Effect of Waste Plastic and Waste Tires

Ash on Mechanical Behavior of Bitumen

Sandip Karmakar 1 and Tapas Kumar Roy 2
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Abstract: This paper deals with the utilization of waste plastic and waste tire rubber with bitumen for construction of low-budget roads
instead of conventional polymer modified bitumen (PMB) due to its high price value. Economic growth and changing consumption and
production patterns are resulting in rapid increases in the generation of various wastes, such as plastic waste, waste tires of truck and buses,
etc., which pollute the urbanized civilization. Among such polymeric wastes only those containing high-molecular—high-density polyethyl-
ene (HM-HDPE), polypropylene (PP), low-density polyethylene (LDPE), and tire rubber ash (TRA) are used in this investigation to modify
the properties of conventional bitumen. The results of experiment indicate that addition of 1% by weight of mixed plastic (MP) to the hot
60=70 pen grade bitumen provides the enhancement in the temperature susceptibility resistant characteristics, viscous properties, and elastic
recovery properties with good compatibility and cohesiveness at the micro level by satisfying the essential criterion of PMB 40. DOI: 10.1061/
(ASCE)MT.1943-5533.0001484. © 2016 American Society of Civil Engineers.
Author keywords: Waste plastic; Tire rubber; Thermal susceptibility; Elastic recovery; Optical micrograph.

Introduction
Advancement in polymer modified bitumen (PMB) is the recent
burning topic throughout the globe due to its applicability in
extreme weather and for heavy traffic loading conditions. Conven-
tionally the changes in the characteristics of commonly used
bitumen were made by adding polymer in view to create PMB
(Minkowski 1985; Qi et al. 1995; Huang et al. 1996; Lu et al.
1999; Zhao et al. 2009; etc.). Such a binder produces a durable
material that provides long-term satisfactory performance of pave-
ment by ensuring significant strength and sizeable resistance
against permanent deformations compared to that of conventional
binder. But because of the relatively high cost of conventional
polymer, construction industries lost their interest in PMB till re-
cently in low-cost road construction (Yousefi et al. 2000; Panda and
Mazumdar 2002). On the other hand, due to rapid modernization in
polymer technology, India consumed 159 million tons of plastic
compared to the production being estimated at 127 million tons
in the year 2005–2006. A report by KPMG for the India Brand
Equity Foundation (IBEF 2014) indicates the severe addiction of
Indians in the use of plastic over the past decade. A major part
of consumed plastic is being used for packaging purposes and ul-
timately thrown to the atmosphere in littered forms that pollute
the environment tremendously due to plastic’s nonbiodegradable
nature. A recent study proved that plastic obtained from municipal
solid waste (MSW) used for coated aggregates reduced the con-
sumption of bitumen by 10% in flexible pavement construction
(Vasudevan et al. 2012). Further addition of 5% by weight of
1
Research Scholar, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of
Engineering Science and Technology, Shibpur, West Bengal 711103, India
(corresponding author). E-mail: karmakar38@gmail.com
2
Assistant Professor, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of
Engineering Science and Technology, Shibpur, West Bengal 711103, India.
E-mail: tapash2000@hotmail.com
Note. This manuscript was submitted on November 17, 2014; approved
on September 11, 2015; published online on January 5, 2016. Discussion
period open until June 5, 2016; separate discussions must be submitted for
individual papers. This paper is part of the Journal of Materials in Civil
Engineering, © ASCE, ISSN 0899-1561.
the same material to the petroleum bitumen gave the highest ther-
mal stability in wet process (Naskar et al. 2010) and also increased
elasticity (Punith et al. 2011; Punith and Veeraragavan 2011).
Another hazardous element is the scrap tires generated exponen-
tially throughout the world, and scrap tire management has become
a challenging issue. Accumulation of such tires in the form of
stockpile covers vast valuable space and provides breeding sites
for mosquitoes which can spread diseases, and large tire piles often
constitute fire hazards which can tremendously pollute the environ-
ment; besides that, such materials may possibly provide a cheap
feedstock of polymer (Williams and Williams 1997). Recently ce-
ment processing industries have been burning those scrap tires as a
coal alternative fuel throughout the globe due to its high calorific
value (Asthana and Patil 2006). As a result, the byproduct obtained
from such industries remains as a biohazardous element, namely
tire rubber ash (TRA) containing large amounts of carbon black,
which is dumped near the plants. Due to the high specific surface
area and good adsorbent properties of TRA, it has been used as an
alternative of sand in cement mortar and as a lead-removing agent
in water treatment plants (Asthana and Patil 2006; Nabil and Smadi
2003; Mousavi et al. 2010). Experimental results also showed the
enhanced stiffness of bitumen due to high carbon content in TRA
may be the reflection of the reason stated in the previous sentence.
However, incineration of such wastes emits several toxic gasses
that pollute the air (Dutta 1998; Hossain et al. 1999; Frantzis 2004;
etc.) and cause hazardous environmental problems for living beings
(Junod 1976; Simoneit et al. 2005). Further, several efforts also
found that waste plastic materials melted at a temperature range
of 109–180°C without emitting toxic gases as reported by thermog-
ravimetric analysis of such polymeric wastes which shows that
emission starts beyond 270°C (Naskar et al. 2010; Desai et al.
2013). Moreover, the aforementioned wastes pollute the environ-
ment enormously due to stockpile or landfill; besides that, such
materials may possibly provide a cheap feedstock of polymer
(Williams and Williams 1997).
India has a road network of over 4.32 million km, out of
which 49% of the roads were paved as per a 2011 survey report
(Gurukanth et al. 2012), and conditions of a major portion of such
roads are deteriorating day by day due to adverse traffic loading and

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 Table 1. Conventional Properties of Base Bitumen (60=70 Pen Grade)
Desirable value
Properties for base bitumen
Penetration value 60–70 [as per IS 73
(25°C,100 gm, 5 s, dmm) (Bureau of Indian
Standards 1992)]
Softening point (°C) 45–55 [as per IS 73
(Bureau of Indian
Standards 1992)]
Penetration index (þ1) to (−1)
Shell Bitumen (1990)
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Actual value
VG 30 of base bitumen Testing standard specification
60 (min) [as per IS 73 68 IS 1203
(Bureau of Indian (Bureau of Indian
Standards 2013)] Standards 1978a)
45 (min) [as per IS 73 45 IS 1205
(Bureau of Indian (Bureau of Indian
Standards 2013)] Standards 1978b)
(þ1) to (−1) (−1.85004) Shell Bitumen (1990)
Shell Bitumen (1990)

extreme weathering conditions. But the upgrading cost of such ash. The treatments were made by washing the scrap tire with
roads has increased due to non-availability of good quality binding detergent solution and dilute HCl in order to remove the earthen
materials as reported in IRC 37 (Indian Roads Congress 2012). soil debris. After that, the clean and dried waste tires were shredded
Energized from that key point, several investigation have been down into small pieces as shown in Fig. 2 and then burned until full
conducted (Panda and Mazumdar 2002; Naskar et al. 2010; Punith combustion was achieved and sieved in a 425 μm IS sieve. Most
et al. 2011; Gawande 2013), and the outcomes proved that plastic is particles of TRA were porous, irregular in shape (some particles
a very economic polymeric modifier for making in-situ PMB. But were sticky), and appeared to have a honeycomb structure at the
the characterization of mixed plastic (including plastic cup, carry micro level.
bag, milk pouch) in the bitumen is still unrevealed in wet process.
To mitigate this problem, an investigation has been targeted to
transmute the properties of conventional bitumen by using plastic
cup, carry bag, milk pouch, mixed plastic, and TRA, respectively, Table 2. Properties of Littered Polymeric Waste Materials
as an alternative of conventional PMB by evaluating classical, ther- Commercial plastic Nature Thickness Softening
mal, and mechanical properties of bitumen. materials of plastic (μm) point (°C)
Plastic carry bag (PB) HM-HDPE 10 100–120
Disposal plastic tea cup (PC) PP 150 100–120
Experimental Program Plastic milk pouch (PMP) LDPE 60 100–120
Mixed plastic (MP) Mix the three — —
materials in
Materials
1∶1∶1 proportion
60=70 pen grade bitumen was used as the base bitumen for polymer
modification which was identical to VG-30 grade bitumen as stated
in modified version of the IS 73 (Bureau of Indian Standards 2013)
as shown in Table 1. Applicability of such bitumen for all layers of
flexible pavement made of bituminous concrete has been men-
tioned in the specification published by the Ministry of Road Trans-
port and Highways (MORTH 2013). This bitumen was suitable in
such places where temperatures vary between 30 and 38°C.
Modifying agents used in this study were littered polymeric
MSW, e.g., plastic carry bag (PB), plastic milk pouch (PMP),
and plastic disposal tea cup (PC), made of high-molecular–high-
density polyethylene (HM-HDPE), low-density polyethylene
(LDPE), and polypropylene (PP), respectively, collected from
the local plastic recycling plant. Such types of polymer are the
most promising types of polyolefin thermoplastic and originated
from polyethylene (PE) and PP, having chemical formulations
½─ðCH2 ─CH2 Þ─, f─½CHðCH3 Þ─CH2 ─g respectively. Further,
HM-HDPE and LDPE have 95 and 60% crystalline particles in
them with glass transition temperature of −125 and −25°C, respec-
tively, while PP has 65% crystalline particles in it and a glass tran-
sition temperature of −20°C. All the plastics obtained from that
plant were shredded into pieces 1 × 1 cm in size. Physical proper-
ties of those wastes used in this study are tabulated in Table 2 with
physical appearances attached in Fig. 1. The mixture of all such
shredded plastic was combined together at a ratio of 1∶1∶1 and des-
ignated as MP.
Tire rubber ash (TRA) containing higher amount of carbon
black was another modifying agent obtained from scrap tires
Fig. 1. Littered polymeric municipal solid wastes: (a) plastic carry bag
(unsuitable for use on vehicles due to wear or irreparable damage),
(PB); (b) disposal plastic tea cup (PC); (c) plastic milk pouch (PMP);
which is virtually non-degradable material available in the
(d) mixed plastic (MP)
automobile garage and treated in order to prepare the desired

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Fig. 2. Tire rubber ash: (a) chopped automobile tire; (b) tire rubber ash
(TRA)
Preparation of Samples
Different littered polymeric MSW mentioned in Table 2 were added
individually as well as its combination with the 300 g hot base bitu-
men at 0.5 to 4.5% by weight and then stirred for 45 min in a three-
blade laboratory stirrer at 4,000 rpm. Likewise, isolated TRA of
cited percentages were mixed with base bitumen and stirred at
1,100 rpm for 60 min. Further, the combined mixture of TRA
and mixed plastic (MP) of ratio 1∶1 was added with the said amount
of hot base bitumen and stirred at 3,800 rpm for 60 min. All such
bituminous blends were made at a temperature of 170–180°C as
per MORTH (2013). A total of 31 of samples were prepared in
this investigation for determining each property of modified
PMB individually.
Tests Conducted
Conventional tests: Penetration test is the most commonly adopted
test for bitumen to grade the material in terms of its hardness con-
ducted as per IS 1203 (Bureau of Indian Standards 1978a), and the
softening point defines the temperature at which the substance at-
tains a particular degree of softening under specified condition of
test executed as per IS 1205 (Bureau of Indian Standards 1978b).
Moreover, decrease in penetration with increasing softening point
of bitumen indicates its stiffness and two such parameters are the
major indicators of stiffening effect for bitumen (Zhang et al. 2009;
Hadavand 2010; Khalid 2011). Again a classical approach had been
introduced in the Shell Bitumen Handbook (1990) to foresee the
thermal susceptibility of the bitumen in terms of penetration index
(PI) (Zhang et al. 2009; Burak and Giray 2008; Sevil et al. 2014;
Munera and Ossa 2014) and to evaluate such index using key
parameters, e.g., penetration and softening point value of bitumen
by using Eq. (1). The lower PI indicated higher temperature sus-
ceptibility while a higher value of the same showed more resistance
to low-temperature cracking (Zhang et al. 2009; Sevil et al. 2014;
Munera and Ossa 2014)
1,952 − 500 logðPen25Þ − 20 × SP
PI ¼ ð1Þ
50 logðPen25Þ − SP − 120
in which Pen25 = penetration value of control and modified bitu-
men; and SP = softening point of control and modified bitumen.
Standard Elastic Recovery Test
Standard elastic recovery (ER) test was used for measuring the ten-
sile property of the modified bitumen, and an adaptation this such
test was intended to optimize the dose of polymeric additive in the
© ASCE
J. Mater. Civ. Eng., 2016, 28(6): 04016006
bitumen along with accessing their quality in laboratory as per stan-
dard specification [ASTM D5976 (ASTM 1996)]. The ER of modi-
fied bitumen was evaluated by comparing recovery of thread after
conditioning for one hour at standard temperature and the specimen
was elongated up to 10 cm deformation in ductility machine and
then cut off at the middle of the sample and left for an hour in 15°C
water to measure its recovery. This was intended to assess degree
of bitumen enrichment by polymeric additives [ASTM D5976
(ASTM 1996); IS 15462 (Bureau of Indian Standards 2004);
Kumar et al. 2013). However, the mean value of three test results
for each percentage of addition as well as each modifier were in-
vestigated during execution of the test, keeping repeatability of the
test in mind.
High Temperature Storage Stability Test
The separation of modifier and bitumen during hot storage was
evaluated by comparing the softening point of the top and bottom
samples taken from a conditioned, sealed aluminum tube (25.4 mm
in diameter, 136.7 mm in length, 1.0 mm thick) filled by various
samples of modifier-added bitumen. The conditioning consisted of
placing the said sealed tube of modified bitumen in a vertical po-
sition at 163  5°C in an oven for a period of 48 h. It provided a
reference for determining the relative separation properties between
different types of bitumen modifiers and their respective bitumen
[ASTM D5976 (ASTM 1996)]. Modified bitumen’s relative stabil-
ity to separation under storage in static conditions was determined
in heated oven storage without agitation as per standard guidelines
[ASTM D5976 (ASTM 1996); IS 15462 (Bureau of Indian
Standards 2004)]. Further, the mean value of three similar test re-
sults for each percentage as well as each modifier were investigated
during execution of the tests, keeping repeatability of the test
in mind.
Morphological Analysis by Optical Microscopy Test
Optical microscopy was used to study the morphology of bitumen
mixed with different modifiers used in this investigation as Zhang
et al. (2009) and Mortazavi et al. (2010) did in their investigations.
A drop of hot PMB was sandwiched between two microscope
slides and tapped with the stickers from both ends of that pair
of slides. Then they were observed by an optical microscope
having 20X magnification power, and the image was captured
by AxioVision 4.8 software. The image of the samples, just after
mixing as well as after 48 h of conditioning in 163  5°C were
captured and studied for morphological analysis.
Result and Discussion
Evaluation of Classical Properties of Modified Bitumen
Analysis for each type of littered plastic waste modifiers with base
bitumen has been carried out for the evaluation of classical proper-
ties of the virgin and modified bitumen. After plotting the exper-
imental data with best fitting options in Figs. 3 and 4, a constant
decreasing trend in penetration value and an increasing trend in
softening point of the bituminous blend have been reported, respec-
tively. This trend indicates the achievement of better stiffness and
calm to permanent deformation may be due to thermological de-
composition of the modifier in the bituminous blend, in which
the C-H chain of the waste polymers propagates its length after
attaching asphaltene within it; simultaneously the maltene fraction
of bitumen was being converted into an asphaltene fraction for ad-
dition of those polymers. As a result of that fact, the density of the
04016006-3 J. Mater. Civ. Eng.
 PB 1.0
70
PC
60 PMP
0.5
MP
Penetration value (dmm)

50 TRA

Penetration Index
0.0
TRA+MP
PB
40
-0.5 PC
30 PMP
-1.0 MP
20 TRA
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-1.5 TRA+MP
10

0 -2.0

0 1 2 3 4 5 0 1 2 3 4 5
Percentage of added modified (wt%) Percentage of added modifier (wt%)

Fig. 3. Variation in penetration value with addition of different Fig. 5. Variation of PI with different concentration of modifiers
modifiers

are quite similar to PMB 40 as stated in Indian specification IS

15462 (Bureau of Indian Standards 2004). Hence, adaptation of
75 such modified bitumen may elevate the performance of pavement
by providing adequate rutting resistance. Further beyond the said
70 limit, slow rates of reduction in penetration along with the change
in softening point have indicated more stiffening effect of the blend
Softening point ( C)

which is not suitable for paving purpose. Further thermal suscep-

0

65
60
55
50
45
0 1 2 3
Percentage of added modifier (wt%)
Fig. 4. Effect of softening point after addition of different concentra-
tion of modifiers
blend increases. Similarly several efforts demonstrated this phe-
nomenon due to formation of a complex polymeric network in
the bituminous blend for different polymeric wastes (Hadavand
2010; Khalid 2011). However, a significant observation is made
in the penetration and softening point value of MP-modified bitu-
men, where a sharp decrease in penetration, i.e., 32.56 dmm in
Fig. 3, and a sudden rise in softening point of 61.68°C in Fig. 4
have been observed for concentration of 1% by weight MP com-
pared to those of virgin bitumen. Further beyond the 3% by weight
of all modifiers, flatter exponential decay slopes for the penetration
values and dose response curves of softening points become flat-
tened after the saturation dosage (i.e., 3% by weight) have been
observed due to the presence of that propagated C-H chain along
with asphaltene within the bituminous blend. Such flatness of those
curves clearly indicates a stiffening effect of the modified bitumen.
Therefore, among those curves better stiffening effect obtained
compared to base bitumen by using 1% by weight MP modifier
and at the same time its penetration and softening point values
tibility of the bitumen has great consequence to foresee the resis-
tance against permanent deformation in terms of penetration index
PB
(PI). However, in Fig. 5, peak value of PI shows for 2% by weight
PC
of all modifiers, which thereafter become more or less flattened but
PMP
within the range of (þ1) to (−1), signifying well enough for the use
MP
in road construction and the possibility to resist pavement distresses
TRA like rutting or cracking (Burak and Giray 2008; Zhang et al. 2009;
TRA+MP Sevil et al. 2014; Munera and Ossa 2014). While said values of base
bitumen remain outside the specified range, we suspect it not to
sustain satisfactorily in extreme weather conditions. However,
4 5
1% by weight MP modified bitumen produces better results in
the previously stated two properties; therefore, PI values for all
modified blends are checked in that percentage, and we found
0.523 for PC as the highest value while −0.772 was the lowest
value of this property for TRA. But, significantly, in the said per-
centage value of MP modified bitumen is 0.68, and such value
raised at 0.523 for the concentration of 4.5% by weight in bitumen
indicates more resistance to low-temperature cracking as apt in the
literature (Burak and Giray 2008; Zhang et al. 2009; Munera and
Ossa 2014; Sevil et al. 2014).
Influence of Polymeric Wastes on Elastic Recovery of
60 =70 Penetration Grade Bitumen
Parabolic increasing trends in the elastic recovery (ER) values are
observed for the addition of different modifying agents to the base
bitumen up to 2–3% by weight, and they are represented graphi-
cally in Fig. 6. However, thermal decomposition of all plastic
wastes containing LDPE (i.e., PMP) and HM-HDPE (i.e., PB)
produces 90% of aliphatic C-H (Kayacan and Dogan 2008); it
is suspected that during thermal degradation at a temperature of
180°C such polymers combine their C-H bond with an asphaltene
fraction, hence elastic property of the modified bitumen is
remarkably enhanced up to the range of 2–3% by weight all such
modifiers. But as long as the C-H chain propagates due to mixing

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 PB PC PMP Effect of High Temperature Storage Stability on
MP TRA TRA+MP Polymeric Wastes Added Bitumen
30 To quantify the compatibility between waste materials and the bitu-
men during mixing and the resistance against separation of the
wastes from bitumen in the conditioned samples, a stability test
25 has been executed. Results of the same are analyzed in terms of
Elastic recovery (%)

differences of softening point value ½ΔT R&B ð°CÞ against the added
percentages of wastes with bitumen as shown in Fig. 7. Bitumen
20 loses its homogeneity after conditioning at 163°C for 48 h because
the differences in the softening point values of the conditioned sam-
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ples are increased beyond 2.5°C for addition of all types of modi-
15 fying agents more than 1% by weight indicate less compatibility
(phase separation) with bitumen except PC and PMP. Significant
compatibility has been observed for PC up to 3% by weight while
10 insignificant compatibility spotted for PMP more than 0.5% by
weight with base bitumen. Further chemical study of such poly-
0 1 2 3 4 5 meric modifiers revealed that the content of aliphatic C-H in the
Percentage of added modifier (wt%) PB, PMP, and MP possibly enhances the hydrocarbon branches
of the base bitumen, resulting in stiffer binder, while carbon black
Fig. 6. Variation of elastic recovery (ER) of 60=70 Pen. Bitumen after present in the TRA shows the same effect for its higher dosages
mixing different concentration of littered polymeric wastes in it also. Again, increased concentration of asphaltene in the blend
with the higher dosages of polymeric modifiers in the bituminous
blend caused a less compatible bitumen matrix (Lu et al. 1999).

more quantity of those modifiers in bituminous blend, it becomes

stiffer. Further, during mixing of PC in the bitumen, thermal de- Table 3. Dispersion of Various Modifiers in Bitumen with Storage
composition of the same produces 76% volatile liquid which is Stability Value [i.e., ΔT (°C)]
soluble in CS2 of bitumen blend (Hayashi et al. 1998). So the early Concentration of modifiers Type of dispersion
decrement in PC modified bitumen may be due to the presence of in base bitumen in the blend ΔT (°C)
that volatile liquid; while the ER for MP modified bitumen may be
0.5% by weight PB Even 1.45
due to the combined effect of aliphatic C-H present in LDPE and 1% by weight PB Uneven 2.38
HM-HDPE and volatile liquid of PC. Such combined effect tre- 2% by weight PB Uneven 3.05
mendously enhances the elasticity of the bitumen from 25.5% 3% by weight PB Uneven 7.50
(for 0.5% by weight) to 30% for the addition of 3% by weight 4% by weight PB Uneven 8.95
MP, which is the minimum elastic recovery value of PMB 40 as 4.5% by weight PB Uneven 8.96
stated in IS 15462 (Bureau of Indian Standards 2004). Further 0.5% by weight PC Even 0.70
ER value for TRA and TRA mixed MP modified bitumen show 1% by weight PC Even 1.38
2% by weight PC Uneven 1.55
the insignificant effect may be due to presence of carbon black with
3% by weight PC Uneven 1.95
its higher specific surface area (Mousavi et al. 2010). 4% by weight PC Even 4.35
4.5% by weight PC Uneven 4.37
0.5% by weight PMP Even 1.92
1% by weight PMP Even 3.25
2% by weight PMP Even 3.45
10 3% by weight PMP Uneven 4.50
PB 4% by weight PMP Uneven a
9 PC a
4.5% by weight PMP Uneven
8 PMP 0.5% by weight MP Even 0.65
Storage stability value (0 C)

MP 1% by weight MP Even 1.10

7 2% by weight MP Even 3.75
TRA
6 TRA+MP 3% by weight MP Uneven 3.80
a
4% by weight MP Uneven
5 4.5% by weight MP Uneven a

0.5% by weight TRA Uneven 0.50

4
1% by weight TRA Uneven 3.00
3 2% by weight TRA Uneven 3.25
3% by weight TRA Uneven 3.70
2 4% by weight TRA Uneven 3.80
1 4.5% by weight TRA Uneven 4.00
0.5% by weight TRA+MP Even 0.85
0 1% by weight TRA+MP Uneven 1.90
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0 4.5 5.0 2% by weight TRA+MP Uneven 3.95
Percentage of added modifier (wt%) 3% by weight TRA+MP Uneven 3.98
4% by weight TRA+MP Uneven 4.30
Fig. 7. Change in storage stability value after adding various polymeric 4.5% by weight TRA+MP Uneven 4.50
littered MSW to the base bitumen a
Result not found due to high stiffness of material.

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 Moreover, abridging from the previous, it may be said that presence
of aliphatic C-H and carbon black increases the asphaltene content
in the bitumen, resulting in phase separation. Whereas volatile gas-
eous content of PC deflated by blending temperature from the bitu-
men and left very few residues to react slowly with bitumen during
blending and conditioning process may be the reason of insignifi-
cant compatibility for higher dosages (4% by weight) of PC.
Evaluation of the Blend by Morphological Analysis
along with High-Temperature Storage Stability Test
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all 30 types of the blend fabricated are shown in Table 3. However,
only five samples of PB, PC, PMP, MP, and TRA mixed MP of
0.5% by weight and two samples of PC and MP of 1% by weight
have been selected from the previously cited table for statistical
analysis after satisfying the criterion of homogeneous dispersion
of the modifiers in the bitumen as well as the difference of softening
point value of top and bottom samples obtained from storage sta-
bility test below 2.5°C. Such analysis on morphology and storage
stability of PMB shows that low concentrations (i.e., 0.5% by
weight) of selected modifiers in bitumen experienced better com-

patibility with homogeneous dispersion on the bitumen with no

Images obtained from the micrograph for three specimens of each phase separation. But higher concentration of PC and MP
type of blend have been observed minutely and a summary of the (i.e., greater than 1% by weight) clustered together, forming lumps

Fig. 8. Optical micrograph of the modified bitumen: (a) 0.5% by weight PB+Bit; (b) 1% by weight PB+Bit; (c) 2% by weight PB+Bit; (d) 0.5% by
weight PC+Bit; (e) 1% by weight PC+Bit; (f) 2% by weight PC+Bit; (g) 0.5% by weight PMP+Bit; (h) 1% by weight PMP+Bit; (i) 2% by weight
PMP+Bit; (j) 0.5% by weight MP+Bit; (k) 1% by weight MP+Bit; (l) 2% by weight MP+Bit; (m) 0.5% by weight TRA+Bit; (n) 1% by weight
TRA+Bit; (o) 2% by weight TRA+Bit; (p) 0.5% by weight (TRA+MP)+Bit; (q) 1% by weight (TRA+MP)+Bit; (r) 2% by weight (TRA+MP)+Bit

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Fig. 8. (Continued.)

in the bitumen matrix, resulting in heterogeneity of the blend
and also attribute phase separation in the blend. Again asphaltene
agglomeration due to higher concentration of modifiers as already
discussed in an earlier section may be the possible cause of the
clustering effect of modifier droplets in the bitumen matrix. More
precisely, higher concentration of modifiers absorbs the light oil
present in the maltene; thus, due to shortage of dispersing medium,
the modifiers may be clustered. However intense homogeneous
dispersion has been observed for 1% by weight MP in base bitumen
compared to the similar percentage of PC, which is the indication
of more affinity of former modifier compared to the later. Due to
space limitation, only optical micrographs of lower concentration
of all the modifiers have been fabricated in Fig. 8.
Evaluation of Cost-Effectiveness and Feasibility
Assessment
Highway pavements are an important asset of the nation, and to
keep the same in sound condition by reducing the maintenance
and rehabilitation cost is the prime objective of the pavement con-
struction industries. But upgrades of that pavement get obstructed
due to the elevated cost of readymade PMB, adverse traffic loading,
extreme weathering condition, and limiting natural resources of
pavement materials. Fortunately, research findings proved that
adaptation of shredded recycled waste plastics from recycling plant
was the economic way rather than consuming raw polymer to
modify the bitumen (Gawande 2013). Energized from that key

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J. Mater. Civ. Eng., 2016, 28(6): 04016006

 Table 4. Comparison in Cost between Virgin Bitumen and Waste Polymer Modified Bitumen
Description of Item
Bitumen grade PMB—40 [Central Public Works Department schedule of rate (CPWD 2014)]
MP modified bitumen Paving bitumen of grade VG-30 of approved quality (CPWD 2014)
Shredded recycled waste plastic (local market rate)
Net savings
Percentage of cost reduction
a
INR = Indian rupees.
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point, this effort is targeted to utilize different recycled wastes,
e.g., PB, PC, PMP, MP, TRA, and TRA mixed MP, individually
to transmute conventional bitumen into PMB to stout roadway
pavements and found that MP-modified PMB is the effective
one. Further, the economic viability of the process has been veri-
fied, and the details of the savings are given in Table 4. Hence com-
parison between the MP-modified bitumen and the readymade
PMB indicates that the cost of MP-modified bitumen is 30% less
than that of readymade PMB. Additionally, adequacy of MP in the
field from plant to make in situ PMB by mobile hot mix plant is
suspected to be a very economical and eco-friendly process in India
as well as throughout the globe.
Conclusion
The suitability of different types of littered polymeric solid wastes
in bitumen modification was evaluated in this study to access as the
potential alternative recycled polymer additive in the bitumen in-
stead of conventional polymer. The outcomes of the experimental
study reveal that:
• Incremental dosages of PB, PC, PMP, MP, and TRA individu-
ally as well as TRA mixed MP on base bitumen decrease the
penetration values exponentially with escalating trend in the
softening point values, which indicates the incremental viscous
properties by lowering the penetration grade of bitumen for
adding such wastes due to formation of polymeric 3D network
in the bitumen matrix. Again, PI values of all such modified
bitumen remain within the range of (þ1) to (−1), indicating
the improvement on temperature susceptibility characteristics
compared to that of base bitumen.
• The parabolic increasing trend in the ER values are observed
after adding all modifying agents used in this study to blend
with base bitumen up to 2% by weight to 3% by weight. How-
ever, the incremental trend remains unchanged for MP-modified
bitumen, which may be due to the combined effect of aliphatic
C-H present in LDPE and HM-HDPE and volatile liquid of PC.
Such a combined effect tremendously enhances the elasticity of
the bitumen from 25.5% (for 0.5% by weight) to 30% for the
addition of 3% by weight MP, which is the minimum elastic
recovery value of PMB 40 as stated in IS 15462 (Bureau of
Indian Standards 2004). Analysis also indicated that merged
amount of aliphatic C-H of MP attached with asphaltene of
bitumen during thermal degradation would increase elastic
property significantly and attain high capability to resist pave-
ment deformation.
• Storage stability test results in terms of differences of softening
point values against the added percentages of various MSW
indicate that use of PB, PMP, MP, TRA, and TRA mixed
MP more than 1% by weight with bitumen lose the homogeneity
except PC. It is suspected that asphaltene agglomeration due to
mixing of all such modifiers in the bitumen attributes phase
separation when dosages are increased beyond the previously
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J. Mater. Civ. Eng., 2016, 28(6): 04016006
Unit rate Total cost per kg
(INR)a (INR)a
@ 59,000 per ton 59.00
@ 41,000 per ton 41.12
@ 12,000 per ton
17.88
30%
cited percentages. But transient volatile polymeric liquid of
PC in the bitumen results in separation to the base bitumen
at 4% by weight.
• Morphological analysis portrays that 1% by weight MP to the
base bitumen shows its highest cohesiveness at the micro level,
and uniform dispersion of MP droplets compare to that of other
used wastes with different percentages. But beyond the said per-
centage asphaltene agglomeration attributes clustering of lumps
of modifiers in the bitumen matrix in conditioned and uncondi-
tioned bituminous blend.
The study is limited to 60=70 pen grade paving bitumen as
recommended in MORTH specifications. More bitumen types will
be incorporated in subsequent investigation. Studying the role of
bitumen modifiers in bituminous mixtures will be studied in future
investigations. The rheological investigation of asphalt binder was
not the scope of this work.
Acknowledgments
The authors are very much thankful to Public Works Department,
Amta Sub-division of Howrah in West Bengal (India).
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