Strength and Deformation of Sand-Tire Rubber Mixtures (STRM): An Experimental Study

Waste material such as used tires is increasing every year, which poses environmental problems. However, such material has been used in several geotechnical applications as alternative lightweight backfill in highway embankments and/or behind retaining walls, providing environmental, economic and technical benefits. These applications require knowledge of engineering properties of soil-tire rubber mixtures. The present study aims to show the possibility of tire rubber usage in sand by evaluating the shear strength and deformability of sand mixed with granulated rubber, in weight percentages between 0 and 50%. The tire rubber content was found to influence the stress-strain and deformation behavior of the mixtures. The shear strength of sand mixed with 10% or 20% tire rubber was higher than that measured for sand only. However, the trend for TRC = 30–50% was different. Samples with a rubber content of 30-50% exhibited a rapid decrease in the stress ratio compared with that of sand. The major principal strain at maximum stress ratio was found to increase with increasing tire rubber content. However, it was observed that the lateral strains (minor and intermediate principal strains) of samples reduced significantly with the addition of tire rubber to the sand.