IJETAE_0313_154

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International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering

Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459,ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal,Volume 3, Issue 3, March 2013)

895

Studies on the Improvement of Characteristics of Bitumen with

Use of Waste PlasticSandhya Dixit1, Prof. Deepak Rastogi2

1Student Scholar, ME Civil, Madhav Institute Of Technology And Science (MITS), Gwalior2Professor Department Of Civil Engineering,Madhav Institute Of Technology And Science (MITS), Gwalior

AbstractIn India plenty of Industrial waste is generated

by industrial activity, such as that of factories, mills and

mines. In addition to this industrial waste, municipal waste in

the form of garbage containing non-bio degradable materials

is also produced within the municipal limits. This is a major

source of environmental pollution and its proper disposal in

challenging problem in order to safeguard the environment

for future generation.

The use of discarded waste plastics in the road constructionwas one or the important steps taken in this direction. Use of

suitable road waste material in the construction of roads in

the country, will not only bring out significant saving on road

material cost, but simultaneously shall help in tackling the

problem of such waste material.

India is far behind the target of road construction of

National Highways, State Highways and village roads. The

dream of connecting every village with a fair weather road in

far distant.

The use of plastic bottles, containers and packing strips is

increasing day by day and disposal is a big problem. Since

these products are non bio degradable, these are likely to

remain in the environment for many years creating

environmental problems and health hazards.

This paper has been developed to discuss in detail as to how

the municipal solid waste can be handled and used

successfully in the construction of roads thus mitigating the

environmental problems and economise the cost of

construction of roads within the country.

Keywords - Bitumen modification with waste plastic,

Improvement in characteristics of bitumen with use of waste

plastic, Plastic waste in road construction, Study on use of

plastic waste in road construction, Uses of plastic waste in

road construction

I. INTROUDUCTION

The growth in various types of industries together with

population growth has resulted in an enormous increase inproduction of various types of waste material world over.

The creation and disposal of non-biodegradable waste

materials such as Plastics, Blast Furnace Slag, Fly ash,

Steel Slag, Scrap Tyres etc. have been posing problems in

the developed as well as developing countries. Plastic is

everywhere in todays lifestyle. Use this non-biodegradable

product is growing rapidly and creating the problem of its

disposal.

Disposal of plastic waste, particularly plastic bags are a

menace and has become a serious problem , especially in

urban areas, in terms of its misuse its dumping in the

dustbins, clogging of drains, reduced soil fertility and

aesthetic problems etc.

The phenomenal increase in the volume of vehicular

traffic on our roads, including commercial vehicles

combined with perpetual overloading of transport vehiclesand significant variation in daily and seasonal temperature

in various parts of the country calls for improved

performance of the road pavements and consequently better

quality of bitumen. Modified bitumen obtained through

mixing of elastomeric as well as plastomeric substances

possesses better quality than normal bitumen. Therefore,

there is an urgent need of alternate use of waste in

bituminous mix, to improve the properties of the binder

offers, as such, very promising alternative.

Use of plastic in road construction is not new. It is

already in use as PVC or HDPE pipe mat crossings built by

cabling together PVC (Polyvinyl chloride) or HDPE (High

density polyethylene) pipes to form plastic mats.Recent studies in this direction have shown some hope

in terms of using plastic waste in road construction, i.e.

plastic roads. The life of Pavement surfacing using the

waste plastic is expected to increase substantially in

comparison the use of conventional bituminous mix. The

laboratory studies conducted by some research institutes

regarding utilization of waste plastic bags in bituminous

mixes have proved that these enhance the properties of

mix. Also the performance tests have proved that the

fatigue life is doubled and resistance to rutting and water

damages increases when plastic waste is used.

Different process, viz. dry and wet process have been

tried out for blending the waste plastic with aggregate and

bitumen. In the dry process, waste plastic is added to

aggregate heated uniformly at a temperature of 155-1630c.

The dry process gives a blend with better binding property,

a larger surface area of aggregate is available for mixing.

Aggregate coated with plastic waste and plain bitumen

show zero stripping even after 72h. Other properties like

soundness, moisture absorption and voids formation are

also minimized and no pot hole formation is observed on

roads processed in this way.

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896

In the wet process, shredded waste plastic is mixed with

hot bitumen at a temperature 160 0 c. with the help of

powerful mechanical stirrers. The stabilizers are also addedto the bitumen during heating. The mix is then laid on the

road. In this process, mixing of higher percentages of is

however, difficult because of the difference in viscosities of

molten plastic waste and bitumen.

II. OBJECIVES OF THE STUDY

The present study aimed at preparation of bitumen

modified with waste plastic fibers and to find the variation

of conventional properties. The major objectives of the

study are as follows.

To study the physical properties of neat bitumen and

modified with plastic fibers obtained from waste plastic

bags.To find out the optimum percentage of waste plastic bag

fibers.

To perform tests on bituminous mixes prepared using the

optimum fibers content calculated.

III.

EXPERIMENTAL PROGRAMME

A Material

Bitumen - 60/70 and 80/100 penetration grade bitumen

were used for the present study. The physical properties of

bitumen described as IS 73:1992 are given in Table I.

TableI

Physical properties of 60/70 and 80/100 bitumen

Designation

Test ResultPermissible

limits as per IS

73:1992Test

Method

60/70 80/100 60/70 80/100

Penetration

at 25oc,100g,

5s, d mm

65 89 60-70 80-100IS

1203:1978

Softeningpoint. 0c

48 42 40-55 35-50IS

1205:1978

Ductility at270c cm

100+ 100+75

min.75 min.

IS1208:1978

Specific

Gravity 270c,

g/cc

1.010 0.9980.99min.

0.99min.

IS1202:1978

Flash point,0c

285 310175min.

175min.

IS1209:1978

Modifier- Plastic bag fibers were used as a modifier in

this study. The waste plastic bags were shredded into fibers

of size 20mm x 3mm. The density, melting point andtensile strength of the fibers were 0.468 g/cc, 1680 c. and

210 MParespectively. Fig. 1 shows the plastic fibres.

Fig. 1. Plastic Fibres

Aggregates - aggregates were tested for physical

requirements, and test results are shown in the Table II.

Table - II

Properties of coarse aggregates

Properties IS Test Method MoRTH

Specification

Result

Specific Gravity

a)

Coarse Agg.(20mm)

b)

Coarse Agg. (10& 4.75mm)

c)

Fine Agg.

--

-

--

-

2.582.64

2.72

Aggregate Impact

value

IS 2386 (IV) Max 30% 19.42 %

Los Angeles

Abrasion value

IS 2386 (IV) Max 30% 24.36 %

Water Absorption IS 2386 (III) Max 2% 0.6 %

Combined flakinessand Elongation Index

IS 2386 (I) Max 30% 24 %

B Preparation of Modified Binders

About 350g. of bitumen was heated to 1700c. to a fluid

condition. The mixing was performed in the laboratorywith a mechanical stirrer at a frequency of 1550 rpm. After

the mixing temperature was reached, 0.1 percent fiber by

weight of binder was added slowly in order to avoid

agglomeration of the material. The typical time used for

preparation of the blend was 1 hour. After the blend was

prepared, it was allowed to settle for 1 hour. Similar

procedure was adopted for other proportion of mixes. The

percentage of modifier varied from 0.1% to 0.9%.

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C Test results and discussions

Different percentages of modifier (waste plastic fibers)

added to 60/70 and 80/100 grades of bitumen affected thephysical properties of the binder in terms of penetration,

softening point, ductility and Specific Gravity which is

presented in Table III.

TableIII

Bituminous Binder+ % Modifier

Penetration(dmm)

SofteningPoint (0c)

Ductility(cm)

Specificgravity

60/70 Bitumen

60/70 + 0.1%

60/70 + 0.2%

60/70 + 0.3%

60/70 + 0.4%

60/70 + 0.5%60/70 + 0.6%

60/70 + 0.7%60/70 + 0.8%

60/70 + 0.9%

65.5

60.0

58.0

54.5

53.0

52.050.5

49.042.0

36.5

48.0

50.0

50.5

51.0

52.0

53.555.0

55.556.0

58.5

100

87

70

56

49

4239

3028

25

1.010

1.014

1.018

1.021

1.022

1.0281.031

1.0371.040

1.042

80/100 Bitumen

80/100 + 0.1%80/100 + 0.2%

80/100 + 0.3%

80/100 + 0.4%

80/100 + 0.5%

80/100 + 0.6%

80/100 + 0.7%80/100 + 0.8%

80/100 + 0.9%

89.0

85.583.0

81.5

77.5

73.0

68.0

65.059.0

55.0

42.0

42.043.5

44.0

45.5

47.0

47.0

47.548.5

49.5

100

9184

65

55

46

43

3836

35

0.998

1.0021.008

1.010

1.010

1.016

1.021

1.0251.028

1.032

Penetration Test Results

The Penetration values are decreasing significantly when

60/70 and 80/100 bitumen are mixed with the modifier andthis variation is much more in 80/100 modified bitumen.

When 0.6 percent of modifier is added to 80/100 grade, the

penetration decreases, and this is equal to the 60/70 grade

bitumen. Thus there is a significant decrease in penetration

values for modified blends, indication the improvement in

their temperature susceptibility resistant characteristics.

Softening point test results

The softening point increase in percentage of modifiers

and this is so because the bitumen becomes increasingly

viscous. Softening point for 60/70 bitumen increase to

more than 550c by addition of 0.7, 0.8 and 0.9 percent

fibers. Therefore 0.6 percent should be the upper limit for

60/70 bitumen. The results show that 80/100 and 60/70

bitumen modified with lower percentage of plastic fibers

can be used in road construction satisfactorily, but with

higher modification i.e. 0.7 percent to 0.9 percent should

not be used in road construction, but may be used as a

roofing material.

Ductility test results

The binders possessing high ductility have good

cementing qualities in the road surface and adhere well toaggregates. It may be seen that he ductility values for

80/100 and 60/70 bitumen modified with 0.7, 0.8 percent

and 0.9 percent modifiers are very low compared to

original binders. The ductility values decrease with

increase in percentage of modifier, but the rate of decrease

is less when added beyond 0.5 percent. The ductility value

less than 50cm (80/100 modified with 0.5 to 0.9 percent

fibres and 60/70 modified with 0.4 to 0.9 percent fibres)

should not be used in road constructions, but may be used

as crack and joint filler materials.

Specific gravity test results

Higher Penetration grade bitumen and cut back bitumen

have lower range specific gravity values. In case the

bitumen contains mineral impurity, the specific gravity will

be higher. It may be observed that he specific gravity

values increase significantly by modifying the bitumen.

The values for neat 60/70 and 80/100 bitumen are 1.010

and 0.998 respectively which increases to 1.042 and 1.032

after 0.9% modification.

The effective utilization of the waste plastic bags for the

preparation of modified bitumen will result in substantial

increase in the scrap value for this otherwise undesirable

waste material. These waste plastic bags will not,

therefore be thrown out along with the garbage instead they

will get collected and sold by the consumers themselves or

other agencies, due to the attractive scrap value. Polymercoated aggregates blended with bitumen also show higher

Marshall value and better stripping values, thereby

indicating that the mix is more suited for road laying.

The durability of the roads laid out with shredded plastic

waste is much more compared with these asphalted with

the ordinary mix. Roads laid with plastic waste mix are

found to be better than the conventional ones. The binding

property of plastic makes the road last longer besides,

giving added strength to withstand more loads also.

Rainwater will not seep through because of the plastic in

the tar which will result in lesser road repairs. The cost of

plastic road construction may be slightly higher compared

to the conventional method. However, this should not deterthe adoption of the technology as the benefits are much

higher than the cost.

Considering the improvements as outlined before, the

salient features of the waste plastic-bitumen mix road may

be categorized as under:-

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898

Higher strength

Resistances towards water stagnation, i.e. no potholes

are formed. Less bleeding during the summer

Higher marshal stability

Burning of plastic waste could be avoided

It does not involve any extra machinery

Lower maintenance costs

Reduction in consumption of bituminous mix and

No toxic gas emissions

Plastic roads would be a boon for Indias hot and

extremely humid climate where temperatures frequently

cross 500c and torrential rains create havoc, leaving most of

the roads with big potholes. This technology would help to

produce better roads with longer service life and would also

be economical as there would be considerable savings in

the ever increasing cost of bitumen.

IV. ROAD CONSTRUCTION SCENARIO

Process of construction of flexible pavement:

Process 1:

The roads were laid using both mini hot mix plant and

central mixing plant. The aggregate mix prepared as per

IRC specification, was heated in the cylindrical drum to

1700 degrees. It was then transferred to the pudding

compartment where the plastic waste size between 1.18

mm and 4.36 mm was added. As the temperature of the

aggregate were around 1700c and the softening temperatureof plastic waste using quantitatively was around 1350c the

plastic waste got softened and got coated over the

aggregate within 30 to 45 seconds. Immediately the hot

bitumen 60/70 grade was added and mixed in the pudding

chamber. The bitumen got coated over the aggregates. As

the plastics and the bitumen were in the liquid state they

got mixed . the mixture was transferred to the road and it

was spread and compacted using 8 ton roller.

Process 2:

For the construction of long distance roads it is very

important that the plastics coated aggregate should be tried

with central mixing plant. This was successfully tried atSalem, Tanjore, Mumbai, Trisool and Madurai.

Unising a mechanical device the plastics waste was

mixed with the aggregate at the cylindrical drum before the

addition of bitumen. This was done at Trisool, Chennai in

the presence of DRDA Engineers.

The material collected at the tipper was uniform and had

a temperature of 140o C . this was transported to the spot

and the road was laid using paver and 8 ton roller. The

spreading was good and the laying was easy.

During the process the materials got mixed at; (1) at the

tipper (2) During the transfer form tipper to paver and (3)

by the pavers during spreading for road laying. Thisensures better distribution of plastics and help better

binding.

V. MARSHALL TEST RESULTS ON BITUMINOUS MIXES.

The Marshall stability is a measure of structural strength

of a bituminous mix. Higher the stability of the mix, greater

will be the strength of surfacing. From the values given in

table IV, it can be seen that the Marshall stability increases

from 920 Kg to 1000 Kg when the bitumen content is

increased from 5 percent to 5.5 % and then it decreases to a

value of 890 Kg. at 6% bitumen content. The increase in

stability is due to the improvements in the physical

properties of bitumen and the coating of the aggregateswith the plastic fibres. The Optimum Binder Content

(OBC) was found to be 5.4% , Marshall test was also

conducted on bituminous mixes prepared with 0% fibre

content. Here also, the Marshall stability increased with an

increase in the bitumen content. At 5.4% bitumen content

and 0.5% fibre, the value of Marshall Stability is 995 Kg.

whereas it is 980 Kg. for an unmodified mix. Thus a higher

value is obtained for modified mix at compared to an

unmodified one. Gt

Table IV

Marshall Test Results on Modified Bituminous Mixes

Properties Sample1 Sample

2

Sample

3

Sample

4

Sample

5Bitumen

Content (%)

5.0 5.5 6.0 5.0 5.4

Fibre Content(%)

0.5 0.5 0.5 0 0

Thickness

(mm) 68.5

67.0 66.5 66.5 67.0

Weight in air(g) 1300

1000 1295 1270 1100

Weight in

water (g)

755 745 755 735 645

Marshall

Stability (Kg)

920 1000 890 850 980

Flow Value

(mm) 2.8

3.1 3.5 2.6 3.0

Theoretical

SpecificGravity, Gt(g/cc)

2.519 2.502 2.485 2.513 2.499

Bulk Specific

Gravity Gb

(g/cc)

2.385 2.419 2.398 2.374 2.418

VMA (%) 16.35 15.56 18.68 16.73 15.50

VFB (%) 70.56 67.46 74.66 66.86 79.08

Air Voids Vv

(%)

5.32 3.32 3.50 5.53 3.24

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VI. ECONOMIC ANALYSES

A huge quantity of plastic waste have been used as

modifying agents. However, the high cost of thesepolymers compared to bitumen means that the amount of

polymer needed to improve pavement performance should

be as small as possible. This major restriction could be

avoided by using waste materials like plastics. From an

environmental and economic standpoint, the use of waste

plastic fiberes as a bitumen-modifying agent may

contribute to solving a waste disposal problem and to

improving the quality of road pavements.

VII. CONCLUSIONS

The following conclusions are drawn based on the

results obtained tin the present study

The properties of bitumen such as penetrationsoftening point improved with the addition of the

waste fiber. There is a significant decrease in

penetration values for modified blends, indicating the

improvement in their temperature susceptibility

resistant characteristics.

The softening point increase with increase in

percentage of fibre and this is so because the bitumen

becomes increasingly viscous. The results show that

bitumen modified with lower percentage of fibres can

be used in road construction satisfactorily, but higher

percentage of fibers i.e. more than 0.7 % may be used

as a roofing material.

The ductility value decreases with increase inpercentage of modifier, but the rate of decrease is less

when fiber is added beyond 0.5 percent. The ductility

value less than 50cm should not be used in road

constructions, but may be used as crack and joint

filler materials.

The optimum dose of the fibre was found to be 0.6

percent on the basis of performance grade 70.

From the Marshall test results, it is concluded that the

marshall stability value increases with an increase in

bitumen content from 5% to 5.5% then it decreases.

The optimum binder content was found to be 5.4 %

.Also higher value of Marshall stability was found for

a modified mix as compared to an unmodified one. From an environmental and economic standpoint, the

use of waste plastic fibres, as a bitumen modifying

agent may contribute to solving a waste disposal

problem and to improving the quality of road

pavements.

The properties of bitumen can be enhanced by adding

small amounts of the modifier. Therefore modified

bituminous materials can bring real benefits tohighway construction, maintenance, in terms of better

and longer lasting roads, and savings in total road life

costing.

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