Chemical, Thermal, and Rheological Performance of Asphalt Binder Containing Plastic Waste

Abstract

In order to meet the environmental needs caused by large plastic waste accumulation, in the road construction sector, an effort is being made to integrate plastic waste with the function of polymer into asphalt mixtures; with the purpose of improving the mechanical performance of the pavement layers. This study focuses on the effect of a recycled mixture of plastic waste on the chemical, thermal, and rheological properties of designed asphalt blends and on the identification of the most suitable composition blend to be proposed for making asphalt mixture through a dry modification method. Thermo-gravimetric analysis, differential scanning calorimetry, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analysis were carried out to investigate the effect of various concentrations and dimensions of plastic waste (PW) on the neat binder (NB). The frequency sweep test and the multiple stress creep and recovery test were performed to analyze the viscoelastic behavior of the asphalt blends made up of PW in comparison with NB and a commercial modified bitumen (MB). It has been observed that the presence of various types of plastic materials having different melting temperatures does not allow a total melting of PW powder at the mixing temperatures. However, the addition of PW in the asphalt blend significantly improved the aging resistance without affecting the oxidation process of the plastic compound present in the asphalt blend. Furthermore, when the asphalt blend mixed with 20% PW by the weight of bitumen is adopted into the asphalt mixture as polymer, it improves the elasticity and strengthens the mixture better than the mixture containing MB.

Dynamic-Mechanic Analysis and Rheological Modelling of Waste Face Mask Modified Bitumen

“…Performance improvements can be achieved by using both bituminous binder and plastic waste in the mixture. In their study, Verapalumbo et al used different percentages of waste plastic in bitumen and determined that waste plastic improved aging resistance, elasticity, and strength [28]. In another study, Genet et al modified bitumen by adding waste LDPE plastic.…”

Aging Characteristics of Rubber Modified Bitumen Mixed with Sulfur after Terminal Blend Process

“…Asphalt pavement has been applied widely for its superior road performance and driving comfort [1,2]. However, as a blended organic compound material, bitumen is prone to oxidation under the influence of the external environment, which makes bitumen hard and brittle, resulting in pitting, cracking, and other defects of asphalt pavement [3], affecting the service life, durability, and driving safety of the pavement. It has become a trend to add anti-aging modifiers to neat bitumen to improve the resistance of bitumen materials to aging reactions or to inhibit the aging rate and improve the anti-aging properties of bitumen [4].…”

Investigation of the High-Temperature and Rheological Properties for Asphalt Sealant Modified by SBS and Rubber Crumb

“…Resin-based asphalt modifications include the addition of polyethylene (PE) and ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA) [14]. For example, Rosa Veropalumbo and Russo, F. et al [15][16][17] have been working on the incorporation of polymer-functional plastic waste into asphalt mixtures to improve the performance of pavement layers. Since the asphalt-based sealant material prepared with a single modifier has disadvantages in terms of performance, and the single modifier is expensive, some low-cost modifiers need to be used to reduce costs; therefore, composite modification has been developed and applied [14].…”