Shear and Compressibility Behavior of Sand–Tire Crumb Mixtures

Abstract

Scrap tire disposal has been a critical environmental problem in many urban cities due to the huge increase in the number of vehicles. Significant research efforts have been devoted in recent years to explore the use of scrap tires in civil engineering application, as reuse or recycling of scrap tires is the preferred option from a waste management perspective. This paper investigates shear and compressibility behavior of sand–tire crumb (S-TC) mixtures for their application in civil engineering projects. Unlike other studies where tire chips or tire shreds were used, shear strength of the S-TC mixtures has been found to decrease with the increase in the amount of tire crumbs in the mixtures. Significant increase in axial strain corresponding to peak deviator stress has been observed. This can be related to the ductility capacity of the mixtures, as confirmed by brittleness tests. It has also been observed that a larger proportion of plastic strain develops after the first cycle of unloading, and hence the settlement associated with the application of the mixtures can be significantly reduced by preloading.