Assessment of the Load–Deformation Behaviour of Rubber Fibre–Reinforced Cemented Clayey Soil

Abstract

The utilisation of end-of-life tires nowadays has become a matter of great distress across the globe when left unattended. These tires have been proved to be a malady on the environment causing severe pollution and health hazards. Hence, the potential use of end-of-life tires has been crucial, especially due to the uncontrolled population rise in urban areas which demands construction on undesirable soil. This paper examines the load–deformation behaviour of rubber fibre–reinforced cemented clayey soil through laboratory tests such as unconfined compressive strength (UCS) and split tensile strength (STS) tests. The clayey soil was stabilised with 3 and 6% cement content, and the inclusion level of rubber fibres was kept at 0, 2.5, 5, 7.5 and 10%. A total of 360 specimens, 180 specimens each for the UCS and STS tests, were prepared in accordance with their optimum moisture content and maximum dry unit weight and cured for 7, 14 and 28 days. The study revealed that adding rubber fibres (up to 2.5%) to clayey soil leads to marginal improvement in UCS and STS. Note that by inclusion of rubber fibres to cemented clayey soil causes a decrease of UCS and STS. Maximum increase of absolute toughness and toughness index of cemented clayey soil was observed with the addition of 7.5% rubber fibres. Test results showed that inspite of the decrease in UCS and STS of cemented clayey soil with the augmentation of rubber fibre content, there were decreases in initial stiffness and improvements on ductility and hardening in the post-peak region. From this study, it could be concluded that rubber fibres up to 7.5% can be incorporated in the cemented clayey soil.