1 Introduction 10

2.2 Rubberized Concrete 11

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2.2.1 Rubber Aggregate 11

2.2.2 Density 13

2.2.3 Air Content 14

2.2.4 Mechanical Strength 14

2.2.5 Effect of Treatment and Surface Texture

of Rubber Aggregate 16

2.2.6 Effect of Using Special Cements 18

2.2.7 Toughness and Impact Resistance 18

2.2.8 Sound Insulation 20

2.3 Specification of CPB 21

2.3.1 Materials Constituents of CPB 22

2.3.1.1 Cement 22

2.3.1.2 Aggregate 22

2.3.1.3 Sand 23

2.3.1.4 Water 23

2.3.1.5 Superplasticizers 23

2.3.2 Appearance 24

2.3.3 Shape and Dimensions 24

2.4 Manufacture of CPB 24

2.4.1 Pressure Manufacture 26

2.4.2 High Frequency Vibration Manufacture 27

2.5 The Nature of Concrete Block Pavement 29

2.6 Advantages and Limitations of Concrete Block

Pavement 30

2.6.1 Manufacture of CPB Units 32

2.6.2 Construction 32

2.6.3 Operation 33

2.6.4 Maintenance 33

2.7 Factors Affecting the Structural Performance

of Concrete Block Pavement 34

2.7.1 Shape and Size of the CPB 35

2.7.2 Thickness of the CPB 36

2.7.3 Laying Pattern 37

2.7.4 Strength of the Individual CPB 39

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2.7.5 Bedding Sand 40

2.7.6 Base 41

2.8 Type of Trafficking Test on Concrete Block

Pavement 41

2.8.1 Static Loading Tests 42

2.8.2 Actual Pavements Traffic Tests 46

2.8.3 Accelerated Pavement Loading Tests 47

2.8.3.1 Vehicles Design Loads 48

2.8.3.2 Axle and Wheel Loads 48

2.8.3.3 Tyre Pressures 50

2.8.3.4 Accelerated Repetitions 50

2.8.4 Existing Accelerated Pavement Loading

Test 51

2.8.4.1 Dynamic Loading Test 51

2.8.4.2 RUB-StraP 52

2.8.4.3 Heavy Vehicle Simulator 54

2.8.4.4 Newcastle University Rolling Load

Facility 55

2.8.4.5 Accelerated Pavement Test Facility 56

2.8.4.6 Model Mobile Load Simulator 57

3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 59

3.1 Introduction 59

3.2 Laboratory Investigation of CPB Incorporating

Crumb Rubber and SBR Latex 61

3.2.1 Materials 60

3.2.1.1 Cement 60

3.2.1.2 Sand 62

3.2.1.3 Aggregate 63

3.2.1.4 Water 64

3.2.1.5 Superplasticizer 64

3.2.1.6 Crumb rubber 64

3.2.1.7 Polymer Depression 66

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3.2.2 Mix Proportioning 66

3.2.3 RCPB Specimens Preparation 69

3.2.4 Test Methods 72

3.2.4.1 Density 72

3.2.4.2 Compressive Strength 72

3.2.4.3 Skid Resistance 74

3.3 Feasibility and Engineering Properties of Pilot

Plant Manufactured RCPB 74

3.3.1 Materials 74

3.3.2 Mix Proportioning 75

3.3.3 RCPB Making Process 76

3.3.3.1 Samples Preparation by Manual-

Cast Technique 79

3.3.3.2 Samples Preparation for Non-

Facing Layer 30-RCPB 79

3.3.4 Fresh RCPB 80

3.3.5 Curing of RCPB 81

3.3.6 Finished Products and Packing 83

3.3.7 Test Methods 85

3.3.7.1 Density, Water Absorption and Voids 85

3.3.7.2 Acoustic Properties 86

3.3.7.3 Compression Strength 87

3.3.7.4 Splitting Tensile Strength 88

3.3.7.5 Flexural Strength 90

3.3.7.6 Abrasion Resistance 91

3.3.7.7 Skid Resistance 92

3.3.7.8 Impact Resistance 93

3.4 Structural Performance of RCPB Pavement 94

3.4.1 Design of HALI 94

3.4.2 Calibration of HALI 96

3.4.2.1 Loading Applied to Wheel 97

3.4.2.2 Speed of Mobile Carriage 99

3.4.2.3 Tyre Pressure 99

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3.4.3 HALI Performance Monitoring 99

3.4.3.1 Construction of Test Pavement 100

3.4.3.2 Procedures of Accelerated Trafficking

Test 101

3.4.3.3 Rut Depth and Permanent Deformation

Measurement 103

3.4.3.4 Joint Width Measurement 104

3.4.4 Structural Performance of RCPB Pavement 104

3.4.4.1 Construction Procedures of RCPB

Pavement 105

3.4.4.2 Rut Depth and Permanent Deformation

Measurement 106

3.4.4.3 Pull-Out Test 107

3.4.4.4 Skid Resistance Test 108

3.4.4.5 Falling Weight Test 109

4 LABORATORY INVESTIGATION OF CPB

INCORPORATING CRUMB RUBBER AND SBR LATEX 110

4.1 Introduction 110

4.2 Results and Discussion 111

4.2.1 Density 111

4.2.1.1 Effect of Cement Content and W/C 111

4.2.1.2 Effect of Crumb Rubber Size 112

4.2.1.3 Effect of Crumb Rubber Content

and W/C 113

4.2.1.4 Effect of SBR Latex Dosage 114

4.2.2 Compressive Strength 115




and W/C 118


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4.2.3 Skid Resistance 129




and W/C 131


4.3 Summary 133

5 FEASIBILITY AND ENGINEERING PROPERTIES OF

PILOT PLANT MANUFACTURED RCPB 135


5.2 Results and Discussion of Pilot Plant Manufactured

RCPB 136

5.2.1 Fresh RCPB 136

5.2.2 Surface Colour 137

5.2.3 Density, Water Absorption and Voids 138

5.2.4 Acoustic Properties 140


5.2.6 Compressive Strength and Abrasion

Resistance Relationship 147

5.2.7 Splitting Tensile Strength 150

5.2.8 Flexural Strength 152

5.2.9 Splitting Tension-Compression, Flexural-

Compression, and Flexural-Splitting

Tension Relationship 154


5.2.11 Impact Resistance 158

5.3 Results and Discussion of Manual-Cast Technique 159


5.3.2 Flexural Strength 162


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5.4 Results and Discussion of Non-Facing Layer 30-RCPB 166

5.4.1 Dry Density, Compressive and

Flexural Strengths 166

5.4.2 Acoustic Properties 168

5.4.3 Abrasion Resistance 169


5.5 Summary 171

6 STRUCTURAL PERFORMANCE OF RUBBERIZED

CONCRETE PAVING BLOCK PAVEMENT 175


6.2 Results and Discussion of HALI Monitoring 176

6.2.1 Transverse Rutting Profiles 176

6.2.2 Mean Rut Depth in the Wheel Path 180

6.2.3 Longitudinal Rut Depth for

Various Load Repetitions 181

6.2.4 Three-Dimensional View of

Deformed Pavement 182

6.2.5 Joint Width 184

6.3 Results and Discussion of Structure Perfamnce of

RCPB 184

6.3.1 Transverse Rutting Profiles 186

6.3.2 Mean Rut Depth in the Wheel Path 187

6.3.3 Longitudinal Rut Depth 188

6.3.4 Three-Dimensional View of

Deformed RCPB Pavement 190

6.3.5 Joint Width 193

6.3.6 Shear Resistance 195


6.3.8 Impact Resistance 199

6.4 Summary 200

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7 CONCLUSION AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS 203


7.2 Conclusion 204

7.2.1 Part I- Laboratory Investigation of CPB

Incorporating Crumb Rubber and SBR Latex 204

7.2.2 Part II- Feasibility of Pilot Plant

Manufactured and Engineering Properties

of RCPB 205

7.2.3 Part III- Structural Performance of RCPB

Pavement 208

7.3 Recommendations for Future Research 211

REFERENCES 213

APPENDICES A – B 222– 233

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LIST OF TABLES

TABLE NO. TITLE PAGE

2.1 Comparison of concrete block pavement and

other pavement types (Shackel, 1994) 31

2.2 Factors affecting the performance of concrete

block pavements 35

2.3 Typical maximum single axle loads (Shackel, 1994) 48

2.4 Standard axle loads (Shackel, 1994) 49

3.1 Chemical constituents and physical properties 61

of OPC (Narayanan, 2002)

3.2 Sieve analysis of sand 63

3.3 Sieve analysis of aggregate 64

3.4 Mix proportioning for Series I 67

3.5 Mix proportioning for Series II 67

3.6 Mix proportioning for Series III 68

3.7 Mix proportioning for Series IV 69

3.8 Physical and mechanical properties of fine and

coarse sand 75

3.9 Physical and mechanical properties of aggregate 75

3.10 Mix proportioning per m3 for Part II 76

4.1 Paired t-test for SBR latex-RCPB 129

5.1 Properties of fresh RCPB 136

5.2 Number of drops for causing damage on a set of RCPB 159

5.3 Summary results of plant and manual-cast RCPB 164

5.4 30-RCPB test specimens with and without facing layer 167

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6.1 Mean joint width for various load repetitions 184

6.2 Number of drops for causing damage on a set of RCPB 199

xvii

LIST OF FIGURES

FIGURE NO. TITLE PAGE

2.1 Concrete paving block 21

2.2 During and after fabrication of CPB specimens

(Poon and Chan, 2006) 26

2.3 CPB making process by Sukontasukkul and

Chaikaew (2006) 27

2.4 Tray of CPB moving out of compaction machine

in factory (Holt and Raivio, 2005) 28

2.5 Principal elements of a concrete block pavement 29

2.6 CPB shape type 37

2.7 Common laying pattern 38

2.8 Use of herringbone pattern 39

2.9 Test setup (Panda and Ghosh, 2002b) 43

2.10 Layout of CPB units in test panels 45

2.11 Schematic diagram of compression test rig 45

2.12 Typical distribution of truck axle loads 49

2.13 Laboratory setup showing the testing apparatus

and the CPB laid in the herringbone pattern 52

2.14 Schematic of the RUB-StraP (Koch, 1999) 53

2.15 Not full scale drawing of test bed with designation

of point of origin and dimensions 53

3.1 Research flow chart 60

3.2 Crumb rubber 65

3.3 Gradation of crumb rubber, sand and aggregate 65

xviii

3.4 Manual concrete mixing in galvanize steel pan 70

3.5 Manual compaction applied to each layer of

concrete mixtures 70

3.6 Excess materials were removed from a steel mould 71

3.7 Flattening block surface 71

3.8 Demoulding of RCPB specimens from a steel mould 71

3.9 Natural dry curing inside laboratory 71

3.10 Compressive strength test 73

3.11 Tested RCPB specimens 73

3.12 Skid resistance test equipment 74

3.13 RCPB making process control flowchart 77

3.14 Pan mixer 78

3.15 Block making machine 78

3.16 Collected concrete mixtures for manual-cast RCPB 79

3.17 30-RCPB with and without facing layer 80

3.18 RCPB height control 80

3.19 Some of the rejected RCPB 80

3.20 RCPB sampling 81

3.21 Dimensions measurement 81

3.22 Curing in chambers 82

3.23 A RCPB lowerator 82

3.24 Three curing conditions 83

3.25 Finished RCPB checking 84

3.26 Rejected RCPB 84

3.27 Making a ‘cube’ of RCPB 84

3.28 Strapped and packed RCPB 84

3.29 Submersion RCPB in water 86

3.30 Boiling RCPB in water 86

3.31 Test set up for measuring sound absorption

coefficient 87

3.32 Coring cylinder specimen from RCPB 87

3.33 Compression testing machine 88

3.34 Splitting tensile test 90

3.35 Flexural strength test 91

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3.36 Test set up for abrasion resistance 92

3.37 Abrasion resistance tested samples 92

3.38 Falling weight test on (a) a fix steel plate

(b) on two steel roller 94

3.39 Highway Accelerated Loading Instrument 95

3.40 Load cell and data logger 97

3.41 Location of rut depth permanent deformation

measurement points 102

3.42 Measurement of pavement model deformation

using the dial gauges 103

3.43 Layout detail of RCPB pavement model 106

3.44 Pull-out test set up 108

4.1 Density of Series I CPB 112

4.2 Density of Series II RCPB 113

4.3 Density of Series III RCPB 114

4.4 Density of Series IV SBR-latex RCPB 115

4.5 Compressive strength of Series I CPB with 12%

cement content 116

4.6 Compressive strength of Series I CPB with 15%

cement content 117

4.7 Compressive strength of Series II RCPB with

different size of crumb rubber 118

4.8 Compressive strength of Series III RCPB at 0.45 W/C 119



4.11 Compressive strength of Series III RCPB at 28 days 121

4.12 BEI of fracture of specimen 122

4.13 SEI of fracture of specimen 122

4.14 Relationship of 7-day strength reduction factor

versus crumb rubber content in the mix 124

4.15 Relationship of 28-day strength reduction factor

versus crumb rubber content in the mix 125

4.16 Compressive strength of Series IV SBR latex-

RCPB with 0 % rubber content 126

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4.20 SEM observation of rubber-latex interface

(A) Rubber particle; (B) Fiber (Mag=250×) 128

4.21 SEM observation of rubber-latex interface

(A) Rubber particle; (B) Fiber (Mag=1,000×) 128

4.22 Skid resistance of Series I CPB specimens 130

4.23 Skid resistance of Series II RCPB specimens 131

4.24 Skid resistance of Series III RCPB specimens 132

4.25 Skid resistance of Series IV SBR latex-RCPB

Specimens 133

5.1 Cracks on 30-RCPB (a) side view (b) plan view 137

5.2 Four mixes RCPB specimens 138

5.3 Relationship between crumb rubber content and

water absorption 139

5.4 Relationship between crumb rubber content and

density 140

5.5 Sound absorption coefficients of the RCPB 141

5.6 Development of CCPB compressive strength

under different curing condition 142

5.7 Development of 10-RCPB compressive strength


5.8 Observation of undisturbed facture surface resulting

from compression test (a) 10-RCPB and (b) 30-RCPB 144





5.11 Compression tested samples for CCPB and RCPB 146

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5.12 Relationship between abrasion index and

compressive strength of CCPB samples 147


compressive strength of 10-RCPB samples 148





5.16 Long-term splitting tensile strength development 150

5.17 Splitting tension tested samples for (a) CCPB and

(b) 30-RCPB 151

5.18 Long-term flexural strength development 152

5.19 Modulus of elasticity versus modulus of rupture 153

5.20 Flexural tested samples for (a) CCPB and

(b) 10-RCPB 154

5.21 Relationship of long-term compressive strength

to flexural and splitting tensile strength 155

5.22 Long-term flexural strength versus splitting tensile

strength 157

5.23 Relationship between skid resistance and rubber

content under dried-surface and wet-surface

condition 158

5.24 28-day compressive strength of RCPB 160

5.25 Relationship between 28-day compressive strength

and unit weight 161

5.26 MOR for plant-cast and manual-cast RCPB at

different rubber content 162

5.27 Flexural strength responds for plant-cast RCPB 163

5.28 Flexural strength responds for manual-cast RCPB 163

5.29 Relationship between plant-cast and manual-cast

of 28-day MOE 164

5.30 Relationship between skid resistance and rubber

content 166

5.31 Flexural strength versus deflection 167

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5.32 Sound absorption coefficients of 30-RCPB with

and without facing layer 169

5.33 Arasion index of the 30-RCPB with and without

facing layer 170

6.1 Plan view of test pavement 177

6.2 The development of the transverse deformation

profiles for different load repetitions 178

6.3 Schematic cross section of the test pavement

and off-centered/ asymmetric load applied on the

wheel path and adjusted blocks 179

6.4 Mean rut depth of test pavement up to 2500 load

repetitions 180

6.5 Typical longitudinal view of rut depth for various

load repetitions 181

6.6 Three-dimensional view of deformed pavement

after 50 load repetitions 183

6.7 Three-dimensional view of deformed pavement

after 2500 load repetitions 183

6.8 Layout detail of RCPB pavement model 187

6.9 Transverse rutting profiles after 50 and 10000


6.10 Mean rut depth of four test sections up to 10000


6.11 Typical longitudinal view of rut depth after

various load repetitions 189

6.12 Three-dimensional view of four sections

deformed RCPB pavement after 50 load repetitions 191

6.13 Three-dimensional view of four sections

deformed RCPB pavement after 10000 load repetitions 191

6.14 Three-dimensional profile and contour view of

single section deformed pavement after 10000

load repetitions (a) Section I (b) Section II

(c) Section III (d) Section IV 193

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6.15 Mean joint width at panels A, B, C and D for various


6.16 Effect of excessive deformation adjacent to untrafficked

area after (a) 2500 (b) 10000 load repetitions 195

6.17 Pull-out test 196

6.18 Relationship between pull-out force and

displacement 196

6.19 Skid resistance before trafficking test and after

10000 load repetitions of trafficking test 198

6.20 Failure patterns of CCPB and RCPB

(a) plan view (b) side view 200

xxiv

LIST OF SYMBOLS

AASHTO - American Association of State Highway and Transportation

Officials

AEA - Air-entraining agent

APTF - Accelerated Pavement Test Facility

ARRB - Australian Road Research Board

ASTM - American Society for Testing and Materials

BEI - Backscattered electrons imaging

BPN - British Pendulum Number

BS - British Standard

CBR - California Bearing Ratio

CCPB - Control concrete paving blocks

C&D - Construction and demolition

CPB - Concrete paving block

FWD - Falling weight deflectometer

HALI - Highway Accelerated Loading Instrument

HVS - Heavy Vehicle Simulator

ICT - Intensive compaction tester

MLS - Mobile Load Simulator

MOCRC - Magnesium oxychloride cement rubber concrete

MOE - Modulus of elasticity

MOR - Modulus of rupture

MW - Megawatt

NaOH - Sodium hydroxide

NUROLF - Newcastle University Rolling Load Facility

OPC - Ordinary Portland cement

xxv

PCRC - Portland cement rubber concrete

PVC - Poly(vinyl chloride)

RCPB - Rubberized concrete paving blocks

SBR - Styrene-butadiene rubber

SEI - Secondary electrons imaging

SEM - Scanning electron microscopy

TALC - Tyre-added latex concrete

UTM - Universiti Teknologi Malaysia

W/C - Water/cement ratios

A - Cross sectional area of the RCPB specimen

B - Average width of the sample

C - Average compressive strength

Ck - Characteristic compressive strength

Cp - Compressive strengths of plant-cast

Cm - Compressive strengths of manual-cast

D - Average thickness

E - Modulus of elasticity

F - Breaking load or maximum applied load

FC - Flexural strengths of CCPB

FR - Flexural strengths of RCPB

Ia - Abrasion index

k - Correction factor for the thickness

l ,L - Span length

Δℓ - Average length

N - No. of ball-race revolutions

p - Penetration

P - Maximum applied load or breaking load per unit length of the

failure plane

R - Reduction factor

R2 - Correlation coefficient

s - Standard deviation of 5 paving units

S - Sample

Sc - Compressive strength of CCPB

Sr - Compressive strength of RCPB

xxvi

T - Splitting tensile strength

V - Crumb rubber in volumetric ratio by total sand volume in the

mix

σ - Modulus of rupture

xxvii

LIST OF APPENDICES

APPENDIX TITLE PAGE

A Design Details and Operating Manual of Highway

Accelerated Loading Instrument (HALI) 222

B List of Eleven Journal Articles and Proceeding

Papers Written by the Candidate Based on the

Work Presented in this Thesis 231

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Introduction

The use of small-element paving to create a hard surface for roads or

pavements is an ancient tradition that can be traced back to the royal processional

roads of ancient Babylon, continuing in Greek and Roman times (Lilley, 1991).

Concrete paving block (CPB) continues this tradition and was first introduced in the

Netherlands after the Second World War and spread quickly to countries in Europe.

For the past 60 years, significant research activities for the development and

refinement of CBP technique have been going on in many countries, including

Australia, Canada, Germany, Israel, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, South Africa,

the United Kingdom, and the United States.

The general worldwide trend towards beautification of certain city pavements,

the rising cost of bitumen as a paving material, the rapid increase in construction and

maintenance cost have encouraged designers to consider alternative paving material

such as CPB. In addition, excellent engineering properties of CPB, ease of removal,

reuse potential and ability to be utilized in all climate conditions are the main

2

advantages of CPB to be used in a variety of commercial, municipal and industrial

applications.

CPB are fully engineered products manufactured in the factory to give

consistency and accuracy. This advantage is offset, in part, by the need to use

sophisticated special-purpose CPB making machines. Such equipment, however,

tends to produce CPB of appreciably higher quality than conventional rigid

pavements with respect to density, strength and durability. As a result, subject to the

selection of an appropriate mix design, CPB surfaces can offer superior levels of

performance in harsh environment compared to conventional concrete and asphalt

pavements.

1.2 Research Background

In developing countries, utilization of CPB as a paving material is widespread.

Cement and aggregate, which are the most important constituents used in

manufacturing CPB, are also a vital material for the construction industry. This

inevitably led to much quarrying of natural materials used for the production of

concrete. The government has also indicated a growing concern for protecting the

environment and preserving natural resources (example, aggregate) by using

alternative materials (example, recycled or waste materials). On the other hand, wise

disposal of waste materials all around the world is being encouraged due to the

crucial environment issues. Recently, there have been suggestions and successful

applications of using local waste materials as a partial replacement for cement or

aggregate in manufacturing CPB in some Asian countries.

In Hong Kong, the construction industry generates very large amount of solid

wastes such as crushed clay brick, crushed ceramic tile, crushed waste grass, wood

3

chips, etc. Numerous studies on applications of construction and demolition (C&D)

wastes as fine and coarse aggregates material are available in the literature (Poon and

Chan (2006, 2007); Poon and Cheung, 2007; Poon et al., 2002; Lam et al., 2007),

which demonstrated the possibility of utilizing huge amounts of C&D waste in CPB.

The use of recycled aggregates in CPB production has been successfully

implemented and is gaining wider acceptance.

In recent years in Japan, the amount of coal ash produced by power plant

reached about 27,000 tons daily. Karasawa (2003) have reported that fly ash can be

used as a substitute for fine aggregate in the production of CPB. However,

utilization of fly ash can be accepted only when it meets the production target value

with fly ash replacement ratio of 25%.

Phinyocheep (1988) and Nutalaya (1994) cited a large body of literature on

the applications of fly ash in CPB. It is estimated that about 45,000 tons of Mae-

Moh fly ash lignite is consumed daily for the generation of a 2,025 MW power plant

in Thailand. Apart from fly ash, peanut shell ash and rice husk ash can be used as

partial replacement of cement in CPB production. Due to the burden of waste

disposal and environmental effect, the idea to utilize this fly ash is raised in the

production of low-cost CPB. This created employment opportunities and benefited

the people who live in the vicinity of the power plant.

Nevertheless, among the waste materials, pneumatic tyre is one of the most

common environmental issues in the contemporary world, which is not readily

biodegradable. Each year, approximately 800 million new tyres are produced in

every region of the world, in various sizes and types (Ulrich, 1998). The lifetime of

some tyres are prolonged, but ultimately they, too, will be discarded as waste

materials. Majority of such tyres eventually end up in the already congested landfill

or will become mosquito breeding places and gives the worst effects when it is burnt.

Recent statistics in Malaysia indicated more than 100% increase in the number of

registered vehicles within ten years. The current thirteen million of vehicles are

4

producing large number of scrap tyres. Therefore, the Department of Environmental

has put a stop to the open burning and burying of waste tyres as they cause air

pollution and land instability, respectively. Even though several agencies and

municipal councils are involved in waste management, they often have no clear

functions in relation to waste management. Therefore, as an engineer and researcher,

there is a need to seek economic and environmental friendly methods to manage

these tyres in civil engineering applications, such as CPB products.

Existing CPB is characterized as a composite material with high compressive

strength, moderate tensile strength and with a low toughness. It is anticipated that an

ideal concrete block pavement should have high tensile strength and high toughness.

Therefore, minimum required strength and improved toughness of modified CPB has

to be developed for trafficked pavement application. For concrete, it is found that

the higher the strength, the lower the toughness. Therefore it is impossible to

develop high strength and high toughness concrete without modifications.

Laboratory tests have shown that the addition of waste tyre rubber in concrete

increase toughness, impact resistance, and plastic deformation considerably, offering

a great potential for it to be used in sound/crash barriers, retaining structures and

pavement structures (Eldin and Senouci, 1993; Khatib and Bayomy, 1999; Goulias

and Ali, 1998). However, the strength of concrete containing crumb rubber or

rubberized concrete is expected to be lower than those of the ordinary concrete

(Toutanji, 1996; Siddique and Naik, 2004; Li et al., 2004). The reason for the

strength reduction could be attributed both to a reduction of quantity of the solid load

carrying material and a lack of adhesion at the boundaries of the rubber aggregate, as

soft rubber particles may behave as voids in the concrete matrix.

However, not much attention has been given to the potential use of rubber as

concrete aggregate in pavement application, particularly for CPB. As previously

mentioned, owing to the very high toughness of waste tyres, it is expected that

adding crumb rubber into CPB mixture in this study can increase the toughness of

CPB considerably. Furthermore, the environment benefits from the reduction of

waste tyres disposal in landfills, in addition to natural materials in concrete being

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reserved. Therefore, this study aims at developing the potential of using crumb

rubber as a partial sand replacement in manufacturing CPB. It is believe that by

substituting sand with crumb rubber, concrete block pavement will be more durable,

can absorb higher energy under impact and flexible, thus, providing softness to the

surface.

1.3 Objectives

The overall objective of this study is to investigate the feasibility of

incorporating crumb rubber into CPB as a partial replacement for natural sand in the

concrete mix.

The specific objectives of this study are as follows:

(i) To look into the mechanical properties of CPB incorporating crumb

rubber and styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) latex;

(ii) To assess the feasibility of pilot plant manufacture of rubberized

concrete paving blocks (RCPB) based on formulations developed in

laboratory trials;

(iii) To study long-term engineering properties of pilot plant

manufactured RCPB;

(iv) To develop a laboratory scale accelerated loading test equipment;

(v) To investigate structural performance of RCPB pavement subjected to

accelerated loading test.

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In addition to investigating the use of rubber aggregate in concrete mix

design and the engineering properties of concrete mixes, an important consideration

has been the development of RCPB products which are feasible in terms of

production and good in service performance.

1.4 Scope of Investigation

The scopes of work undertaken are divided into three major parts:

Part I – Laboratory investigation of CPB incorporating crumb rubber and SBR latex

In order to develop information about the mechanical properties of CPB

incorporating crumb rubber and SBR latex, the following aspects were considered:

(i) Mix design parameters:

Cement content and water/cement (W/C) ratios

Three different size of crumb rubber

Eight different percentage of crumb rubber replacement at

0.45, 0.50 and 0.55 W/C ratios

Four dosage of SBR latex admixture for 0%, 10%, 20% and

30% replacement of crumb rubber concrete mixtures

(ii) Mechanical properties:

7 and 28-day compressive strength

Unit weight

Skid resistance

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Part II – Feasibility and engineering properties of pilot plant manufactured RCPB

Various tests were carried out to assess the feasibility of pilot plant

production and to establish the long-term engineering properties of RCPB. The

testing procedures are in accordance with BS 6717 (BSI, 2001), MA 20 (CMAA,

1996) and ASTM specifications to investigate the performance of RCPB against

control blocks to look at:

(i) Fresh properties:

Work dimensions

Tolerances

(ii) Visual properties:

Appearance

Surface colour

(iii) Hardened, acoustic, mechanical and durability properties:

Unit weight

Water absorption

Sound absorption

Scanning electron microscopy (SEM)

Long-term compressive strength under three curing conditions

Long-term flexural strength

Long-term splitting tensile strength

Long-term abrasion resistance

Impact resistance

Skid resistance

To assess the long-term development and performance of abrasion resistance,

compression; splitting tension and flexural strengths, samples were tested at 1, 7, 28,

91, 182 and 364 days of age.

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Part III – Structural performance of RCPB pavement

To ensure that RCPB pavement is good in service performance, Highway

Accelerated Loading Instrument (HALI) was developed and a series of accelerated

trafficking tests were conducted:

(i) Development of HALI consists of

Design

Fabrication

Calibration

Monitoring of the equipment performance

(ii) Investigation of RCPB structural performance based on

Longitudinal and transverse rutting profiles

Three-dimensional surface deformation

Open joint width

Skid resistance

Impact resistance

Shear resistance

1.5 Significance of the Research

(i) Utilising waste material and reducing the use of natural material in

CPB.

(ii) Developing an innovative RCPB product that has better engineering

properties and comparable service performance in comparison with

existing CPB.

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(iii) Highlighting plant production technique to reuse recycled wastes in

large quantities and in a fast manner. Therefore, this work would be a

useful reference for future researchers on the possibility of

incorporating other types of waste materials in CPB.

(iv) Contributing better understanding of long-term engineering properties

of RCPB, which can be applied to other concrete applications in civil

engineering.

(v) Providing low cost, operational guideline and simple accelerated

loading facility for road authorities and highway research institutions.

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