Effect of scrap tyre on strength properties of untreated and lime-treated clayey sand

Abstract

Ferocious demands for waste tyres have posed remarkable threats to environment. The reuse of these materials can reduce the environmental concerns. This article investigates the influence of lime content, curing time, tyre cord scrap and shredded tyre contents on unconfined compressive strength (UCS), compaction properties and plasticity of clayey sand. The results indicated that the combination of both shredded tyre and tyre cord scrap with lime can be considered as an efficient method for ground improvement, since not only does it increase the UCS, but also it can reduce the plasticity of the studied soil. It was evident that both maximum dry density and optimum moisture content (OMC) values decreased with the addition of waste materials. Moreover, for lime stabilised specimens, it was found that the addition of a limited amount of shredded rubber allows the UCS to increase more than it does by treating the soil with lime only. In particular, the UCS stood at the highest level for specimens treated with 6% lime, cured for 56 days and additive with 0.5% tyre cord scrap. In this case, the increase in UCS was as high as 300% with respect to natural soil.

KEYWORDS:

• Unconfined compressive strength
• compaction properties
• clayey sand