The use of ground vehicular tyre as partial replacement for sand in concrete pavement blocks production

Abstract

The use of accumulated waste materials in Ghana is still in its early phases. It will take courage for contractors and others in the construction industry to recycle selected types of waste materials for concrete products. The main objective of this research was to investigate the feasibility of using ground vehicular tyre (GVT) as a partial replacement for sand in the production of concrete pavement blocks. In this study cement, sand, quarry dust, coarse aggregate, and ground vehicular tyre were used to produce rubberized concrete pavement blocks (RCPBs). The mix proportion was 1: 1: 2: 2.25 (cement: coarse aggregate: quarry dust: sand). The GVT was used to replace sand by volume at 0%, 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50% and 60%. It was observed that density, compressive strength, flexural strength, and splitting tensile strength decrease, as the GVT content increases. However, the water absorption increases, as the GVT content increases. Compressive strength level ranging from 2.48N/mm2 to 30.20N/mm2 was achieved when water cement ratios of 0.20 to 0.35 were used. Even though, the test results shown that the compressive strength reduces when GVT is used, the produced RCPBs can meet the minimum strength requirement of 20N/mm2 for pedestrian walk way pavement blocks. In this work, models were also developed to predict the density and compressive strength of the produced RCPBs. It is concluded that the modified pavement blocks would contribute to the disposal of the non-biodegradable tyres, since the amount being accumulated in Ghana and the world as a whole is creating a challenge for proper disposal.