The Effect of Increasing Amounts of Neoprene Aggregate on the Abrassive Resistance of Concrete.

Concrete has existed for hundreds of years, but has only recently seen major innovations (Idorn, 2005). The purpose of this experiment was to determine how increasing amounts of neoprene aggregate affected the abrasive resistance of concrete. It was hypothesized that as the amount of neoprene rubber approaches 0.02 parts of rough aggregate replacement, the abrasive resistance of the concrete specimen will peak. This was due to a balance of the abrasive resistance from the neoprene aggregate and the cohesive strength from the natural aggregates being reached. Portland cement, river sand, and gravel were mixed together. These dry ingredients were then mixed before water was added. The concrete mixture was then stirred and placed into cube molds, with 3 groups containing increasing amounts of neoprene rubber. After 21 days, the abrasive resistance was tested using the Bohme method. A One Way Anova test found that neoprene aggregate did have an affect on the abrasive resistance of concrete samples (F(3,116) = [14.196], p = 0.04988), as p < 0.05, showing a significant difference between the levels of neoprene aggregate. The results of this experiment suggest that an addition of 0.02 parts neoprene aggregate to concrete is effective at increasing the abrasive resistance of the sample.