Effect of Nanoclay Particles on the Performance of High-Density Polyethylene-Modified Asphalt Concrete Mixture

Abstract

Utilizing polymers for asphalt concrete (AC) mixture modification has many drawbacks that hinder its wide implementations for roadway construction. Recently, research on employing complementary materials, such as nanomaterials, to balance negative impacts of polymers while enhancing the AC mixture’s performance has received great attention. This study aimed to investigate the effect of incorporating nanoclay (NC) particles on the performance of a high-density polyethylene (HDPE)-modified AC mixture. A 60/70 asphalt binder was first modified with HDPE, and then NC particles were gradually added at a concentration of 1–4% by weight of the asphalt binder. The binders’ physical characteristics, storage stability, and chemical change were scrutinized. AC mixture performance, including pseudo-stiffness, moisture damage resistance, stripping susceptibility, and rutting tendency, was investigated. A statistical analysis on the experimental results was conducted using Kruskal–Wallis and Dunn tests. Test results showed that employing NC/HDPE significantly increased penetration index and thereby enhanced binder temperature sensitivity. Moreover, it prevented oxidation action and separation and, therefore, enhanced binder storage stability. Furthermore, incorporating NC amplified pseudo-stiffness and significantly improved resistance against moisture damage and stripping of HDPE-modified mixtures. Moreover, it improved both elastic (recoverable) and plastic (unrecoverable) deformations of mixtures. The most satisfactory results were attained when incorporating 3% of NC.

Evaluation of Hot Mix Asphalt and Binder Performance Modified With High Content of Nano Silica Fume

“…Where the tensile strength values of the mixtures incorporating 30, 40, and 50% NSF-modified binder were higher than the control mixture by 105, 205, and 247%, respectively. The significant increase in tensile strength at 60 o C of NSF-modified mixtures indicates a great improvement in pavement resistance to permanent deformations and stripping susceptibility [41]. This promotes using the NSF-modified mixers in hot regions or heavy traffic areas.…”

“…As shown in Figure 2, the cylindrical specimen was placed in the center of two steel punches (25 mm diameter each) and then loaded vertically at a rate of 1.27 mm/min until collapse. The average failure loads of three specimens for each mixture were used in estimating the tensile strength (σt) as showed in Equation ( 4) [40][41][42].…”

Performance Investigation of Hot- And Warm- Asphalt Mixtures Modified With Superplast

“…This test procedure was advanced at the University of Arizona by Jimenoz (1974), which was used for measuring the stripping of the binder from the aggregate [49]. Then several studies have reported this test [34,[58][59][60][61]. Marshall samples were used for the test, and three specimens were conditioned by placing them in water at 60 ± 1°C for 30 minutes.…”

“…The effect of the wax depends on the chemical composition and rheological properties of the asphalt binder, the crystallinity of the wax, the range of applied temperature, and the amount of wax [29]. Utilizing polymers modified asphalt (PMA) for roadway construction has earned remarkable attention due to their superior performance, including thermal-crack resistance, moisture susceptibility, and rutting resistance [30][31][32][33][34][35][36]. However, polymer-modified asphalt mixtures require high mixing and compacting temperatures, increasing energy consumption and exhaust emissions [37].…”

Evaluation of rheological performance of a local modified bitumen by Styrene Butadiene Styrene polymer used in wearing course

“…Figure 1: Ouargla weather data 2014-2017 [10] The most common solution to overcome this problem is the addition of polymers to the base bitumen to adapt its mechanical and rheological characteristics to the environmental constraints of climate and traffic as recommended by several authors [2,8,11,12]. To meet these constraints and to achieve better mechanical and rheological performance, it has become essential to switch to modified bitumen that has the advantage of being available and inexpensive as mentioned by many others [13,14,15,16]. One of the most common categories of bitumen modifiers is polymeric materials [17,18].…”