Abstract: The reuse of scrap tires in civil engineering may not only to prompt new way of disposal scrap tires but also provide new geosynthetic materials to help solving geotechnical problems. In this study, unconsolidated undrained triaxial test was undertaken with the goal of evaluating the shear strength of granulated rubber/loess mixtures (GR-LM) with different rubber contents (10%－ 50%). The mechanism of test is explained. It is found that GR-LM shows stress-strain hardening behavior associated with rubber content and confining stress; and granulated rubber shows a linear stress-strain behavior. The optimum rubber content is about 30%, which offers higher strength under low confining stress compared with rubber contents. The critical content of GR-LM is analyzed from the viewpoint of GR-LM meso-structure. By combination of porosity structure and loess matrix state, the influence of rubber content on the shear strength of compacted GR-LM was reasonably explained. The shear strength of GR-LM shows like silt soil to granular soil with different contact relationships of elastic skeleton particles under different rubber contents and confining pressures.

Key words: granulated rubber, content, shear strength, confining pressure, stress-strain