IOSR Journal of Mechanical and Civil Engineering (IOSR-JMCE)

e-ISSN: 2278-1684,p-ISSN: 2320-334X, Volume 11, Issue 3 Ver. II (May- Jun. 2014), PP 37-45
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“Experimental Study of Bituminous Concrete Containg Plastic

Waste Material”
Pankaj P.Shedame1, Nikhil H.Pitale2
1
PG Student, 2Assistant Professor
1,2
Department of Civil Engineering G.H.Rasioni College of Engineering, Nagpur, India

Abstract: Waste material Management is one of the powerful concept in recent year. To overcome the plastic
waste by leaps and bond requires reuse of waste materials in road construction. Being non-degradable in
nature, the plastic waste is a serious threat to environment. This threat has emphasized the need to find
appropriate solutions for effective plastic waste management. Rapid growth of infrastructure in road
construction needs natural resources. In recent year escalation of prizes of natural resources, so that required
reuse of waste material in road construction. Now-a-days disposal of different wastes (plastic waste) produced
from different Industries is a great problem. In recent years, applications of industrial wastes have been
considered in road construction with great interest in many industrialized and developing countries. Reuse of
wastes material is a very simple but powerful concept. In this paper we use Low Density polyethylene (LDPE) in
road construction. The waste shredded plastic of size 2mm to 8mm was used to coat stone aggregates so as to
make them as polymer coated aggregate before they were mixed in hot mix plant (HMP). The bitumen polymer
coated aggregate mixture, then, was used in road Construction. There is a need to explore the feasibility of use
of plastic waste in road construction. This paper deals with study on the various test performed on aggregates,
bitumen and methodology of using plastic waste in bituminous mixes.
Key words: Plastic waste, low density polyethylene, Aggregate, Bitumen

I. Introduction:
Most of the Highways in India constructed with flexible pavement having wearing course/surfacing
course with bituminous concrete. This BC should be constructed to satisfy the recommendation and
requirements of MORTH Section 509. This clause specifies the construction of Bituminous Concrete, for use in
wearing and profile corrective courses. This work shall consist of construction in a single or multiple layers of
bituminous concrete on a previously prepared bituminous bound surface. A single layer shall be 25 mm to
100mm in thickness. As per MORTH Section 500 clause 509 BC should be made with Bitumen Grade
60/70(VG 30) for nominal aggregate size 19 mm with bitumen content 5-6% has layer thickness 50-65 mm and
for nominal aggregate size 13 mm with bitumen content 5-7% having layer thickness 30-45 mm.

Why use plastic:-

Polymer have a number of very important properties which exploited along or together make a
Significance and expanding contribution to construction needs
 Durable and corrosion resistant
 Good insulation for cold heat and sound saving energy and reducing noise pollution
 It is economical and longer life
 Maintenance free

Plastic waste (PW) converted in the shredded form (2-8mm) was used in this study this types of plastic
waste used my work.

II. Need Of Study

In present study Disposal of waste material (plastic and fly ash) is a major problem. Plastic waste is a
non-biodegradable. Burning of these waste plastic bags causes highly environmental pollution. It mainly
consists of low-density polyethylene. India is highest producer of fly ash in the present world which is the waste
material. To use of waste material in Bituminous Road construction really impressive job, this material dumped
into land leads to wastage of land. In this study, use of fly ash as a filler material bituminous concrete and waste
plastic as coating material. Find its utility in bituminous mixes for road construction. Improvement in properties
of bituminous mix provides the solution for disposal in a useful way.

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Objective
Study has been carried out to satisfied following objectives:
1. To improve the volumetric properties of BC mix design.
2. To utilize waste plastic in bimanous mixes.
3. To utilize fly ash as filler material in bituminous mixes.
4. To evaluate laboratory performance of BC mix design.

III. Scope Of Study

This study will be conducted to explore the idea about use of waste material in bituminous concrete
with detailed laboratory Investigation will be carry out to find whether it is viable to use or not in terms of
suitability, economically and environmentally.
The present study will focus basically on these following points:
1. To study the basic physical and mechanical properties of waste plastic in order to contribute a
better knowledge of its properties.
2. To study the effect on Marshall Stability of bituminous mix with the addition of waste plastic.
3. To reduce the bitumen content by the addition of Waste plastic in bituminous mix.
The laboratory investigations on the bituminous mix have been carried out as per the Indian Standards
used for the road construction. The field application is out of the scope of work.

IV. Methodology
In this study Bituminous concrete mix has been design for 19 mm nominal size of aggregate. The
Aggregate used in the study is crusher Aggregate from Quarry and VG30 60/70 grade of Bitumen used as
binder. First, Laboratory testing has been carried out to find the physical properties of Aggregate by conducting
tests like Grain size analysis, Aggregate Impact value, Abrasion Test, Crushing value test, Flakiness and
elongation Index (combined), Water absorption, Specific Gravity etc. Also, by sieve analysis the Gradation of
Aggregate has been decided which satisfied the requirement of Gradation of 19 mm nominal size of aggregate
for BC design as per MORTH section 509.
Similarly, The Bitumen test for VG30 has been done including Penetration test at 25 °C, Softening
Point test, Ductility test at 27 °C ,Viscosity at 150 °C, Specific Gravity etc which satisfied the requirement of
IS:73-2006.
Secondly, will prepare samples for Marshall mix design and determine the Optimum bitumen content
for VG30. After determining the OBC prepare sample at different % of waste plastic like 0.25%, 0.5%,
0.75%,1% and based on this the Optimum waste plastic content has been determined..

Materials Used:-
1) Aggregate 2) Bitumen 3) Waste Plastic
Aggregate of 20mm, 10mm, 60/70 grade bitumen Waste plastic in the shredded form
6mm,stone dust and cement as filler

V. Test Conducted On Materials

1) Bitumen

i. Penetration Test
ii. Ductility Test
iii. Specific gravity Test
iv. Softening Point Test

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(Table 1)
Properties Test Result Specification BIS code for
Tested IS:73-2006 Testing
Penetration Test 67 50-70 IS :1203
(25 C)
Ductility 66.2 Min 40 IS:1208
Test(27 C)
Specific gravity 1.02 Min 0.99 IS:1202
Test
Softening point 51 Min 47 IS:1205
Test
(Tem.C)

2) Aggregate
i. Specific gravity
ii. Water Absorption Test
iii. Impact Value Test
iv. Abrasion Test
v. Crushing value Test
vi. Stripping value Test.

(Table 2)
Properties Tested Test Result MORTH
Specification
Specific gravity
Coarse aggregate 2.6 2.5-3.0
Fine aggregate 2.8 2.5-3.0

Water Absorption
Test 1.06 Max 2%
Impact Value Test
7.85 Max 24%
Los Angeles abrasion
value Test 20.63 Max 30%
Crushing value Test 10.45
Stripping value Test 98% Min 95%

Marshall Mix Design:-

The mix design should aim at an economical blends, with proper gradation of aggregate and adequate
proportion of bitumen so as to fulfil the desired properties of the mix bituminous concrete is the one of the
highest and costliest types of flexible pavement layer used in surface course the desirable properties of a good
bituminous mix are stability, flexibility, skid resistance, durability, workability.
Marshall Stability test Carrey out find the stability, flow value, air voids, voids fill with bitumen,
density. Finally consist of an OBC, optimum plastic content and using gyratory compactor prepare performance
evolution test sample.

Graduation Requirement Of Aggregate

Grading of aggregate has been carried out before mix design. For this purpose sieve analysis of
aggregate has been done having size 20mm, 6mm and stone dust. Grading requirement of BC for this study
should satisfy the MORTH section 509 Table 500-18 for 19 mm nominal size of aggregate. The aggregate has
been sieved and final blend of aggregate has to be obtained by Heat and Trial. Grading requirement of aggregate
shown in Table

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Grading Requirements of Aggregate (Table3)

Source: MORTH section 500 clause 509

VI. Marshall Stability Test:-

This test has been carried out to determine the Optimum Binder content for BC mixes. The properties
incorporate with the test are stability, flow value, Bulk specific gravity, Air voids, Voids filled with bitumen and
Voids in mineral aggregate. Marshall requirement of bituminous mixes shown in Table 4 .The Voids in mineral
aggregate must satisfied the requirement as shown in Table 5.

Theoretical Specific Gravity

It is the ratio of total weight of sample and sum of volume of each fraction used in the mix.

Gt = W1+W2+W3+W4
W1+W2+W3+W4
G1 G2 G3 G4
Where,
Gt = Theoretical specific gravity
G1 = Sp.gr. of coarse aggregate
W1 = Weight of coarse aggregate in total mix
G2 = Sp.gr. of fine aggregate
W2 = Weight of fine aggregate in total mix
G3 = Sp.gr. of filler material
W3 = Weight of filler material in total mix
G4 = Sp.gr. of bitumen
W4 = Weight of bitumen in total mix.

Bulk Density of mix

It is the ratio of weigth in air of sample to difference in weight of sample in air and water and is
denoted by Gm.

Air Voids
It is the total volume of the small pockets of air between coated aggregate particles throughout a
compacted paving mixture, expressed as percentage of the total volume of the compacted paving mixture.

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Vv = Gt - Gm × 100
Gt
Where,
Vv = Air voids (%)
Gt = Theoretical specific gravity
Gm = Bulk density of mix (g/cc)

Voids in Mineral Aggregate

It is the volume of inter granular void space between the uncoated aggregate particles of a compacted
paving mixture that includes the air voids and effective bitumen content. VMA is expressed as percentage of the
total volume of the compacted paving mixture.
VMA = Vv + Vb
Where,
Vv= Air voids (%)
Vb= Volume of bitumen

Voids Filled with Bitumen

It is the percentage of VMA that is occupied by the effective bitumen.
VFB = Vb × 100
VMA
Where,
Vb= Volume of bitumen
VMA= Voids in mineral aggregate.

Marshall Requirements of Bituminous concrete

TABLE (4)

Source: MORTH section 500 clause 509, Table 500-19

Requirement of Voids in Mineral Aggregate
Table (5)

Source: MORTH section 500 clause 509, Table 500-12

Determination of Optimum Binder Content Apparatus

Marshall Stability testing machine
Cylindrical mould – 10 cm. diameter and 7.5 cm. height
Rammer – 4.5 kg. weight with free fall of 45.7 cm
Compacting Machine
Oven

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Thermometer
IS Sieves

Procedure
Take about 1200 gm of aggregate sample from design Gradation and kept in oven until dried.
The aggregate should be heated to 135°C temperature before addition of bitumen.
For BC mix bitumen should be added in the aggregate varying from 5-6% at an increment of 0.5% by weight of
total mix.
Three samples should be prepared for each binder content by compacting 75 blows on both side of sample in
Marshall Compactor
After 24 hrs. Sample should be de-molded and noted down the weight of sample in Air and in water to
determine the bulk density of mix.
The sample should be immersed in water bath at 60°C for 40 minutes prior of testing and tested on Marshall
Apparatus which gives the Stability and Flow value for each sample.
At each bitumen content and from the volumetric properties of the mix plot the Graph of followings:

Binder content versus corrected Marshall stability

Binder content versus Flow Value
Binder content versus Air void (Vv) in the total mix
Binder content versus voids filled with Bitumen (VFB)
Binder content versus Unit weight or Bulk Density (Gm)

Optimum Binder Content for mix should be determine by average of this three:
Binder content corresponding to maximum stability
Binder content corresponding to maximum Unit weight or Bulk Density (Gm)
Binder content corresponding to 4.5% Air voids (Vv) in the total mix.

Bitumen Content (Table:6)

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Studies were carried out on Bituminous mixes using 60/70(VG30) grade bitumen having max value of
Marshall Stability ,density and 4% air voids average at optimum bitumen content of 5.33 % by weight of the
mix.

Optimum Waste Plastic Content

Plastic contain added to 0% to 1% by increment of 0.25%. Varying percentages of waste plastic by
weight of total mix was added into the heated aggregates.

vg. of max Maximum value of stability and 4% of air voids was considered as criteria for optimum
waste plastic Content.

%in plastic content (Table:8)

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VII. Conclusion:-
 Waste Plastic can be used as coating material in bituminous concrete mixture for road construction.
 Properties of BC can be further improved by use of waste plastic.
 Use of waste plastic 0.76% by weight of aggregate and3% filler significantly improve the volumetric
properties of bituminous mixes resulting better performance of BC with plastic waste than control
mix(without plastic waste).
The only problem faced during this project is the shredding of plastics. To overcome this problem
the shredding machines used should be easily available
 Plastic will increase the melting point of the bitumen.
 Use of the innovative technology not only strengthened the road construction but also increased the road
life.
 Help to improve the environment.
 Plastic road would be a boon for India’s hot and extremely humid climate where durable and eco-friendly
roads which will relive the earth from all type of plastic waste.
 This small investigation not only utilizes beneficially, the waste non-degradable plastics but also provides
us an improved pavement with better strength and longer life period.

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