Model Footing Tests on Sand Bed to Evaluate Efficiency of Tire Crumb as Infill Materials in Geocells

Abstract

This paper presents the results of model footing tests on sand bed reinforced with HDPE and coir geocells. The infill material influences the performance of geocells. The potential of sand tire crumb (STC) mixture as infill material is evaluated in the study in comparison with pure sand as infill materials. To select the appropriate blend of sand and tire crumb, the shear properties and density properties were analyzed by performing direct shear and density tests. The mix which has shown the highest shear strength and density properties has been selected, and plate load tests were carried to analyze the mechanism and effectiveness of tire crumb as infill material in geocell pockets. From the results, it is clear that the sand tire crumb mix is effective as infill materials, especially for coir geocells. The surface heave was found to reduce significantly with sand tire crumb mix as infill material. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.