Prototype of Geocell from Natural Rubber: Effect of Dual-Phase Fillers on Physical Properties of Rubber Compounds Reinforced with Silica and Carbon Black

Abstract

Geocell, a type of the geosynthetics, is normally used to improve natural geomaterial properties and performance because of confinement and confinement force. This work was an attempt to apply the solid natural rubber (NR) for producing the prototype of geocell with reinforcing the pavement structure of the road. There are three parts of all work in research, which consist of finding the optimal chemical formula, designing and producing the prototype and civil engineering testing of flexible pavement components. This research has emphasized and focused on finding the optimal chemical formula for the prototype production. The effect of silica-carbon black (CB) dual-phase filler on physical properties in terms of only static mechanical tests of the prototype was investigated. The total amount of hybrid reinforcing filler was fixed at 60 phr while the silica/CB ratios were 0/60, 10/50, 20/40, 30/30 and 40/20, respectively. Cure characteristic of the NR compound and physical properties in terms of static mechanical tests such as hardness, tensile and tear strengths of the NR vulcanizates were carried out. The results showed that time to 90% cross-linked (TC 90), hardness and tensile strength of the vulcanized rubber were increased with the increasing of silica content but not for its tear strength. Dispersion of the dual-phase filler in the prototype was reduced when the higher amount of silica in the dual-phase filler was employed as proved by images from the scanning electron microscope. There was only 60 phr CB that was selected as the optimal chemical formula for prototype production as the result of tensile and tear strength.