Safety Concrete Median Barrier with Impact Load Energy

The degree of safety delivered by Concrete Median Barriers is to be improved by introducing an impact load energy absorber, the crumb rubber. The performance of this new design is investigated using lab tests. Therefore, this research study focus on the performance of concrete median barriers under impact loads. In order to increase the absorption capabilities of the concrete, crumb rubber was used to increasingly replace fine aggregates until an optimum crumb rubber content was achieved. Impact load test, thermal conductivity test, and compressive test were performed as a mean to access the behavior of rubberized concrete under impact load. However, due to low strength of a rubberized concrete, Nano-silica and fly ash were added in the concrete mixture in order to reverse the negative effect of crumb rubber on the compressive strength of the concrete. Results depict an increment on the amount of the energy absorbed by the concrete when CR is increased. Crumb rubber has also demonstrated to be usefully in decreasing the thermal conductivity of the concrete materials.