Effect of particle size on the dynamic properties of tire derived aggregates (TDA)

Abstract

This paper investigates the dynamic properties of tire derived aggregate (TDA) as a recycled material used in civil engineering applications. The effect of TDA type A particle size on the dynamic response is studied experimentally in detail, and the effects of hysteresis loop asymmetry, shear strain, and confining pressure on the shear modulus and damping ratio are also examined. Undrained strain-controlled cyclic triaxial tests with consolidation stresses ranging from 25 to 200 kPa and shear strains ranging from 0.1 to 10% are used to compare a granulated rubber (GR) specimens and TDA specimens with different maximum particle sizes. The dynamic response of TDA type A differs from that of granulated rubber, because of the larger particle sizes of TDA type A. Although TDA stiffness increases with increasing particle size, the damping ratio is insensitive to TDA particle size in the particle size range considered in this study. However, at all consolidation stresses, the damping capacity of GR is significantly lower than that of TDA. In particular, due to hysteresis loop asymmetry, conventional equations can significantly underestimate the shear modulus and damping ratio of TDA type A. Furthermore, a generalized MKZ model is proposed to estimate the maximum shear modulus at small strains (Gmax) and to predict shear modulus degradation curves for TDA type A with maximum particle sizes ranging from 19.1 mm to 50.8 mm. Comparisons of these shear modulus degradation curves to data reported in the literature and to the experimental results of a TDA sample with a random particle size distribution show that the proposed generalized MKZ model can provide reasonable estimates of the shear modulus of TDA type A.