Experimental Study on Waste Tire Chips-Reinforced Sand Using Cyclic Plate Load Test

The scarcity in availability of suitable land and the associated huge costs for construction of deep and large foundations supporting tall superstructures have compelled engineers across the globe to resort to numerous ground improvement techniques to improve the subsoil properties. With the emphasis on sustainable construction practices and waste management techniques gaining attention worldwide, research towards the same to alleviate engineering problems has witnessed a surge. Therefore, the use of industrial, common and construction wastes for enhancement of structural properties in fresh construction is being studied widely. Similarly, utilizing shredded waste tire chips as reinforcement in soil has shown promising results. In the present study, cyclic model footing load tests are performed on square footing supported by a sand bed reinforced with randomly distributed waste tire chips in a square tank. Various intensities of cyclic loads (loading, unloading, and reloading) are applied on the model footing and subsequently, the elastic rebound of the footing corresponding to each intensity of loading and the pattern of variation of the coefficient of elastic uniform compression (Cu) of reinforced sand are assessed. The influence of different percentages of tire chips (5–40%) is analyzed by randomly mixing them in the soil medium at 70% equivalent relative density for a depth of up to the width of the footing. The results indicate that tire chip addition can significantly improve the bearing capacity as well as the coefficient of elastic uniform compression and this improvement can further be enhanced on an increase in the percentage of reinforcement (improvement of up to 50% is observed).