EFFECT OF LOW DENSITY POLYETHYLENE AS BITUMEN MODIFIER ON SOME PROPERTIES OF HOT MIX ASPHALT

Authors

  • DB Eme DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING, UNIVERSITY OF PORT HARCOURT, CHOBA, RIVERS STATE, NIGERIA
  • C Nwaobakata DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING, UNIVERSITY OF PORT HARCOURT, CHOBA, RIVERS STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

In Nigeria today, polyethylene or water sachet is a major environmental pollutant, a non-biodegradable material. The usefulness of this pollutant (polyethylene) in the highway industry was investigated by studying its effects on some selected properties of Hot Mix Asphalt, such as, bulk density, stability and flow of the asphalt concrete mix. Specimen preparation was done using Marshall Mix design procedure. The optimum binder content was determined as 5.20% and three samples each for five variations of polyethylene content (2%, 4%, 6%, 8% and 10%) by weight of optimum binder content. It was observed from the study, that the stability and density of asphalt increased with polyethylene content, while a linear reduction in the flow and penetration values was observed with polyethylene content. The optimum modifier content value of 8% by weight of the optimum bitumen content. Models were also developed whose predictive values corroborated well with experimental values with acceptable coefficient of correlation values. Bitumen modified with polyethylene improved the engineering properties of asphalt which therefore means that usage of this waste product in the asphalt production for roadwork is an effective and economical way of managing this waste.

 

http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/njt.v38i1.1

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Published

2018-12-23

Issue

Section

Building, Civil & Geotechnical Engineering

How to Cite

EFFECT OF LOW DENSITY POLYETHYLENE AS BITUMEN MODIFIER ON SOME PROPERTIES OF HOT MIX ASPHALT. (2018). Nigerian Journal of Technology, 38(1), 1-7. https://www.nijotech.com/index.php/nijotech/article/view/1902