Evaluation and Comparison of Recycled

Soil-Aggregate Composites and

Recycled-Soil-Fiber Aggregate for
Applications in Pavement
Thasa Ferreira Macedo
M.Sc. Student, Civil Engineering Postgraduate Program, University of
Pernambuco, Recife, Brazil
e-mail: thaisa_197@hotmail.com

Alexandre Csar Leo de Lima

M.Sc. Student, Civil Engineering Postgraduate Program, University of
Pernambuco, Recife, Brazil
e-mail: acll_pec@poli.br

Kalinny Patrcia Vaz Lafayette

Professor, Civil Engineering Postgraduate Program, University of Pernambuco,
Recife, Brazil
e-mail: klafayette@gmail.com

ABSTRACT
The rapid growth of urban areas leads to great waste generation, which besides being domestic waste,
are also produced by construction and demolition waste (CDW), and derived from renovations,
demolition and new constructions. Consequently, the allocations are held irregularly, often by the lack
of information or knowledge and may cause harm to those surroundings, as this waste is taken to river
streams, vacant land, hillsides and channels. These circumstances reveal a need for more attention and a
common purpose by part of the society, allocating the waste properly. With this objective, this paper
aims to conduct a study of the recycled aggregate from civil construction and of the soil, as well as
mixtures of recycled-soil-fiber aggregate. The methodology used is based on the collection of recycled
aggregate and of the soil to obtain the physical, chemical, mineralogical and mechanical characteristics.
The results show that the fibers added to the composites of recycled-soil aggregate, increase resistance
values by 24.04% and 28.89%, with contents of 0.25% and 0.75%, respectively, when compared to the
mixture without fibers, verifying that the inclusion of fibers in the mixtures improve the mechanical
properties of the composite, being its application possible in paving.
KEYWORDS: recycled aggregate, construction and demolition waste, fiber.

INTRODUCTION
The growing production of waste is a concern for the population due to the scarcity of suitable
areas for the disposal of it, besides having high costs for the city administrations and disease vectors
appear as a result of the improper disposal.
Several cities in Brazil and abroad have used recycled aggregates in pavements, since its results
are positive, by replacing natural materials with recyclable materials, particularly for applications in

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 Vol. 19 [2014], Bund. N 3202

low traffic pathways (Hortegal and Sant'ana Ferreira, 2009). In addition, construction and
demolition waste (CDW) have resistance and low expansion, showing its potential for the use as
recycled aggregate in paving (Leite, 2007).
In recent years, researchers have been studying the use of waste from demolition and
construction works as a way to minimize the negative impacts to the environment, besides solving
the problem of large urban centers, regarding solid waste management considering that the
construction industry contributes with 70% of this amount (Fleet, Melo and Nunes, 2006).
A problem which involves engineering is the lack of resistance of the soil. In many cases, soils
have low bearing capacity and high deformability, making it unviable for some projects. An
alternative to this problem would be to modify the geotechnical properties of the soil, creating a
new material with higher bearing capacity and smaller deformations, which would be the
granulometric stabilization of the soils through the application of recycled aggregates (Ferreira and
Thom, 2011).
The present work aims to study the physical characterization of the soil and the recycled
aggregate as well as verifying the mechanical behavior of the composites recycled soil-fiber
aggregate for possible applications in paving works.

MATERIAL
Recycled Aggregate
The recycled aggregate used in this study was obtained from a collection held at construction
waste recycling plant called Ciclo Ambiental (Environmental cycle) (Figure 1). This plant is located
in Camaragibe, metropolitan region of Recife, approximately 10 km from the city. The construction
waste that is taken to this site are processed with the use of a jaw crusher and separated by type,
such as grit and zero gravel.

Figure 1: Processing factory Environmental Cycle.

 Vol. 19 [2014], Bund. N 3203

The material resulting from the processing, the recycled aggregate, was weighed and separated
into canisters with 70 kg each, totaling an amount of approximately 600 Kg. Later, the canisters
were taken to the Advanced Laboratory of Civil Construction (ALCC) at Escola Politecnica de
Pernambuco, an engineering college where they were stored for the laboratory tests.
Soil
The soil collection was performed (Figure 2) in the municipality of Cabo de Santo Agostinho
(Metropolitan region of Recife), distant approximately 40 km from the city of Recife. A total of 400
Kg of soil were collected at a depth of 6.0 m from the surface and were introduced in bags of 10
kilos each, and transported to be packaged in pens at the Advanced Laboratory of Civil
Construction (ALCC), of Pernambuco University.

Figure 2: Soil collection

Cement

The use of cement in the composite was intended to agglomerate the components in the
mixture, given its capacity to provoke an alteration in the mechanical properties of the recycled
aggregate, because when there is contact with water, it produces an exothermic crystallization of
hydrated products gaining mechanical resistance.
The amount of cement used was of 2% regarding the dry mass of the mixture, type II CP E 32,
since the primary purpose was only to improve the characteristics of the composite such as
identifying the influence of the stabilizer compared to fibers used in this research, with no higher
content levels being tested due to the cost of this material, which when used in large quantities,
would make it unviable in a paving work.

Characteristics of fibers
The fibers chosen to be inserted in mixtures of recycled aggregate, soil and cement were
acquired by ORPEC Engineering, where they were selected based on a some features: by being
 Vol. 19 [2014], Bund. N 3204

chemically inert, by uniformity, low elasticity modulus, large deformation capacity, good resistance
to alkalis and are easily accessible in the market. Table 1 shows the characteristics of polypropylene
fibers.
Table 1: Characteristics of polypropylene fibers
Type Even
Length 20 mm
Specific weight 0.91 kg/dm
Elasticity module 3500-3600 N/mm
Traction resistance 320-400 N/mm
Stretching Aprox. 25%
Young module 0.50x10 Ksi
Diameter 0.18 mm
Fusion point 160-170C
Source: Orpec Engenharia (2011).
These fibers (Figure 3) do not absorb water, possess a specific weight of 9.1 kg/m, low
electrical/thermal conductivity, not putrescible, and have a length of 20mm will be inserted into
recycled aggregates-soil-cement composites with levels of 0.25 %, 0.5% and 0.75% regarding dry
mass, for the performance of the compaction and simple compression tests.

Figure 3: Polypropylene fibers.

Composition of mixtures
The amount of fibers used in the composites was based on the studies of other authors, such as
Trinity et al. (2004), Silva (2009) and Fernandes et al. (2010). The choice of length also followed
the same basis, giving priority to lengths that were easily accessible in the market.
The different mixtures contain soil with variable percentages of recycled aggregates (25, 50 and
75%) besides fiber content (0.25, 0.50 and 0.75%), and cement (2%).
 Vol. 19 [2014], Bund. N 3205

METHODOLOGY
Upon completion of the collection and storage of materials in ALCC, it was possible to initiate
the trial program, being divided into three steps:
- Step 1: Characterization assays (granulometry, Atterberg Limits, MCT methodology and sand
equivalent).
- 2nd stage: Mineralogical and chemical tests.
- Step 3: Mechanical tests (compaction, California Support Index and resistance to compression
strength).

Gravimetric composition
The gravimetric composition consists of the segregation of materials to know the constituent
materials of a sample. For this, 70 kg of dry material was separated before going on the belt of the
construction waste recycling plant. The fine material that passed through the sieve no4 (4.75 mm)
were not considered in the manual separation.

Physical characterization
Granulometry and Atterberg Limits
The tests followed the particle size of the NBR 7181 (ASME, 1984) for the soil and were
performed both for the soil and the mixtures of recycled-soil aggregate and for the pure recycled
aggregate in order to classify these materials according to the System of Unified Soils (USCS) and
then according to the Transportation Research Board (TRB).
For tests Atterberg limits, the soil, the recycled aggregate and mixtures were used, based on the
NBR 6459 (ABNT, 1984) and NBR 7180 (ABNT, 1984) standards.
MCT Methodology
MCT classification admits 7 different groups, being three of lateritic (L) behavior and four of
non-lateritic behavior (N), where it is possible to characterize the texture and the mineralogy of the
various groups of tropical soils, as well as some of its mechanical and hydric properties.
Once the material is characterized with lateritic behavior, a new test is taken, checking the
behavior of the samples according to the Mini - MCV (Moisture Condition Value), according to
DNER ME 258/94 standard. This is an adaptation for materials compacted in miniature equipment.
In the MCV compaction procedure, material samples air-dried were used, going through the 2.0
mm sieve (sieve # 10), compressed with different humidities in cylindrical molds of = 5cm and h
= 5cm, making a number of successive strokes to reach maximum apparent specific mass. Figure 4
shows part of the material being extruded after compaction of the sample by MCT methodology.
 Vol. 19 [2014], Bund. N 3206

Figure 4: Part of the material being retrieved

from the cylinder, after compaction of the
sample in the MCT assay.

Equivalent of sand
Certain materials are unsuitable to be used in pavement due to the presence of vegetation, shells
and lumps of clay present on the surface of the coarse aggregate (Bernucci et al. 2006). Thus, it
becomes interesting to carry out a test of the equivalent of sand for each sample, following the
procedures described in the DNER - ME 054 (1997) standard.
Standard NBR EB-2103/91 indicates the sand equivalent test when values of LL and IP
samples are greater than 25% and 6%, respectively. The indicated values is that equivalent of sand
exceeds 30%.
For this assay, it is necessary to separate a sample of aggregate with particles smaller than 4.8
mm, measured in volume in a standard capsule and placed in a test tube containing a solution of
calcium chloride; after 10 minutes saturation the sample is stirred for 30 seconds. Subsequently, it
should be inserted until the solution reaches 38 cm from the bottom and leaving it at rest for 20
minutes in order to sediment and separate the sand from the clay. The sand equivalent is calculated
according to equation (2):

= 100

Compaction
The compaction assay followed NBR 7182 (ASME, 1986), using the normal Proctor energy for
the soil, the recycled aggregate and mixtures. Table 2 shows the percentages of each material of the
different composites studied.
 Vol. 19 [2014], Bund. N 3207

Table 2: Percentages of composites

Soil CDW Fiber
Composite
(%) (%) (%)
1 50 50 -
2 50 49.75 0.25
3 50 49.5 0.5
4 50 49.25 0.75

Mineralogical characterization
The sample was air dried prior to then pass the material through sieves with meshes of 0.075
mm and 2.00 mm. The retained material was transferred from these sieves to a greenhouse for
drying. After this step, the material was taken to LAGESE Laboratory of Sedimentary Geology
(Department of Geology, Federal University of Pernambuco), where the mineralogical analysis of
the fraction of soil was carried out.
Through a morphoscopic and grain composition study, it was possible to identify the shape of
the soil grains.

Mechanical characterization
Simple compression
To perform the mechanical characterization, compression resistance tests were performed.

The samples were molded with the aid of a piston with 5 cm diameter at optimum moisture in a
mold with 50 mm diameter and 100 mm in length (Figure 5) for the mixtures shown in Table 2.

Figure 5: Molding of sample.

 Vol. 19 [2014], Bund. N 3208

Table 3: Percentages of materials constituent of mixtures

Soil CDW recycled Fiber
Mixture
(%) (%) (%)
1 50 50 -
2 50 49.75 0.25
3 50 49.25 0.75

The sample was previously air-dried, and then the material was taken to a humid chamber,
going through a period of 48 hours. A total of 3 samples for each composite were molded, totaling
9 samples.
Figure 6 shows the sample being subjected to the simple compression strength, at a speed of
0,040 mm/s, with the machine of the Emic brand and model DL 30.000.

Figure 6: Body sample submitted to the assay of resistance

to simple compression

RESULTS
Physical characterization
Figure 7 shows the granulometric curves of the soil, the recycled aggregate, and the recycled-
soil aggregate. It was also observed that the soil is constituted by a low plastic-type clay of the CL
type, according to the USCS classification of soils (ASTM 1990) and the recycled aggregate is a
typically sandy material.
The mixture of soil (50%) with the recycled aggregate (50%) was classified as a clayish sand of
the SC group, possessing no uniformity coefficient and curvature coefficient, as for the soil.
However, the curve of the recycled aggregate showed uniformity coefficient value close to 6.7,
showing a slight discontinuity.
 Vol. 19 [2014], Bund. N 3209

Percentage going through (%)

Recycled aggregate

Soil

Recycled aggregate (50%) +

Soil (50%)

0.001 0.01 0.1 1 10 100

Diameter of grains (mm)

Figure 7: Granulometric curves of the soil, the recycled aggregate and the mixture.

Table 4 shows the consistency limits and real density of the soil, the recycled aggregate and the
mixture, confirming the classification obtained from the granulometric curves.
Table 4: Values of consistency limits and real density of the samples
Real
LL LP IP
Sample Density
(%) (%) (%)
(g/cm)
Soil 48.12 24.49 23.63 2.66
Recycled
- - - 2.70
aggregate
Recycled
aggregate (50%) 31.29 24.81 6.48 2.65
+ Soil (50%)

Compaction
The compaction curves represented in Figure 8 show that the inclusion of fibers in composites
of recycled-soil aggregate had little influence on the values of the optimum moisture content and
maximum specific weight when compared to the values of the recycled-soil aggregate mixture.
These results are in agreement with the values found by Trinity et al. (2006), where minor
variations were observed for both the maximum dry apparent specific weight as for optimal
humidity of soil-fiber mixtures when compared with pure soil.
 Vol. 19 [2014], Bund. N 3210

1.75 Soil (50%) + CDW (50%)

Soil (50%) + CDW (49.75%) +

1.70 Fiber 20 (0.25%)
Dry aparent specific mass (gr/cm )
3

Soil (50%) + CDW (49.5%) +

1.65 Fiber 20 (0.5%)

Soil (50%) + CDW (49.25%) +

1.60 Fiber 20 (0.75%)

1.55

1.50

1.45

1.40

Humidity content
Figure 8: Compaction curves of the composites.

Table 5 shows the values of optimum moisture and the apparent dry specific weights of the
maximum recycled-soil aggregate and composites with different fiber contents (0.25%, 0.50%,
0.75%).
Table 5: Optimal values of the humidity and maximum dry
apparent specific weights of the samples
d max
Sample Wot (%)
(g/cm3)
Soil (50%) + CDW (50%) 18.53 1.69
Soil (50%) + CDW
(49,75%) + Fiber20mm 17.92 1.71
(0.25%)
Soil (50%) + CDW
(49.5%) + Fiber20mm 18.00 1.73
(0.5%)
Soil (50%) + CDW
(49.25%) + Fiber20mm 17.8 1.69
(0.75%)

Mineralogy
Through mineralogical analysis of grains (Figure 9), it was observed that the fraction of soil is
composed of many fragments of mollusk shells (CaCO3) round to sub-rounded quartz grains
varying from angular to sub-angular, besides fragments of lateritic crust.
 Vol. 19 [2014], Bund. N 3211

Figure 9: Soil sample - Augmentation 8x.

Simple compression
Table 6 presents the values of stress and deformation for each sample. The greater resistance
value was observed for the sample with 50% of soil, 49.25% recycled aggregate and 0.75% of fiber
(20mm), indicating that the inclusion of fibers leads to increased simple compression resistance.

It was also verified, by Table 6, that the addition of 0.25% and 0.75% of fiber in the mixtures of
recycled-soil aggregate increased by 24.04% and 28.89%, respectively, when compared to the
mixture without the addition of fibers. It was also observed that the increase in deformation was
proportional as the inclusion and addition of fiber content increased.

Table 6: Stress and deformation values of samples

Sample Tension (kPa) Deformation (mm)
Soil (50%) + CDW
1030.68 1.08
(50%)
Soil (50%) + CDW
(49,75%) + Fiber20mm 1278.47 1.75
(0,25%)
Soil (50%) + CDW
(49,25%) + Fiber20mm 1328.47 4.39
(0,75%)

The results are consistent with the observations of Rafalko et al. (2007) who disclose that the
resistance in soil increases according to the increase in the content of polypropylene fiber.
This result shows that tests with recycled-soil-fiber aggregate exhibit the same tendencies of
a soil-fiber composite, revealing that the polypropylene fibers improve the mechanical properties of
both the natural soil as in the recycled-soil aggregate mixture.
 Vol. 19 [2014], Bund. N 3212

FINAL CONSIDERATIONS
The results of the physical characterization showed that the soil is a clayish material that is not
very plastic, on the other hand, the recycled aggregate is typically sandy and the recycled
aggregate-soil mixture is a clayish sand.
The mineralogical analysis is important for the knowledge of the fraction of grains in the soil,
in which the presence of round to sub-rounded mollusk shell fragments (CaCO3) were observed,
quartz grains, besides fragments of lateritic crust.
The compaction curves show that the inclusion of fibers in composites of recycled-soil
aggregate influenced in the values of optimum moisture and maximum specific weight, varying
very little when compared to the values of recycled-soil aggregate mixture.
By the means of simple compression tests, it was found that the employment of fibers in the
recycled-soil aggregate composite increased maximum stress values and deformations, according to
the increase of fiber content, verifying that the inclusion of fibers to the mixtures, improves the
mechanical properties of the composite.
As it is an unprecedented work, it demanded a greater effort from researchers to find references
that could be compared with the results of the tests with composites of recycled-soil-fiber
aggregate.
According to the good results regarding the inclusion of fibers in the recycled-soil aggregate
composite, it is possible to verify the feasibility of the application of these products in paving.

REFERENCES
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Philadelphia
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limite de liquidez. Rio de Janeiro, 1984.
3. ABNT Associao Brasileira de Normas Tcnicas. NBR 7180: Solo Determinao do
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