• Advances in environmental research
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.201-211
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• 2016

Laboratory tests were conducted to evaluate the performance of waste rubber shreds in leachate collection layer of engineered landfills. The study found that waste rubber shreds layer in combination with a gravel layer can be of potential use in landfill drainage system. To study the performance, conventional gravel along with waste rubber shreds were used in different combinations (with total layer thickness = 500 mm) as leachate collection media. For the laboratory study poly vinyl chloride (PVC) pipes were used. The size range of waste rubber shreds used were 25 mm to 75 mm in length and width = 10 to 20 mm. The gravel size used in the leachate collection media is 10 mm to 20 mm size. Performance study of 7 Test Cols. with different combinations of waste rubber shreds and gravel bed thickness were studied to find out the best combination. The study found that the Test Col.-3 having waste rubber shreds thickness = 200 mm and gravel layer thickness = 300 mm gave the best results in terms of percentage removal in various physicochemical parameters present in the leachate. Further to find the best size rubber shreds three more Test Cols - 8, 9 and 10 were constructed having the rubber shreds and gravel layer ratio same as that of Test Col.-3 but having rubber shreds width = 10 mm, 15 mm and 20 mm respectively. Based on the results obtained using Test Cols. 8, 9 and 10 the study found that smaller size rubber shreds gave bests results in terms of improvement in various leachate parameters.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.219-241
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• 2015

In this paper, a series of repeated load tests were carried out on a 150 mm diameter plate simulative of vehicle passes, to demonstrate the benefits of soil-rubber shred mixture in decreasing the soil surface settlement of road embankment. The results show that the efficiency of rubber reinforcement is significantly a function of the rubber content, thickness of rubber-soil mixture and soil cap thickness over the mixture. Minimum surface settlement is provided by 2.5% of rubber in rubber-soil mixture, the thickness of mixture layer and soil cap of 0.5 times the loading surface diameter, giving values of 0.32-0.68 times those obtained in the unreinforced system for low and high values of amplitude of repeated load. In this installation, in contrast with unreinforced bed that shows unstable response, the rate of enhancement in settlement decreases significantly as the number of loading cycles increase and system behaves resiliently without undergoing plastic deformation. The findings encourage the use of rubber shreds obtained from non-reusable tires as a viable material in road works.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.447-464
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• 2015

Millions of scrap tires are discarded annually in Turkey. The bulk of which are currently landfilled or stockpiled. These tires consume valuable landfill space or if improperly disposed, create a fire hazard and provide a prolific breeding ground for rats and mosquitoes. Used tires pose both a serious public and environmental health problem which means that economically feasible alternatives for scrap tire disposal must be found. Some of the current uses of scrap tires are tire-derived fuel, creating barrier reefs and as an asphalt additive in the form of crumb rubber. However, there is a much need for the development of additional uses for scrap tires. One development the creation of shreds from scrap tires that are coarse grained, free draining and have a low compacted density thus offering significant advantages for use as lightweight subgrade fill and backfill material. This paper reports a comprehensive laboratory study that was performed to evaluate the use of a shredded tire-sand mixture as a backfill material in trench conditions. A steel frame test tank with glass walls was created to replicate a classical trench section in field conditions. The results of the test demonstrated that shredded tires mixed with sand have a definite potential to be effectively used as backfill material for buried pipe installations.