What is it about?
Every year, there are huge quantities of domestic and industrial waste that seriously harm the environment. Plastic Polyethylene terephthalate (PET), Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and Crumb Rubber (CR) are the most largely utilized materials in the advanced world, which could be reclaimed in several industries by reusing waste. This affair can considerably assist to enhance ecological wellness. In this research, the effect of three sorts of waste polymers (recycled plastic bottles (RPET), recycled grocery boxes (RPVC), and recycled Tire Crumb Rubber (RCR)), with varied contents by the weight of asphalt binder, on enhancing the mechanical characteristics of Stone Matrix Asphalt (SMA) mix was researched. For this point, the conventional bitumen tests, viscosity test, mechanical properties (Marshall Stability and Flow), void analysis, indirect tensile strength, as well as drain-down test were conducted. The traditional asphalt tests showed that the waste polymers improved the softening point, ductility and viscosity, and decreased the penetration values of asphalt, except for RPVC, the ductility values of the asphalt samples have decreased significantly with the increase in the proportion of the additive. The outcomes of mechanical experiments showed that the addition of waste material particles improved the Marshall Stability and indirect tensile strength and reduced the Marshall flow of the asphalt mixes, showing that increasing the content of these waste additives improved the resistance against rutting of asphalt mixes at high service temperatures. Moreover, the addition of waste materials to the asphalt mix has a positive impact on the drain-down property at high temperatures. Generally, the waste polymer additives have a positive impact on the mechanical characteristics of the SMA mixture and could be widely used in the asphalt paving industry because of their great engineering and environmental impact.
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Why is it important?
Stone Mastic Asphalt mixtures in Iraq have not yet been implemented, due to the lack of local specifications for the design and implementation of such mixtures. The importance of our research lies in designing a mastic asphalt mixture using local materials and using recycled additives such as polymers and natural fibers. This in itself is of great importance towards developing of more sustainable roads in Iraq.
Perspectives
I hope that this research paper will receive the attention of researchers from different countries, especially in Iraq, taking into consideration that it is among the first steps to develop and use such a technology locally, and therefore it needs additional research work to learn more and develop in this field.
Dr Sady Abd Tayh
University of Mustansiriyah
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: The utilization of different waste polymers as additives on mechanical properties of stone mastic asphalt mixture, January 2024, American Institute of Physics,
DOI: 10.1063/5.0212184.
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