Abstract: To explore the propagation form of micro-cracks in rubber concrete and the factors affecting crack propagation, a random aggregate model composed of five phases (mortar, aggregate, rubber, rubber-mortar interface, and aggregate-mortar interface) was established by ANSYS redevelopment in APDL language. The model was applied to simulating the compression of rubber concrete, and on such basis, the relations of aggregate gradation with rubber and cracks distribution were examined by using grayscale recognition. Results illustrated that cracks developed rapidly in areas with dense rubber distribution. The number of crack pixels was proportional to the density of rubber distribution in the presence of low rubber content; when rubber content was high, the number of crack pixels first decreased and then increased with the densification of rubber distribution.

Key words: rubber concrete, micro-crack, grayscale recognition, finite element analysis, ANSYS redevelopment