Evaluation of the geogrid-various sustainable geomaterials interaction by direct shear tests

In order to prevent environmental pollution, initiatives to increase the sustainability of resources are supported by society. However, the performance of recycled materials does not generally match that of natural materials. This study looks into the use of geogrid to improve various types of recycled aggregates. For this purpose, five different recycled aggregates were created by recycling wastes from the construction industry. Besides, direct shear tests (DS tests) were carried out on these recycled aggregates to determine their shear strengths. Following that, a triaxial geogrid was placed in the recycled aggregates to provide reinforcement, and the DS tests were conducted on the reinforced recycled aggregates. The results of the tests were also compared to those of tests performed on natural aggregates (NA). In conclusion, it was found that the recycled aggregates have lower shear strengths than the NA. Nonetheless, when reinforced with geogrid, the shear strength of the recycled concrete aggregates (RCA) and construction and demolition wastes (CDW) exceeded that of the NA. Furthermore, the geogrid reinforcement increased the shear strength of the recycled crushed bricks (CB), though not to the level of the NA.