Prediction of properties of polymer concrete composite with tire rubber using neural networks

Highlights: ► Using waste a new composite material was obtained with specific characteristics. ► The objective was to maximize tire powder content with the minimum resin content. ► By direct modeling, the maximum compressive strength was obtained for 30% tire powder. ► Inverse neural modeling was used for obtaining maximum values of strengths. -- Abstract: The neural network method was used to investigate the influence of filler and resin content on the mechanical properties of polymer concrete with powdered tire waste. The mechanical strengths of 10 experimentally determined combinations using mixed epoxy resin, aggregates and tire powder as filler were optimized using direct neural modeling and inverse neural modeling, by imposing a minimum cost (content in resin). Direct neural modeling gave the optimum composition for obtaining maximum values for compressive strength, flexural strength and split tensile strength. Inverse neural modeling analyzed the possibility of obtaining maximum values of mechanical properties by variations in the dosages of the epoxy resin and tire powder. Neural network modeling generated the mixes with the lowest cost and maximum strength. The modeling method has shown that two mechanical properties can be simultaneously optimized in the investigation domain. From direct modeling, the maximum compressive strength was obtained for a composition with 0.215 (fraction weight) epoxy resin and 0.3 (fraction weight) tire powder. Maximum flexural strength was obtained for experimental values of 0.23 epoxy resin and 0.17 tire powder with a severe reduction noted for smaller resin dosages. The maximum split tensile strength was obtained for a resin dosage of 0.24 and tire powder dosage of 0.17