Theses and Dissertations
Date of Award
7-2024
Document Type
Thesis
Department
Civil, Coastal, and Environmental Engineering
Committee Chair
Shenghua Wu, Ph.D.
Advisor(s)
John Cleary, Min-Wook Kang, Jinhui Wang
Abstract
The surge in the production of plastic waste has become a pressing global environmental issue. To address this, repurposing plastic waste to modify asphalt binders in asphalt pavement is being explored This study investigates the potential of recycled high-density polyethylene (rHDPE) and recycled polypropylene (rPP) as asphalt binder modifies to improve pavement performance and sustainability while mitigating plastic waste's adverse environmental impacts. Laboratory investigations were conducted to assess the rheological performances as well as the compatibility of rHDPE and rPP-modified asphalt. Additionally, the impact of aging and mixing temperature on rheological performance was investigated. Experimental results indicated that adding these recycled plastics improves the rutting resistance of asphalt binder, while the long-term cracking performance was not consistent across all rheological indices. Additionally, mixing temperature appears to increase slightly the susceptibility of asphalt binder to cracking, and phase separation of plastic from asphalt remains a major challenge. Overall, the rutting and cracking performance of rHDPE-modified asphalt demonstrate superiority over that of rPP-modified asphalt binder.
Recommended Citation
Oyelere, Abeeb G., "Performance Evaluation of Asphalt Binder Modified with Recycled Plastics" (2024). Theses and Dissertations. 203.
https://jagworks.southalabama.edu/theses_diss/203