The use of modified bitumen materials in road construction and pavement rehabilitation in Ghana provides scientific data on alternative recycling options for the management of plastic waste. In 2000, one of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), Ghana was attached to promote environmental protection and sustainability. However, more than a decade later, the MDGs have been converted into Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and the country is still struggling. Properly dispose of and manage your municipal solid waste (MSW), especially plastic waste. Currently, cities, municipalities and rural areas commonly use landfills, incineration, and random dumping of waste. These disposal methods have negative impacts on human health and the environment, resulting in the clogging of rivers, drains and roads and filling them with waste plastics. Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and high-density polyethylene (HDPE) are used in most bottling applications for water, yogurt and soft drinks, but when it comes to litter, the biggest drawback is polyethylene. There is a bag. Used in food packaging and sachet water bags. Every day, a large number of items that are used partly or wholly made of plastic end up in landfills. Depending on the quality of the plastic, it can take several days to years to decompose in a landfill, but it will never fully decompose into particles that can be used in nature. Therefore, plastic is one of the worst offenders when it comes to environmental pollution. On the other hand, with the continuous increase in road traffic, the carrying capacity and service life of roads also increase accordingly. It has been proven that the performance of the asphalt mixture used in the pavement process can be improved with the help of a variety of asphalt additives or modifiers, such as polymers, rubber latex, rubber pellets, etc. The selection of modifiers for a particular project depends on many factors including functionality, availability, cost and expected performance. Modification is achieved through two main processes: The dry method involves the direct incorporation of waste plastic mixed with aggregate before adding asphalt, to prepare a plastic-modified asphalt concrete mix and the wet method involves the simultaneous mixing of asphalt and waste plastic. Zurab and Suprama reported the use of recycled plastics made primarily of polypropylene and low-density polyethylene in common asphalt concrete mixes, resulting in higher durability and Using a shear mixer with a temperature range of 160 °C to 170 °C, the plastic is shredded and mixed "in situ" with the bitumen. Basic rheological parameters, such as penetration, ring and ball softening points, and viscosity tests, are used to determine the changes produced by base bitumen.
FTIR spectroscopy is also used to study chemical functional groups present in asphalt composites. The performance of unmodified bitumen was enhanced with changes in the rheological properties of polymer-modified bitumen (PMB). It was observed that the polypropylene polymer showed a profound effect on homogeneity and compatibility with a slight increase in viscosity, softness and linear increase in penetration values compared to relatively high changes in HDPE modified bitumen. The viscosity of unmodified bitumen increased with polymer addition and a thixotropic effect was observed at 60 °C for HDPE and PP. The most compatible and least compatible blends of HDPE were observed at 2% and 3% polymer loadings, respectively. The most advanced homogeneous mixtures were obtained using PP with 3% polymer loading. Three major peaks were found in the spectrum of unmodified asphalt, appearing in the 3000–2850 cm–1 IR frequency range, typical of aliphatic single-bond-single-bond H symmetric and asymmetric paraffin stretching. CH2 and CH3 bending are also observed at the epigenetic frequencies of 1465 cm–1 and 1375 cm–1, respectively. A low intensity peak was observed in the range of 2400 cm–2100 cm–1 indicating the presence of very weak groups, with an absorbance of precisely 0.12. Application modification of waste commercial plastics in binders has the advantage of being an inexpensive and effective means of improving the performance characteristics of traditional asphalt binders and is an alternative to the use of plastic waste.
Modified Asphalt Preparation The wet process was used; Samples were prepared using melt blending techniques. The bitumen (400 g) was heated to a liquid state in an oven and the polymer was added slowly. The mixer speed was kept above 120 r.p.m. and the temperature was maintained between 160 °C and 170 °C. The concentrations of PP and HDPE range from 0.5% to 3% in increments of 0.5% by weight of the mixture. Keep stirring for 30 minutes to 1 hour to make a homogeneous mixture. The polymer modified bitumen (PMB) was then sealed in the container and stored for further testing. The prepared samples were then tested empirically for penetration, softening point and viscosity. Viscosity When asphalt is mixed with a polymer, a multiphase system is formed; Such a phase is enriched with asphalt not absorbed by the polymer, increasing viscosity by forming a more complex internal structure. The flow behavior of bituminous materials, described in terms of viscosity, exhibits Newtonian and non-Newtonian properties depending on the composition and origin of the crude oil. Temperature and loading also affect the behavior that describes the viscosity of the material; The internal structure of the base asphalt also plays an important role.
However, as the shear rate of both polymers increased by 2.5%, the viscosity decreased and non-Newtonian behavior was observed. This non-Newtonian phenomenon depends on the shear rate and is also influenced by the internal structure of the PMB [10]. The viscosity fluctuations observed for HDPE were higher before the polymer concentration was 2.5%. The mixing behavior of decreasing viscosity with increasing shear rate and again increasing viscosity is the result of the thixotropic effect (a property that some gels exhibit by becoming a liquid when agitated or shaken and returning to a semi-solid state upon standing). The thixotropy of modified asphalt may be due to the reversible structural damage commonly found in polymer-modified asphalt multiphase systems.
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