The effect of sulfuric acid on the strength and durability of concrete containing waste tire crumbs

The acidic and corrosive environments have necessitated the need for more research on the new concrete that uses cement or aggregates substitutes in their mixing design. The use of waste tires in concrete as part of concrete aggregates has been evaluated and researched in recent years. In this paper, the strength and permeability of concrete containing crumbed tires exposed to sulfuric acid were investigated. For this purpose, 5, 10, and 15% of the sand of the concrete mixing design were replaced with the crumbed tire. After making the concrete, the samples were cured in standard conditions for up to 7 days and then placed in water containing 5% sulfuric acid to continue the curing. The compression strength and water penetration depth tests were performed on the samples at 28 and 90 days. Although the compressive strength of the samples has decreased with increasing the percentage of crumbed-tire, the percentage of crumbed-tire has not had much effect on the amount of difference due to changing curing conditions. The permeability of the concrete increased with increasing the percentage of crumbed-tire and also the samples stored in sulfuric acid showed more permeability. Permeability increased by 13% by changing the curing environment to sulfuric acid.