Investigation of properties of LDPE and HDPE modified Asphalt ConcreteS

Abstract

Almost 1300 million tons of solid waste is generated throughout the world per anum and will reach 2.20
billion tons till 2025. Plastic waste constitutes a major portion of generated solid waste, which is not biodegradable and
is causing serious threat to human and aquatic life. Plastic waste accumulation on land and water bodies is a major
source of concern for many developing countries. Many researchers have utilized such waste in asphalt concrete mix.
LDPE and HDPE waste form a sizable portion of accumulated Plastic waste. This paper aims to investigate
characteristics of HDPE and LDPE modified asphalt concrete by replacing 5%, 15% and 25% of Natural aggregates
with LDPE and HDPE waste aggregates. Methodology process consisted of collection of plastic waste, sorting into
LDPE and HDPE, heating, shredding and mechanical pulverization into the required aggregate sizes. FTIR tests were
performed to verify the plastic waste as LDPE and HDPE. Specific gravity of HDPE and LDPE were also determined
and were found to be 1.19 and 0.91 respectively. Air voids were found to increase with increase in percentage
replacement. It was also determined that density of HDPE and LDPE modified mixtures decreased to 2071.32 and
1941.26 kg/m3 respectively at 25% replacement. Marshal test was also performed to investigate flow and stability of
LDPE and HDPE modified samples and were found to increase to 13.8 mm and 15.6mm at 15% replacement
respectively and decrease to 14.2mm and 12.6mm at 25% replacement.