Experimental Investigation of Expansive Soil Mixed with Shredded Rubber Tyre

Abstract

AbstractBlack cotton soil, which is expansive in nature, covers about 20% of land area in India. It possesses a high potential for shrinkage and swelling, and has the low bearing capacity and shear strength; hence black cotton soil is unstable under heavy loads. The typical behaviour of black cotton soil makes it difficult and dangerous to be used as a foundation material. This study characterizes the geotechnical properties of black cotton soil partially replaced with shredded tyre rubber (5–20%) by weight of the soil. The present study enumerates the effect of rubber tyre on engineering properties as well as index properties of black cotton soil. Atterberg’s limit, standard proctor test, unconfined compressive strength (UCS) and California bearing ratio (CBR) test were conducted on soil sample mixed with 5, 10, 15 and 20% tyre rubber by weight. The test has clearly shown a significant improvement in the geotechnical properties of the soil. This study deals with stabilization of black cotton soil using shredded rubber sample of different proportions. Stabilization is the method employed for modifying the properties of soil to improve its performance as a civil engineering material. The main objective of this study is to increase the strength properties of black cotton soil and reduce the construction cost by introducing locally available material “Scrap Tyre”.KeywordsBlack cotton soilCalifornia Bearing Ratio (CBR)Rubber tyre shredUnconfined Compressive Strength (UCS)