ESTUDO DA APLICAÇÃO DO RESÍDUO DE BORRACHA E DO POLIESTIRENO EXPANDIDO (EPS) COMO AGREGADO LEVE NO CONCRETO

Abstract

The large network of capitalist consumption brings with it a series of negative impacts on the environment, generating a multitude of hazardous waste that, when not properly managed, cause irreversible impacts on the environment and public health. In this context, it is estimated that tire disposal will reach around 1.5 billion units throughout the year, making it necessary to search for technologies that incorporate such waste as raw material for civil construction technologies. Thus, this study evaluated the properties of the tire rubber residue (RB) to produce lightweight concrete, comparing it with Expandable Polystyrene (EPS), a lightweight aggregate already consolidated. Seeking to promote the total replacement of the coarse aggregate by EPS and later by the rubber residue of the tire, we tried to characterize the materials with microanalysis techniques and to evaluate the mechanical behavior of lightweight concrete. The developed lightweight concretes showed mechanical properties like both those with EPS and those with rubber residue, EPS showed mechanical strength with values greater than 8 MPa in the developed compositions, showing the viability of application as lightweight concrete, the same fact occurred for the residue tire rubber, which exhibited similar behavior. The concrete with RB compared to conventional concrete, showed a reduction in density in approximately 1000 kg / m³, demonstrating the great RB potential in the generation of light concretes. EPS, on the other hand, showed a reduction of approximately 1300 kg/m³, which makes both compositions feasible. Analyzes such as those of tenacity and formation of crystalline phases were fundamental and conclusive for this study.