Evaluation of Structural and Thermal Properties of Rubber and HDPE for Utilization as Binder Modifier

Abstract

Today, high-performance requirements for asphalt pavements demand enhanced properties for bitumen to withstand the environmental condition and traffic demand.On the other hand, the rapid growth in population and economy results in a continuously increased material consumption, and subsequently waste generation. Among various waste materials, rubber and plastic, including high-density polyethylene (HDPE), constitute some part of the non-biodegradable solid wastes worldwide. Because of the great difficulties in managing the non-biodegradable wastes and the required volume of bitumen, the idea of using plastic and rubber as bitumen modifier in new asphalt mixtures appears to be an effective and meaningful utilization of these materials. As binder plays an important role in the final performance of the asphalt mixture, an understanding of modified binder properties is essential in designing an asphalt mixture. To this point, since compatibility of asphalt mixture with polymer is the most important factor in the blend of polymers and asphalt, the properties of the waste polymers were evaluated in this ongoing research by means of advanced thermal analysis and scanning electron microscope (SEM). This chapter presents the results of this experimental study to evaluate the properties of polymers as potential modifier for virgin bitumen in asphalt mixture.A large number of procedures have described different fractions in bitumen. Based on the most common procedure, bitumen is divided into four generic groups of saturates, aromatics, resins, and asphaltenes, namely SARAs. The molecular weight of these fractions increases in the order S < A < R < A [1].The structure of bitumen is mostly regarded as a colloidal system. In this system, the asphaltene particles are dispersed into the oily dispersion medium called the maltenes, which is composed of saturates, aromatics, and resins. As illustrated in Figure 1, a shell of resins has covered the asphaltene particles. The temperature and equilibrium between the covering part and dissolved part of resins affect the shell thickness [2][3][4]. Modified Asphalt 110Evaluation of Structural and Thermal Properties of Rubber and HDPE for Utilization as Binder Modifier http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.75535 113

Performance Optimization Approach of Polymer Modified Asphalt Mixtures with PET and PE Wastes: A Safety Study for Utilizing Eco-Friendly Circular Economy-Based SDGs Concepts

“…, 0), and has no less than three NCs with different sums of the k-factor. If three factors are used, the BBD design equals 12 + a center run as shown in matrix form below in Equation (1). A three-variable layout for the BBD is shown in Figure 5.…”

“…Bitumen, also known as asphalt binder, is a petroleum by-product produced during the distillation of hydrocarbon chains. It has valuable properties, such as long-term durability, high stability, and water resistance, which allow it to be used as a road building material [1]. Bitumen is used with aggregates as a binding material in the production of asphalt mixtures for infrastructure projects.…”

“…The performance parameters and ultimate stability of asphalt pavements are heavily reliant on the binder's functionality. The degradation of the bitumen binder causes a wide range of road pavement failures such as cracking failures, rutting, and fatigue cracking [1,2]. Moreover, the increasing cost of bitumen has significant effects on the overall project cost.…”

High‐performance atactic polypropylene modified bitumen blends fabricated via conventional, hot, and in‐situ blending techniques

“…Over the range of 350-500 C, the main constituents of a decomposed fraction are resins and aromatics; however, at a temperature higher than 500 C, mass change occurs in bitumen owing to the decomposition of asphaltenes. 38 In PMB specimens with a high-weight percentage of APP (i.e., 25 and 30 wt%), the onset temperature value for the thermal degradation of specimens started decreasing, which can be attributed to the presence of high contents of saturates, resulting in the generation of thermally unstable zones, due to high-APP fraction. Saturates have lower onset temperatures, resulting in the reduced thermal stability of APPMB-25 and APPMB-30.…”

Grey Correlation Analysis of Physical Properties and Evaluation Index of Graphene-Oxide-Modified Asphalt

“…Bitumen is an organic mixture produced by the distillation of crude oil. Although the chemical composition of asphalt is variable and complex, it is usually characterized by four components, including aromatic fraction (80% carbon, 15% hydrogen), asphaltene, gum, and saturated fraction [1,2]. Due to its advantages in flexibility, fluidity, suitable viscoelastic behavior, long-term durability, and water resistance, asphalt is qualified to be one of the most important materials in concrete mixtures for paving streets [1,3].…”