Influence of Recycled Rubber as Fine Aggregate on the Compressive and Abrasion Resistance of Concrete Paving Blocks

Efficient transportation infrastructure is indispensable for economic and social development, particularly in emerging economies such as Ecuador, where road conditions directly influence connectivity, supply chain performance, and the population’s overall quality of life. In this context, the present study investigates the incorporation of recycled rubber particles, derived from end-of-life tires, as a partial replacement for fine aggregate in the production of concrete paving blocks. To this end, mixtures were designed with replacement ratios of 3%, 5%, 10%, 12%, and 20%, and were subsequently subjected to standardized testing to assess their compressive strength and resistance to abrasion. The experimental results revealed a gradual reduction in compressive strength with increasing rubber content, ranging from 38.94 MPa to 27.36 MPa. Notably, the mixture containing 12% rubber achieved a compressive strength of 36.10 MPa, thereby surpassing the minimum required threshold of 35 MPa. Furthermore, during abrasion testing, the paving blocks demonstrated a chord length of 25 mm, thus meeting national standards and outperforming conventional concrete pavers. In addition, statistical analysis, following the exclusion of 13.09% of outlier data, confirmed the normal distribution of results (p = 0.056), providing 95% confidence that a randomly selected block would exhibit a compressive strength of 36.12 MPa ± 2·0.301 MPa. Lastly, a bibliometric analysis highlighted the innovative nature of this study, as no prior research involving recycled rubber particles in paving block production was identified in either the Web of Science or Scopus databases.