Tyre Asia – May-June 2018

Tyre Asia April/May 2018 43

Transformation and Sustainability
(IC-IMPACTS) funded the project.
The project demonstrated that this
technology could be implemented
in many rural and remote locations
around the world. It is a low-
cost material requiring minimum
maintenance and we anticipate
the road in Thondebhavi will last
as long as 15 years before needing
maintenance.

The road has been monitored now
for over a year and the results are

good as expected. A condition

assessment of the pavement

indicates that the material is

performing well under heavy rains

and extreme heat. Other tests

performed by the SIERA group

predict it should also perform well in

extreme cold conditions.

While use of recycled

tyre crumbs in pavement

application is fairly

accepted universally,

the use of polymer fibres

for tyres is unique as it

improves resilience of

concrete while extending

its life-span. How cost

effective is your process?

We developed the material in such

a way that adding the scrap tyre

fibres to the concrete improves

the resilience of the concrete and

extends its lifespan. We also reduced

the cost by using a high strength

material requiring lower thickness in

placement such as roads. The high

resiliency of the material guarantees

minimal maintenance, high

durability, increased service life, and

lower life-cycle cost.

It is said that polymer

fibres used in concrete

also bridges cracks

as they form. Can you

explain this phenomenon?

Polymer fibres — either extracted

from tyres or the co-extruded

nano-coated fibres used in the

Tondebhavi Road — bond with

concrete. Once a crack forms, the

fibres work to bridge cracks and

provide much higher resistance

to crack growth. The cracks,

therefore, remain narrow, do not

extend with time, and in fact, can

even heal themselves due to closing

pressures.

Fibers in concrete

A

s cracks form

in the concrete,

nano-coated fibres

prevent them from

widening, and produce

additional materials

in a high humidity

environment that allow

the cracks to heal. This

was the technology

used in the road built

in Tondebhavi near

Bengaluru