Applicability of Waste Rubber Particles as Buried Pipe Backfill Material

Abstract

The primary purpose of this work is to evaluate the viability of using waste rubber particles as buried pipe backfill. By applying confined compression test and model test, this research studied the compressibility of sand and rubber-sand mixtures (RSM) and also, investigated the behavior of pipe surrounded by sand and RSM subjected to impact loading. The findings are as follows: 1) The vertical elastic strain and plastic strain of compression test samples increase with rubber content, and the elastic strain and plastic strain of saturated samples are greater than those of dry samples. 2) The settlement of RSM model soil is greater than that of pure sand model soil subjected to impact loading. The addition of rubber particles to pure sand reduces the earth pressure increment. The cumulative strain of pipe surrounded by dry RSM is less than that surrounded by dry pure sand. However, the cumulative strain of pipe surrounded by saturated RSM is greater than that surrounded by saturated pure sand. This investigation provides an environmentally friendly approach for recycling waste tire particles in geotechnical engineering.