Protecting low-to-medium-rise buildings by scrap tyre-soil mixtures

The stockpiling of scrap tyres is a significant threat to our environment and has been a hot topic amongst the engineering community which has been looking for long term viable solutions to the recycling and reuse of rubber. This paper proposes a new method of utilizing scrap tyres for applications in infrastructure protection forming part of the solution strategy. The method involves mixing scrap tyres with soil materials and placing the mixtures around building foundations, for vibration absorption. The potential of the proposed method will be demonstrated by numerical modelling to show its effectiveness and robustness as a means of protecting low-to-medium-rise buildings in an earthquake.