Assessment of Waste Glass Incorporation in Asphalt Concrete for Surface Layer Construction

The growing need to preserve natural resources and minimize landfill waste has led to an increased consideration of incorporating waste materials in road construction and maintenance. This study focuses specifically on utilizing waste glass as part of the aggregates in hot asphalt, particularly in A...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Stavros Kalampokis, Danai Kalama, Fotini Kesikidou, Maria Stefanidou, Evangelos Manthos
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2023-07-01
Series:Materials
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1944/16/14/4938
Description
Summary:The growing need to preserve natural resources and minimize landfill waste has led to an increased consideration of incorporating waste materials in road construction and maintenance. This study focuses specifically on utilizing waste glass as part of the aggregates in hot asphalt, particularly in Asphalt Concrete (AC) for surface layers, known as “Glassphalt”. Glass, due to its poor adhesion to bitumen, presents challenges when used in asphalt mixtures. Two types of waste glass, monolithic and tempered, were incorporated at two distinct contents, 10% and 15%, into the AC. Several properties such as stiffness, resistance to permanent deformation (evaluated through cyclic compression tests), indirect tensile strength, and the indirect tensile strength ratio (ITSR) were assessed for all Glassphalt mixtures, as well as the conventional mixture. Additionally, the Solar Reflectance Index (SRI) was measured to evaluate the reflectivity of the resulting Glassphalts. The findings indicate that the incorporation of both types of waste glass resulted in reduced stiffness and resistance to permanent deformation. Regarding water sensitivity (ITSR), the Glassphalts containing 15% waste glass, regardless of the glass type, exhibited ITSR values below the accepted threshold of 80%. The addition of waste glass did not yield significant changes in SRI measurements.
ISSN:1996-1944