Sustainable use of waste plastic modifiers to strengthen the adhesion properties of asphalt mixtures

Low pavement performance increases environmental degradation and reduces natural reserves. This reduction in pavement's service life is attributed towards moisture susceptibility, rutting and fatigue failures of asphalt pavements. To overcome this, waste plastic modifiers were used in this research study to improve the asphalt mixtures moisture damage resistance and hence the asphalt pavement's service life. Four different sources of aggregate based on petrography of rock were selected to ascertain the effect of different minerals on moisture damage. Qualitative as well as quantitative tests were utilized to assess moisture sensitivity. The analysis of test data showed that high density polyethylene and wet method of mixing has relatively better adhesion properties. Moreover, acidic aggregates containing granite minerals showed more loss of adhesion than basic aggregate quarries due their less polarity and hydrophilic nature. Modified Lottman as well as Hamburg wheel track test were found relatively better for compacted asphalt mixture than Marshall stability test for moisture damage assessment. This study recommends using waste plastics in the asphalt mixtures to improve performance life of the pavement and reduces the environmental degradation. (C) 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.