Effects of Graphene Oxide and Crumb Rubber on the Fresh Properties of Self-Compacting Engineered Cementitious Composite Using Response Surface Methodology

Graphene oxide-modified rubberized engineered cementitious composite (GO-RECC) is attracting the attention of researchers because of the reported benefits of the GO and crumb rubber (CR) on the strength and deformation properties of the composite. While it is well established that GO negatively affects the workability of cementitious composites, its influence on the attainment of the desired self-compacting (SC) properties of ECC has not yet been thoroughly investigated, especially when combined with crumb rubber (CR). In addition, to simplify the number of trial mixes involved in designing SC-GO-RECC, there is a need to develop and optimize the process using Design of Experiment (DOE) methods. Hence, this research aims to investigate and model using response surface methodology (RSM), the combined effects of the GO and CR on the SC properties of ECC through the determination of T500, slump flow, V-funnel, and L-box ratio of the SC-GORECC as the responses, following the European Federation of National Associations Representing for Concrete (EFNARC) 2005 specifications. The input factors considered were the GO by wt.% of cement (0.02, 0.04, 0.06, and 0.08) and CR as a replacement of fine aggregate by volume (5, 10, and 15%). The results showed that increasing the percentages of GO and CR affected the fresh properties of the SC-GORECC adversely. However, all mixes have T500 of 2.4 to 5.2 s, slump flow of 645 to 800 mm, V-funnel time of 7.1 to 12.3 s, and L-box ratio (H2/H1) of 0.8 to 0.98, which are all within acceptable limits specified by EFNARC 2005. The developed response prediction models were well fitted with R2 values ranging from 91 to 99%. Through the optimization process, optimal values of GO and CR were found to be 0.067% and 6.8%, respectively, at a desirability value of 1.0.