Mechanical Properties of Municipal Solid Waste Incinerator (MSWI) Bottom Ash as Alternatives of Subgrade Materials

Abstract

The rapid development of industrialization, urbanization, and population of the society augments the rising amount of municipal solid waste (MSW). With the advantage of considerably reducing mass and volume of solid wastes and generating energy, the incineration is a widely used treatment method for MSW. During the incineration process, the organic substances contained in the wastes are combusted, and the massive residues are remained. Of the incineration residues, bottom ash takes up to 80–90%, and the remainders are fly ash along with air pollution control residues. Dealing with the municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI) bottom ash in a sustainable manner is the primary principle. Significantly, MSWI bottom ash has been successfully utilized in diverse beneficial applications in recent decades, especially in civil engineering applications. This paper investigates the mechanical properties and validity of MSWI bottom ash as applicable substitutes of conventional subgrade materials. For this reason, a series of direct shear and CBR tests are performed on specimens with different water contents and dry densities.