Influence of the Partial Substitution of Bitumen by a Mixture of Sulphur and Tyre and Plastic Bottle Powders on the Behaviour of Bituminous Concrete

Abstract

This article deals with the influence of the partial substitution of bitumen by a mixture of sulphur and tyre and plastic bottle powders on the characterization of asphalt concrete. The approach adopted was to subject a control asphalt concrete to level 2 formulation tests as well as those modified at 10%, 20%, 30% and 40% by substituting bitumen with a mixture of tyre powder, plastic bottle powder and sulphur at 40%, 28% and 32% respectively. The results of the PCG, Duriez and rutting tests carried out on the control and modified bituminous concretes (manufactured using the wet process) revealed three (03) major findings, in particular with regard to workability, resistance to simple compression and rutting. The experimental results show an increasing trend in the essential parameters. At 40% substitution, there was a 22.73% increase in compactness, reflecting a significant improvement in the material’s workability. With regard to simple compressive strength, the increase is 34.02% at 40% substitution, highlighting the limitation of crack formation and propagation under heavy precipitation. With regard to rutting, the 16% drop in susceptibility at 40% substitution reflects a significant improvement in the behaviour of the material under dynamic mechanical stresses in heavy precipitation. The improvement in these behaviours results from the insertion of the plastic bottle powder into the interstices of the granular skeleton, thus reducing its cellular structure, and also from the interactions between the sulphur with the tyre powder and the sulphur with the plastic bottle powder, i.e. cross-linking or vulcanisation.