Pérez-Avilés, Seaska

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    Experimental study of the use of crumb rubber as a structural component in slender steel elements
    (2018-12-12) Pérez-Avilés, Seaska; Suárez, Luis E.; College of Engineering; Wendichansky Bard, Daniel; Guevara Guillen, José; Department of Civil Engineering; Montejo Valencia, Luis
    Facing a serious waste management problem, the accumulation of scrap tires represents a huge environmental and health problem not only to Puerto Rico, but also to many nations. It is necessary to consider alternatives for the use of this material in order to alleviate the problem. One of these alternatives is the use of crumb rubber in structural engineering applications in order to prevent buckling. Often defined as a structural instability, buckling could cause slender steel elements to fail suddenly when loaded under compression. However, if the steel elements are confined or possess lateral restrictions, larger loads are then needed in order to cause a buckling failure. Therefore, this project was aimed to perform experimental tests on unconfined and confined (with crumb rubber) slender steel elements to determine the behavior of the rubber as a confining element. In order to meet these objectives, experimental tests were conducted on steel truss beams (confined and unconfined) using two different configurations to determine their maximum capacity when loaded in flexure. A flexural test was also carried out on a hexagonal rubber paver. Finally, analytical models were developed using the structural analysis software SAP2000 to simulate the beam specimens previously tested. It was found that, depending on the configuration of the beam and the crumb rubber, the latter could increase or decrease the load capacity of the structure.