Sustainable reuse of Waste Tire Textile Fibers (WTTFs) as reinforcement materials for expansive soils: With a special focus on landfill liners/covers

• Published in: Journal of cleaner production Vol. 247; p. 119151
• Main Authors: Narani, S.S., Abbaspour, M., Mir Mohammad Hosseini, S.M., Aflaki, E., Moghadas Nejad, F.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 20-02-2020
• Subjects: Bentonite; End of life tires (ELTs); Expansive soils; Landfill; Soil reinforcement; Waste tire textile fibers (WTTFs); Waste tire textile fibers (WTTFs); Bentonite; Soil reinforcement; Landfill; End of life tires (ELTs); Expansive soils
• ISSN: 0959-6526; 1879-1786
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.119151

As a sub-product in the treatment process of End of Life Tires (ELTs), Waste Tire Textile Fibers (WTTFs) are hazardous waste materials that are traditionally buried or burned as opposed to the international laws. Due to the soaring demand for tires and vehicles, disposing of WTTFs imposes a heavy burden on the environment mainly because of two reasons: i) they occupy massive valuable space in landfills, and ii) burning them leads to dangerous gas emission. In this research, the feasibility of reusing WTTFs as reinforcement agents in an expansive soil was investigated through a comprehensive set of laboratory experiments, i.e. standard compaction, Split Tensile Strength (STS), swelling-consolidation, volumetric shrinkage, and desiccation cracking tests. According to the results, WTTFs can enhance all of the investigated geotechnical characteristics of the expansive soil. Moreover, it was proven that WTTF-expansive soil mixtures can be used as a suitable material for impermeable liners and covers in landfills. Therefore, instead of burying or burning them, WTTFs can be competently employed as reinforcement materials in expansive soils.
•Waste Tire Textile Fibers (WTTFs) can favorably inhibit the swelling deformations of expansive soils.•WTTFs can be employed to decrease the problems induced by desiccation cracking of highly plastic soils.•WTTFs can improve the tensile strength of soils and enhance the ductility of mixtures.•WTTFs and expansive soil mixtures can be employed as low-cost materials in landfill liners and covers.