# Energy Evolution Characteristics and Performance Parameter Degradation of Rubber-Mixed Concrete in Sulfate Attack Environment

Authors: Xiu-ling Chen
Journal: Advances in Civil Engineering
 (2022)

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## Abstract

In order to study the sulfate resistance of rubber concrete (RC), the compressive strength test of RC with different contents (0%, 5%, 10%, and 15%) was carried out, and the proportion of RC with standard curing for 28 days was optimized. Sulfate attack test was carried out on the selected RC and compared with normal concrete (NC). The degradation degree was measured from the effective porosity, relative dynamic elastic modulus, SO42− concentration, and SEM microstructure observation after different attack times. The energy analysis method is used to study the evolution law of total strain energy, elastic strain energy, and dissipated strain energy of NC and RC in the process of deformation and failure after different attack times, and the influence of sulfate attack on concrete is explored from the perspective of energy. The results show that with the progress of sulfate attack, the effective porosity of NC and RC both decreases first and then increases, and the relative dynamic elastic modulus increases first and then decreases. Rubber is beneficial to improve the sulfate resistance of concrete, delay the attack of SO42− on concrete, and improve the ductile deformation of concrete. This study can provide a theoretical reference for the application of RC in practical engineering.


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## Body

## 1. Introduction

As the most widely used and most basic building material, concrete is increasingly applied into the fields of civil engineering, transportation, water conservancy and hydropower, etc. Its durability has become a key engineering issue and has received widespread attention [1, 2]. Among them, sulfate erosion is one of the important factors. Essentially, sulfate ions react with cement hydrates to produce expansions that result in concrete damage and destruction, which affects the durability of concrete and reduces the strength of concrete. There are high concentrations of sulfate ions in the saline soil environment, and the long-term sulfate erosion of concrete reduces the structural safety of concrete and also shortens the service life [3, 4].Currently, many scholars have done researches on the reduction of concrete durability caused by sulfate attack. Wang et al. [5] conducted an experimental study on the law and mechanism of concrete durability degradation, whose results showed that the durability damage of sulfate attack on concrete was much greater than compound salt attack. Wu et al. [6] carried out researches on the durability of concrete under sulfate erosion environment based on the theory of damage mechanics and found that with the increase of erosion time, the coexpansion of ettringite and gypsum caused microcracks and the number continued to increase. Wang et al. [7] studied the changing characteristics of concrete pore structure under sulfate attack and analyzed the microstructure and mineralogical composition. Jin et al. [8] conducted an experimental study on the damage process of concrete in a sulfate attack environment, and the results showed that sulfate attack caused the expansion of concrete and formed a large number of cracks, which deteriorated the performance of concrete. Zhao et al. [9] studied the acoustic emission and physical and mechanical properties of concrete under the two sulfate erosion conditions of continuous soaking and dry-wet cycle. They found that the dry-wet cycle accelerated the deterioration of concrete. The pores inside the concrete increased the strength of the concrete to a certain extent.In order to improve the resistance of concrete to sulfate corrosion and extend the service life of the building, Sharma and Khan [10] used copper slag to replace parts of the fine aggregate in concrete to study the sulfate corrosion resistance and found that the copper slag replaces 40% of the fine aggregate, which was beneficial to improve the compressive strength of concrete and the resistance to sulfate attack. Wang et al. [11] studied the performance degradation of basalt fiber concrete under sulfate erosion environment and found that basalt fiber had a certain increase in the bearing capacity and deformation capacity of concrete and could delay the increase of concrete porosity. Lv et al. [12] studied the sulfate corrosion resistance and mechanism of silica fume-reinforced cement mortar. Vishwakarma et al. [13] separately incorporated fly ash and nano-TiO2 into concrete to compare and analyze the sulfate erosion resistance and found that the fly ash concrete had better sulfate erosion resistance.With the rapid development of the global economy, the rapid growth of annual automobile sales has caused a sharp increase in the amount of discarded rubber tires each year. As discarded tires are solid wastes that are not easily degradable, they have caused serious pollution [14, 15]. Studies have shown [16–18]: substituting rubber particles for part of the fine aggregate in concrete can not only solve the environmental pollution caused by discarded tires and save resources, but also make the concrete have good toughness, excellent impermeability, and antipermeability, together with good freezing performance and high ductility. Strukar et al. [19] conducted a uniaxial compression test on RC to explore the influence of rubber content on the mechanical behavior of concrete, conducted a comprehensive study on its stress-strain curve, and found that rubber could enhance the ductility of concrete. Ridgley et al. [20] used acoustic emission technology to study the abrasion resistance of NC and RC, and found that the quality loss and wear depth of RC were significantly lower than that of NC. Zhang et al. [21] studied the effect of rubber on the frost resistance of concrete and found that rubber could effectively reduce the damage of concrete in a freeze-thaw cycle environment and improve its freeze-thaw cycle resistance. Alwesabi et al. [22] found that rubber can enhance the fracture toughness of concrete.In this paper, rubber is mixed into concrete, and the rubber dosage is optimized to carry out the sulfate corrosion test and use NC as a reference, and reveals the law of rubber to improve the sulfate corrosion resistance of concrete, providing theoretical support for related engineering practice.


## 2. Experiment

### 2.1. Raw Materials

The raw materials are as follows—cement: P·O 42.5 grade ordinary Portland cement; stone: continuous graded crushed stones with particle sizes of 5∼15 mm; sand: medium sand with a fineness modulus of 2.55; rubber: particle sizes of 1∼3 mm with a density of 1050 kg/m3; sulfate: analytically pure AR-type anhydrous sodium sulfate; water reducing agent: HPWR-type high-performance water reducing agent; and water: tap water.


### 2.2. Design of Mix Proportion

The purpose of the experimental design in this paper is to reveal the degradation law of RC performance under sulfate attack. According to the National Standard of the People’s Republic of China GB/T 50082-2009Standard for Test Methods of Long-term Performance and Durability of Ordinary Concrete, the sulfate solution concentration is selected as 5%. Referring to the National Standard of the People’s Republic of China JGJ 55-2011 Specification for Mix Proportion Design of Ordinary Concrete, the design of the concrete mix proportion was carried out. In this experiment, the rubber contents are 0%, 5%, 10%, and 15% of the sands quality, respectively. The specific mix proportions are listed in Table 1.Table 1
Mix proportion (kg/m3).
SpecimenCementStoneSandRubberWaterWater reducing agentNC425118565001955.25RC14251185617.532.51955.25RC24251185585651955.25RC34251185552.597.51955.25According to the relevant provisions of the National Standard of the People’s Republic of China GB/T 50081-2019Standard for Test Methods of Concrete Physical and Mechanical Properties, CSS-YAN 3000 press is used for compressive strength test, and the test results are shown in Figure 1. It can be summarized that with the increase of rubber content, the compressive strength of concrete increases first and then decreases. When the rubber content is less than 10%, the strength of rubber concrete is improved, compared with that of NC. But with the further increase of rubber content, the concrete strength begins to decrease. When the rubber content is 10%, the strength growth rate is the largest, and compared with NC, it is increased by 22.20%. It can be seen from Figure 1(b) that the stress-strain curves of NC and RC are similar on the whole. With the increase of rubber content, the stress-strain curve’s rising speed is more rapid than that of NC, and the decline rate of the curve after the peak stress decreases, which shows that the addition of rubber into concrete is conducive to improving the ductility and deformation of concrete. This is mainly because rubber improves the gradation of sands, enhances the adhesion between cement and sands, and improves the workability of concrete. However, too much rubber will reduce the cement hydration reaction of concrete, and the amount of sands will be greatly reduced, resulting in the decrease of strength, which is consistent with relevant studies [23].Figure 1
Test results. (a) Compressive strength. (b) Stress-strain curves.
(a)(b)


### 2.3. Sulfate Erosion Experiment Schemes

In the sulfate erosion test, the RC content is 10%, that is, the mix proportion of RC2 group. The size of the concrete specimen is 100 mm × 100 mm × 100 mm, which has been cured for 28 days at a relative humidity of 95% or so under a temperature zone from 18°C to 22°C. With the concentration of the sulfate solution being 5%, the experiment is carried out to test the performance degradation process of RC in a sulfate erosion environment and compare it with NC by following alternating dry and wet methods. The specific operation process is in accordance with the National Standard of the People’s Republic of China GB/T 50082-2009 Standard for Test Methods of Long-term Performance and Durability of Ordinary Concrete. The drying temperature was 85°C, and the alternating time was 72 hours. The dry and wet ratio was 3 : 1, and the number of dry and wet alternates was set to 15 times, 30 times, 45 times, 60 times, 75 times, and 90 times, respectively. In view of the fact that SO42− will react with the calcium silicate hydrate in the concrete during the erosion process, the SO42− of the erosion solution will decrease. Therefore, the sulfate solution was changed every 30 days.After reaching the predetermined number of dry and wet alternations, the saturated mass and dry mass of the test piece were weighed to calculate the effective porosity of the test piece. The calculation formula shall be carried out according to formula (1); the HC-U81 nonmetal ultrasonic detector was applied to detect the ultrasonic sound of the test piece at each predetermined number of dry and wet alternations. When calculating the relative dynamic elastic modulus of the test piece, Equation (2) was carried out.(1)w=ms−mdmd,where w is the effective porosity; ms is the saturated mass (kg); and md is the dried mass (kg).(2)E=T0Tt2,where E is the relative dynamic modulus of elasticity; T0 is the uncorroded ultrasonic duration (s); and Tt is the ultrasonic duration (s) when eroded t times.


### 2.4. Principle of Energy Conversion

Energy conversion is the essential feature of the physical process of matter. The deformation and failure process of concrete under load is essentially the process of energy evolution inside concrete and energy exchange with the outside world. With the continuous action of the load, the energy input from the outside is gradually transformed into elastic strain energy, dissipation energy, electromagnetic energy, radiation energy, and so on of concrete. Since the proportion of electromagnetic energy and radiant energy is very small under static action, the main energy conversion relationship of concrete under load is seen in(3)U=Ue+Ud,where U is the total strain energy per unit volume; Ue is the elastic strain energy per unit volume; and Ud is the dissipated strain energy per unit volume.According to the stress-strain relationship, the total strain energy and elastic strain energy input by external force of concrete specimen per unit volume are seen in.(4)U=∫σdε,(5)Ue=σ22E,where σ is the axial stress; ε is the axial strain; and E is the initial elastic modulus.Therefore, the dissipated strain energy per unit volume is(6)Ud=U−Ue.It should be pointed out that the initial defects inside the specimen have been closed to a certain extent because the concrete specimen has been repeated preloading and unloading before formal loading. Therefore,E is taken as the slope of the straight line between 10% and 30 of the peak stress at the initial stage of the stress-strain curve of the specimen.


## 2.1. Raw Materials

The raw materials are as follows—cement: P·O 42.5 grade ordinary Portland cement; stone: continuous graded crushed stones with particle sizes of 5∼15 mm; sand: medium sand with a fineness modulus of 2.55; rubber: particle sizes of 1∼3 mm with a density of 1050 kg/m3; sulfate: analytically pure AR-type anhydrous sodium sulfate; water reducing agent: HPWR-type high-performance water reducing agent; and water: tap water.


## 2.2. Design of Mix Proportion

The purpose of the experimental design in this paper is to reveal the degradation law of RC performance under sulfate attack. According to the National Standard of the People’s Republic of China GB/T 50082-2009Standard for Test Methods of Long-term Performance and Durability of Ordinary Concrete, the sulfate solution concentration is selected as 5%. Referring to the National Standard of the People’s Republic of China JGJ 55-2011 Specification for Mix Proportion Design of Ordinary Concrete, the design of the concrete mix proportion was carried out. In this experiment, the rubber contents are 0%, 5%, 10%, and 15% of the sands quality, respectively. The specific mix proportions are listed in Table 1.Table 1
Mix proportion (kg/m3).
SpecimenCementStoneSandRubberWaterWater reducing agentNC425118565001955.25RC14251185617.532.51955.25RC24251185585651955.25RC34251185552.597.51955.25According to the relevant provisions of the National Standard of the People’s Republic of China GB/T 50081-2019Standard for Test Methods of Concrete Physical and Mechanical Properties, CSS-YAN 3000 press is used for compressive strength test, and the test results are shown in Figure 1. It can be summarized that with the increase of rubber content, the compressive strength of concrete increases first and then decreases. When the rubber content is less than 10%, the strength of rubber concrete is improved, compared with that of NC. But with the further increase of rubber content, the concrete strength begins to decrease. When the rubber content is 10%, the strength growth rate is the largest, and compared with NC, it is increased by 22.20%. It can be seen from Figure 1(b) that the stress-strain curves of NC and RC are similar on the whole. With the increase of rubber content, the stress-strain curve’s rising speed is more rapid than that of NC, and the decline rate of the curve after the peak stress decreases, which shows that the addition of rubber into concrete is conducive to improving the ductility and deformation of concrete. This is mainly because rubber improves the gradation of sands, enhances the adhesion between cement and sands, and improves the workability of concrete. However, too much rubber will reduce the cement hydration reaction of concrete, and the amount of sands will be greatly reduced, resulting in the decrease of strength, which is consistent with relevant studies [23].Figure 1
Test results. (a) Compressive strength. (b) Stress-strain curves.
(a)(b)


## 2.3. Sulfate Erosion Experiment Schemes

In the sulfate erosion test, the RC content is 10%, that is, the mix proportion of RC2 group. The size of the concrete specimen is 100 mm × 100 mm × 100 mm, which has been cured for 28 days at a relative humidity of 95% or so under a temperature zone from 18°C to 22°C. With the concentration of the sulfate solution being 5%, the experiment is carried out to test the performance degradation process of RC in a sulfate erosion environment and compare it with NC by following alternating dry and wet methods. The specific operation process is in accordance with the National Standard of the People’s Republic of China GB/T 50082-2009 Standard for Test Methods of Long-term Performance and Durability of Ordinary Concrete. The drying temperature was 85°C, and the alternating time was 72 hours. The dry and wet ratio was 3 : 1, and the number of dry and wet alternates was set to 15 times, 30 times, 45 times, 60 times, 75 times, and 90 times, respectively. In view of the fact that SO42− will react with the calcium silicate hydrate in the concrete during the erosion process, the SO42− of the erosion solution will decrease. Therefore, the sulfate solution was changed every 30 days.After reaching the predetermined number of dry and wet alternations, the saturated mass and dry mass of the test piece were weighed to calculate the effective porosity of the test piece. The calculation formula shall be carried out according to formula (1); the HC-U81 nonmetal ultrasonic detector was applied to detect the ultrasonic sound of the test piece at each predetermined number of dry and wet alternations. When calculating the relative dynamic elastic modulus of the test piece, Equation (2) was carried out.(1)w=ms−mdmd,where w is the effective porosity; ms is the saturated mass (kg); and md is the dried mass (kg).(2)E=T0Tt2,where E is the relative dynamic modulus of elasticity; T0 is the uncorroded ultrasonic duration (s); and Tt is the ultrasonic duration (s) when eroded t times.


## 2.4. Principle of Energy Conversion

Energy conversion is the essential feature of the physical process of matter. The deformation and failure process of concrete under load is essentially the process of energy evolution inside concrete and energy exchange with the outside world. With the continuous action of the load, the energy input from the outside is gradually transformed into elastic strain energy, dissipation energy, electromagnetic energy, radiation energy, and so on of concrete. Since the proportion of electromagnetic energy and radiant energy is very small under static action, the main energy conversion relationship of concrete under load is seen in(3)U=Ue+Ud,where U is the total strain energy per unit volume; Ue is the elastic strain energy per unit volume; and Ud is the dissipated strain energy per unit volume.According to the stress-strain relationship, the total strain energy and elastic strain energy input by external force of concrete specimen per unit volume are seen in.(4)U=∫σdε,(5)Ue=σ22E,where σ is the axial stress; ε is the axial strain; and E is the initial elastic modulus.Therefore, the dissipated strain energy per unit volume is(6)Ud=U−Ue.It should be pointed out that the initial defects inside the specimen have been closed to a certain extent because the concrete specimen has been repeated preloading and unloading before formal loading. Therefore,E is taken as the slope of the straight line between 10% and 30 of the peak stress at the initial stage of the stress-strain curve of the specimen.


## 3. Experimental Results and Analysis

### 3.1. Stress-Strain Curve

The stress-strain curves of NC and RC in the sulfate attack environment are shown in Figure2. It can be seen that with the progress of sulfate erosion, the stress-strain curves of NC and RC have undergone significant changes, but on the whole, the changes of NC are more obvious; as the dry-wet cycles’ times increase, the stress-strain curve moves toward the right direction that deviates from the Y-axis. The stress and strain peaks of NC and RC increase first and then decrease as a whole, and the stress peak of RC increases rapidly in the early stage of erosion and then the speed being slower. The deformation of RC in the linear elastic stage is lighter. After 30 times’ dry-wet cycles, the peak stress of NC came to the biggest. Compared with the uneroded specimen, the peak stress increases by 7.24%. After 60 times’ dry-wet cycles, the peak stress of RC is the largest. Compared with the uneroded specimen, the peak stress increases by 11.66%. After 90 times’ dry-wet cycles, the stress and strain peaks of NC and RC decrease at the same time in different levels. Compared with the uneroded specimen, the peak stress of NC and RC decreases by 28.04% and 8.6%, respectively.Figure 2
Stress-strain curve. (a) NC. (b) RC.
(a)(b)The change rules of compressive strength with sulfate erosion are shown in Figure3. Based on Figure 3, it can be seen that at the same sulfate attack time, the compressive strength of RC is greater than that of NC. As the erosion progresses, the compressive strength of RC is comparable to that of the predetermined number of dry-wet cycles. Compared with NC, it increased by 22.20%, 21.88%, 22.66%, 38.84%, 52.48%, 48.50%, and 55.19%, respectively. It can be seen that in the environment of sulfate erosion, rubber is beneficial to increase the compressive strength of concrete, improve the deterioration performance of concrete, and enhance the sulfate erosion resistance. The longer the erosion time is, the more obvious the effects are.Figure 3
Compressive strength.If it is assumed that the change in compressive strength with sulfate erosion is continuous, the following formula, as shown in equation (7), could be set up under the guidance of the least square method [24].(7)f=a+bt+ct2,where f is the compressive strength; a, b, and c are fitting parameters; and t is the number of dry-wet cycles. The fitting result is shown in Figure 4. The strength damage evolution equation is shown as follows:(8)fcn=43.54+0.08296t−0.00261t2R2=0.92,fcr=51.38+0.31714t−0.00383t2R2=0.86,where fcn and fcr, respectively, represent the compressive strength of NC and the compressive strength of RC.Figure 4
Compressive strength damage evolution fitting curve.


### 3.2. Energy Evolution

Figure5 shows the evolution of the total strain energy of NC and RC in a sulfate attack environment. Figure 6 shows the evolution of the dissipated strain energy of NC and RC in the sulfate erosion environment. It can be seen from Figures 5 and 6 that the total strain energy and dissipation strain energy of NC and RC increase firstly and then decrease. Under the same number of dry-wet cycles, the total strain energy and dissipated strain energy of RC are greater than that of NC. In the early stage of erosion, the growth rate of total strain energy and dissipated strain energy of RC is greater than that of NC. In the later stage of erosion, the rate of decrease of total strain energy and dissipated strain energy of RC is lower than that of NC. With the increase in deformation, the incorporation of rubber into concrete can obviously speed up the rate of total strain energy and dissipated strain energy. When the specimen finally fails, the total strain energy of RC is increased by 41.21%, 52.36%, 60.64%, 68.39%, 69.80%, 22.85%, and 17.84%, respectively, compared with NC under the same number of dry-wet cycles. Bulk strain energy is increased by 37.98%, 43.72%, 49.79%, 54.28%, 60.34%, 33.39%, and 22.15%, respectively.Figure 5
Total strain energy. (a) NC. (b) RC.
(a)(b)Figure 6
Dissipation strain energy. (a) NC. (b) RC.
(a)(b)Figure7 shows the evolution law of elastic strain energy of NC and RC in a sulfate attack environment. It can be seen that the change law of rubber to concrete elastic strain energy is similar to the total strain energy and dissipation energy. At the same predetermined number of dry-wet cycles, the elastic strain energy of NC decreases faster than RC as a whole when reaching its peak value, showing more obvious brittle failure, while RC shows more obvious ductile failure. This is mainly because rubber improves the gradation of sands, which can inhibit coupling, crack penetration speed and propagation speed, and improve the toughness and failure characteristics of concrete [25].Figure 7
Elastic strain energy. (a) NC. (b) RC.
(a)(b)


### 3.3. Deterioration of Performance Parameters

In order to deeply explore the internal damage of NC and RC by sulfate, the effective porosity and relative dynamic elastic modulus of concrete are used as performance parameters. The effective porosity and relative dynamic elastic modulus changes are shown in Figures8 and 9.Figure 8
Effective porosity.Figure 9
Relative dynamic modulus of elasticity.It can be seen from Figure8 that both NC and RC show a trend of first decreasing and then increasing with the progress of sulfate erosion. This is related to the above-mentioned compressive strength test; that is, as the effective porosity of concrete decreases, the interior of the concrete is dense. The higher the degree, the higher the intensity is. For NC, the effective porosity is the lowest when the dry-wet cycles being 45 times, and the lowest effective porosity of RC appears when the dry-wet cycles being 60 times; the effective porosity of NC is basically lower than that of RC, which shows that in sulfuric acid in a salt-eroded environment, the internal porosity of NC increases, while RC optimizes the particle gradation of cementing materials due to the rubber, which makes the concrete cement hydration reaction more sufficient and the density is improved.It can be seen from Figure9 that the relative dynamic elastic modulus of NC and RC increases first and then decreases with the progress of sulfate erosion. The peak value of the relative dynamic elastic modulus of NC appears at 45 times of dry-wet cycle, and then the relative dynamics elastic modulus drops rapidly. When the dry-wet cycles mounting to 90 times, the relative dynamic elastic modulus is lower than 0.75, which indicates that NC has reached the damage limit at this time; the relative dynamic elastic modulus of RC changes more slowly than NC. The peak value of the relative dynamic elastic modulus appeared at 60 times of dry-wet cycle and then began to decrease. When dry-wet cycles mounting to 90 times, the relative dynamic elastic modulus of RC was higher than 0.75, which did not reach the damage limit.


### 3.4. SO42− Concentration Distribution Law

Figure10 shows the change of SO42− content in NC and RC after 45 times’ dry-wet cycles. It can be seen that the SO42− concentration of each group of specimens shows a downward trend, and as the depth deepens, the decreasing rate becomes faster and faster. The SO42− content gradually decreases with the increase of the penetration depth; because the surface concrete is in the influence depth range, a large amount of solution is sucked inside, so that SO42− has a relatively high concentration on the surface of the concrete; as the depth increases, the migration rate of SO42− decreases, and the concentration decreases accordingly.Figure 10
SO42− content of NC and RC when dry-wet cycle being 45 times.Figure11 shows the change of SO42− content in NC and RC after 90 times’ dry-wet cycles. It can be seen that the SO42− concentration of each group of test pieces still shows a downward trend. The decrease is slower in the early stage and faster in the later stage. After 90 times’ dry-wet cycles, the SO42− concentration of each group of test pieces is compared with that of dry-wet cycles. It was higher at 45 times, and the SO42− mass fraction from the outer layer to the inner layer also gradually decreased.Figure 11
SO42− content of NC and RC when dry-wet cycle being 90 times.According to Figures10 and 11, it can be seen that the incorporation of rubber into concrete significantly reduces the SO42− concentration at different depths in the concrete, and the SO42− corrosion resistance is in the order of RC group > NC group, which shows that rubber can improve the concrete’s SO42− corrosion resistance, to reduce the invasion of SO42−.


## 3.1. Stress-Strain Curve

The stress-strain curves of NC and RC in the sulfate attack environment are shown in Figure2. It can be seen that with the progress of sulfate erosion, the stress-strain curves of NC and RC have undergone significant changes, but on the whole, the changes of NC are more obvious; as the dry-wet cycles’ times increase, the stress-strain curve moves toward the right direction that deviates from the Y-axis. The stress and strain peaks of NC and RC increase first and then decrease as a whole, and the stress peak of RC increases rapidly in the early stage of erosion and then the speed being slower. The deformation of RC in the linear elastic stage is lighter. After 30 times’ dry-wet cycles, the peak stress of NC came to the biggest. Compared with the uneroded specimen, the peak stress increases by 7.24%. After 60 times’ dry-wet cycles, the peak stress of RC is the largest. Compared with the uneroded specimen, the peak stress increases by 11.66%. After 90 times’ dry-wet cycles, the stress and strain peaks of NC and RC decrease at the same time in different levels. Compared with the uneroded specimen, the peak stress of NC and RC decreases by 28.04% and 8.6%, respectively.Figure 2
Stress-strain curve. (a) NC. (b) RC.
(a)(b)The change rules of compressive strength with sulfate erosion are shown in Figure3. Based on Figure 3, it can be seen that at the same sulfate attack time, the compressive strength of RC is greater than that of NC. As the erosion progresses, the compressive strength of RC is comparable to that of the predetermined number of dry-wet cycles. Compared with NC, it increased by 22.20%, 21.88%, 22.66%, 38.84%, 52.48%, 48.50%, and 55.19%, respectively. It can be seen that in the environment of sulfate erosion, rubber is beneficial to increase the compressive strength of concrete, improve the deterioration performance of concrete, and enhance the sulfate erosion resistance. The longer the erosion time is, the more obvious the effects are.Figure 3
Compressive strength.If it is assumed that the change in compressive strength with sulfate erosion is continuous, the following formula, as shown in equation (7), could be set up under the guidance of the least square method [24].(7)f=a+bt+ct2,where f is the compressive strength; a, b, and c are fitting parameters; and t is the number of dry-wet cycles. The fitting result is shown in Figure 4. The strength damage evolution equation is shown as follows:(8)fcn=43.54+0.08296t−0.00261t2R2=0.92,fcr=51.38+0.31714t−0.00383t2R2=0.86,where fcn and fcr, respectively, represent the compressive strength of NC and the compressive strength of RC.Figure 4
Compressive strength damage evolution fitting curve.


## 3.2. Energy Evolution

Figure5 shows the evolution of the total strain energy of NC and RC in a sulfate attack environment. Figure 6 shows the evolution of the dissipated strain energy of NC and RC in the sulfate erosion environment. It can be seen from Figures 5 and 6 that the total strain energy and dissipation strain energy of NC and RC increase firstly and then decrease. Under the same number of dry-wet cycles, the total strain energy and dissipated strain energy of RC are greater than that of NC. In the early stage of erosion, the growth rate of total strain energy and dissipated strain energy of RC is greater than that of NC. In the later stage of erosion, the rate of decrease of total strain energy and dissipated strain energy of RC is lower than that of NC. With the increase in deformation, the incorporation of rubber into concrete can obviously speed up the rate of total strain energy and dissipated strain energy. When the specimen finally fails, the total strain energy of RC is increased by 41.21%, 52.36%, 60.64%, 68.39%, 69.80%, 22.85%, and 17.84%, respectively, compared with NC under the same number of dry-wet cycles. Bulk strain energy is increased by 37.98%, 43.72%, 49.79%, 54.28%, 60.34%, 33.39%, and 22.15%, respectively.Figure 5
Total strain energy. (a) NC. (b) RC.
(a)(b)Figure 6
Dissipation strain energy. (a) NC. (b) RC.
(a)(b)Figure7 shows the evolution law of elastic strain energy of NC and RC in a sulfate attack environment. It can be seen that the change law of rubber to concrete elastic strain energy is similar to the total strain energy and dissipation energy. At the same predetermined number of dry-wet cycles, the elastic strain energy of NC decreases faster than RC as a whole when reaching its peak value, showing more obvious brittle failure, while RC shows more obvious ductile failure. This is mainly because rubber improves the gradation of sands, which can inhibit coupling, crack penetration speed and propagation speed, and improve the toughness and failure characteristics of concrete [25].Figure 7
Elastic strain energy. (a) NC. (b) RC.
(a)(b)


## 3.3. Deterioration of Performance Parameters

In order to deeply explore the internal damage of NC and RC by sulfate, the effective porosity and relative dynamic elastic modulus of concrete are used as performance parameters. The effective porosity and relative dynamic elastic modulus changes are shown in Figures8 and 9.Figure 8
Effective porosity.Figure 9
Relative dynamic modulus of elasticity.It can be seen from Figure8 that both NC and RC show a trend of first decreasing and then increasing with the progress of sulfate erosion. This is related to the above-mentioned compressive strength test; that is, as the effective porosity of concrete decreases, the interior of the concrete is dense. The higher the degree, the higher the intensity is. For NC, the effective porosity is the lowest when the dry-wet cycles being 45 times, and the lowest effective porosity of RC appears when the dry-wet cycles being 60 times; the effective porosity of NC is basically lower than that of RC, which shows that in sulfuric acid in a salt-eroded environment, the internal porosity of NC increases, while RC optimizes the particle gradation of cementing materials due to the rubber, which makes the concrete cement hydration reaction more sufficient and the density is improved.It can be seen from Figure9 that the relative dynamic elastic modulus of NC and RC increases first and then decreases with the progress of sulfate erosion. The peak value of the relative dynamic elastic modulus of NC appears at 45 times of dry-wet cycle, and then the relative dynamics elastic modulus drops rapidly. When the dry-wet cycles mounting to 90 times, the relative dynamic elastic modulus is lower than 0.75, which indicates that NC has reached the damage limit at this time; the relative dynamic elastic modulus of RC changes more slowly than NC. The peak value of the relative dynamic elastic modulus appeared at 60 times of dry-wet cycle and then began to decrease. When dry-wet cycles mounting to 90 times, the relative dynamic elastic modulus of RC was higher than 0.75, which did not reach the damage limit.


## 3.4. SO42− Concentration Distribution Law

Figure10 shows the change of SO42− content in NC and RC after 45 times’ dry-wet cycles. It can be seen that the SO42− concentration of each group of specimens shows a downward trend, and as the depth deepens, the decreasing rate becomes faster and faster. The SO42− content gradually decreases with the increase of the penetration depth; because the surface concrete is in the influence depth range, a large amount of solution is sucked inside, so that SO42− has a relatively high concentration on the surface of the concrete; as the depth increases, the migration rate of SO42− decreases, and the concentration decreases accordingly.Figure 10
SO42− content of NC and RC when dry-wet cycle being 45 times.Figure11 shows the change of SO42− content in NC and RC after 90 times’ dry-wet cycles. It can be seen that the SO42− concentration of each group of test pieces still shows a downward trend. The decrease is slower in the early stage and faster in the later stage. After 90 times’ dry-wet cycles, the SO42− concentration of each group of test pieces is compared with that of dry-wet cycles. It was higher at 45 times, and the SO42− mass fraction from the outer layer to the inner layer also gradually decreased.Figure 11
SO42− content of NC and RC when dry-wet cycle being 90 times.According to Figures10 and 11, it can be seen that the incorporation of rubber into concrete significantly reduces the SO42− concentration at different depths in the concrete, and the SO42− corrosion resistance is in the order of RC group > NC group, which shows that rubber can improve the concrete’s SO42− corrosion resistance, to reduce the invasion of SO42−.


## 4. SEM Microanalysis

The deterioration process of concrete in sulfate attack environment can be divided into two stages. In the first stage, due to the difference of SO42− concentration between the inside and outside of the concrete sample in the attack solution, the SO42− in the solution is continuously transferred to the inside of the concrete, and a series of chemical reactions occur with the Ca(OH)2 and C-S-H gel inside the concrete to form ettringite and gypsum, which fills the pores inside the concrete and effectively reduces the effective porosity of the concrete. In the second stage, as the corrosion progresses, ettringite and gypsum continue to accumulate and fill the internal pores of the concrete to produce expansion force. The expansion force is greater than the tensile strength of the concrete to produce cracks. The gradual increase of cracks accelerates the SO42− intrusion to generate more ettringite and gypsum, which eventually leads to structural expansion failure and sharp decline in mechanical properties [9, 26].The SEM microstructures of ordinary concrete and rubber concrete under sulfate attack environment are shown in Figures12 and 13, respectively. As the corrosion progresses, there are obvious pores on the surface of ordinary concrete and rubber concrete. In contrast, the pore structure of ordinary concrete is looser. Both types of concrete have a large amount of corrosion products attached inside, indicating that SO42− is transferred into the concrete for chemical reaction to produce gypsum. This chemical reaction rapidly consumed the hydroxide radicals inside the concrete and decomposed the C-S-H gel. Hence, the concrete pore increased and gradually developed into cracks, and reduced the concrete density and structural stability. Comparing Figures 12 and 13, it can be found that compared with rubber concrete, ordinary concrete higher content of adhesive mortar, weaker bonding at the interface, large internal holes, and wide cracks, which accelerates the transmission of SO42− in the concrete, resulting in the interior structure of ordinary concrete is more loose. By contrast, due to the workability of rubber particles, the particle gradation of aggregate is optimized and the structure is more dense. Therefore, the sulfate resistance of rubber concrete is improved compared with ordinary concrete.Figure 12
The microstructure of ordinary concrete under sulfate erosion environment. (a) Dry-wet cycle 45 times. (b) Dry-wet cycle 90 times.
(a)(b)Figure 13
The microstructure of rubber concrete under sulfate erosion environment. (a) Dry-wet cycle 45 times. (b) Dry-wet cycle 90 times.
(a)(b)


## 5. Conclusion

(1)
Mixing a proper amount of rubber particles into concrete can effectively improve the compressive strength of concrete, and the rubber replaces the 10% mass of fine aggregate that is the optimal, which is 22.20% higher than that of ordinary concrete. In sulfate attack environment, the peak stresses of ordinary concrete and rubber concrete all show a trend of increasing first and then decreasing.(2)
Rubber can increase the dissipated strain energy of concrete and reduce the release rate of elastic strain energy of concrete, that is, increase the total strain energy of concrete, thereby improving the ductile deformation and toughness of concrete. It can delay the deterioration of concrete by sulfate, inhibit the penetration and expansion speed of cracks, and improve the sulfate resistance of concrete.(3)
The addition of rubber into concrete significantly reduces the concentration of SO42− at different depths inside concrete, improves the sulfate attack resistance of concrete, and reduces the invasion of SO42−. Due to the workability of rubber particles, the particle gradation of aggregate is optimized and the structure is relatively dense.(4)
The microscopic analysis of concrete samples after sulfate attack is carried out. At the initial stage of corrosion, the surface and internal pores of the concrete provide conditions and channels for sulfate attack. As the corrosion progresses, ettringite and gypsum are generated to fill the internal pores. After further corrosion, a large amount of ettringite produces structural damage and a large number of cracks and holes are generated.



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*Source: 5692655-2022-01-30.xml*