Effectiveness of novel and traditional treatments on the performance of incinerator bottom ash waste

Management of natural aggregate resources has become one of the most important challenges in construction, especially for high demand applications such as roads. Incinerator bottom ash (IBA), which is produced from burning domestic waste, has been considered a useful solution to the shortage of natural resources. In this research, IBA was mixed with limestone to produce an acceptable blend for use as a road foundation layer. Novel and traditional additives were adopted to improve the mechanical properties of IBA blends. The study focused on the treatment effect of additives on the mechanical characteristics of IBA blends under monotonic and cyclic triaxial stresses. The investigation evaluated fundamental material properties, including resilient modulus, initial Young’s modulus and Poisson’s ratio. Two nonlinear empirical models were adopted to depict the experimental resilient modulus results of the IBA blends. An approach has been proposed to predict realistic and representative values of resilient modulus for the material. In addition, a new relationship has been established between Young’s modulus, resilient modulus and Poisson’s ratio. Triaxial test results revealed that additives are more efficient with the control limestone blend than with the IBA blends. Novel additives, such as enzyme I and silica fume, produced a noticeable improvement in IBA properties in comparison to traditional additives.

► IBA performs as a typical conventional aggregate. ► Novel additives improved some properties like resilient modulus in comparison to traditional ones. ► The proposed approach for calculating the resilient modulus yielded more representative values. ► The proposed approach for correlating resilient and Young’s moduli was validated successfully.