Abstract:
Bitumen is prone to deformations and cracking under severe temperatures
and under fatigue. To overcome these drawbacks bitumen ismodified by adding
various additives. SBS and crumb rubber are some of the conventional bitumenmodificationmaterials.
Recently, waste plastic has also been identified as a viablematerial
to be used in bitumen modification. This would decrease the cost of bitumen modification
aswell aswould provide a sustainable solution forwaste plastic disposal. It has
been found that incorporation ofwaste plastic in bitumenmodification could increase
the fracture resistance, rutting resistance and thermal stability of asphalt pavements.
However, the ductility, elasticity and creep resistance were found to be decreased in
waste plastic modified bitumen. Further, increased viscosity due to incorporation of
waste plastic in bitumenmodification had induced poor workability as well as higher
mixing and paving temperatures. Increased temperatures not only cause ageing of
bitumen but also cause emissions which could affect adversely on the environment.
This paper critically reviews the properties of waste plastic modified bitumen with
respect to several factors: types of plastic, modification methods, optimum plastic
percentage, mixing temperature etc. Further, the paper discusses about the remedial
measures that are being explored to improve the aforementioned drawbacks of waste
plastic modified bitumen.
