Effect of Tyre Waste Addition on UCS of Bentonite–Sand and Bentonite-Rock Quarry Dust Mixes

Abstract

The bentonite–sand (B:S) mixes are mostly used as liner/barrier material in the construction of landfills. The sand is mainly obtained from the river banks. The consumption of natural sand is quite high due to its excessive usage in the construction works that leads to its scarcity. To overcome this crisis, the partial or full replacement of sand by the promising geomaterial rock quarry dust (Q) can be an economic and effective solution. In this paper, the effect of the full replacement of sand by the waste material rock quarry dust on the unconfined compressive strength (UCS) of B:S mixes at different curing period was studied. Here, the B:S and B:Q mixes were prepared at their corresponding maximum dry density (MDD) and optimum moisture content (OMC). The UCS of all the mixes was evaluated at a curing period of 0, 3, 7 and 14 days. The result indicates that the UCS of B:Q mixes is higher than the UCS of B:S mixes for different curing periods. This study investigates whether the addition of the waste tyre dust (TD) can enhance the UCS of B:S and B:Q mixes at different curing periods. The TD content ranging from 2 to 16% by weight was used as an additive in various B:S and B:Q mixes. The highest UCS value was observed at TD = 14% for both the B:S and B:Q mixes. The UCS of the mixes increased with the increase in the curing period. The failure strain was found to increase with the increase in the tyre dust content in the mixes.