Numerical analysis of reinforced wall using rubber tire chips–sand mixtures as backfill material

Abstract

Scrap tires are undesired urban waste and the volume is increasing every year. One of the possible utilization of this waste is to use it as shredded tires alone or mix it with soil as lightweight backfill materials. This paper presents the state-dependent constitutive model for rubber tire chips and rubber tire chip–sand mixtures and its successful implementation into a numerical analysis (FLAC) program. The implemented model was verified by simulation of the stress–strain characteristics of rubber tire chip–sand mixtures in triaxial testing. Furthermore, the numerical simulations as well as the parametric studies of the effects of the reinforcement stiffness and interface shear stiffness on the behavior of the reinforced wall have been performed. With increasing reinforcement stiffness, the lateral deformation decreased, while the tensile force in the reinforcement increased. Moreover, with increasing shear stiffness at the interface, the tensile force in the reinforcement increased, while the lateral deformation of the reinforced wall decreased.