Identifier

etd-04112005-154524

Degree

Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering (MSME)

Department

Mechanical Engineering

Document Type

Thesis

Abstract

There are very serious problems with the disposal of waste tires in the United States. Experiments were conducted to determine how the properties of concrete were affected by the inclusion of waste tires. Waste tires were used in the form of chips and fibers. The fibers were further divided into batches with different lengths to determine the effect of length has on the properties of concrete. There was a noticeable decline in the compressive strength of the concrete; however there was an increase in the toughness of the concrete. It was concluded that waste tire fibers were more suitable as additives than waste tire chips since they produced the highest toughness. An analytical model was performed to determine how properties such as the critical fiber length affect the ultimate tensile strength of the composite. The ultimate tensile strength of concrete is very important as it is the property that is responsible for the failure of concrete even in compression. A three-dimensional finite element analysis was performed using ANSYS. Results obtained from this analysis were used to determine the critical fiber length. The models were able to predict a value of ultimate tensile strength that was very close to the experimental result obtained.

Date

2005

Document Availability at the Time of Submission

Release the entire work immediately for access worldwide.

Committee Chair

Guoqiang Li

DOI

10.31390/gradschool_theses.217

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