Valuation of Rubber Waste and Dune Sand: mortar for construction and environmental protection

The main objective of this study is the recovery of dune sands and rubber waste (powders). The latter constitutes a potential source of several environmental and economic problems.

The objective of this present work is to examine the ability to use dune sand for the preparation of mortars with sufficient physico-mechanical properties to allow them to be used in various building construction applications. The formulation of the mixtures is based on replacing dune sand with powders, at different weight contents: 10 %, 20 %, and 30 %. The quantity of cement is set at 450 g. The results obtained show in the first place that the particle size of the mixture tends to be spread out with a remarkable increase in the fineness modulus, and in the second place the density of the mixture decreases by 6.5 % (for the apparent) and by 10 % (for the absolute), which means the calculation of loads for the resulting mortar must decrease. Porosity has decreased to 20 % and absorption has increased to 30%. The strengths have decreased over 40 % for compressive strength and over 30 % for tensile strength, with an improvement in the relationship between the two strengths.