Eco-Sustainable and Seismic-Resistant Plasters Incorporating End-of-Life Tire Waste: Experimental Investigation and Numerical Application to a School Building

• Emilia Meglio

  University of Naples Federico II

• Antonio Formisano

  University of Naples Federico II

The construction sector exerts a substantial influence on humanity’s ecological footprint, underscoring the imperative to adopt circular economy principles in building practices and materials to mitigate environmental degradation. The circular economy is a system that aims to optimize resource use and minimize waste by repurposing waste materials and reducing the amount of residual waste. In the field of construction, there is an increasing prevalence of the use of recycled materials, including rubber, plastic, aggregates, wood, and rock wool, in the fabrication of novel, sustainable products. The present study focuses on the utilization of recycled rubber from tires as an aggregate in sustainable mortars for reinforcing existing masonry structures. The research commences with an analysis of sustainable development challenges, followed by a review and comparison of studies that incorporate rubber granules and steel fibers into mortar mixes. The study’s workflow is delineated into three primary phases. In the initial phase, experimental work is conducted by preparing control specimens devoid of rubber, specimens with varying amounts of rubber, and specimens that incorporate steel fibers into rubber-enhanced mortar. These samples are subsequently subjected to rigorous laboratory testing to assess their physical and mechanical parameters. These parameters include, but are not limited to, density, flexural and compressive strength, and surface hardness. The subsequent phase involves the analysis of these results to ascertain the optimal sustainable mortar mix design. In the third phase, findings are applied in practice: a mortar incorporating steel fibers and granulated rubber recovered from discarded tires is employed for the structural strengthening of the “G. Mazza” school in Torre del Greco, Naples, with the aim of enhancing seismic resilience.

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