Investigating the Effects of Using Waste Poly Ethylene Thrathalate (PET) in Recycled Asphalt Concrete

This study aimed to investigate the properties of asphalt concrete containing reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) and waste polyethylene Teraphthalate (PET). Different dosages of PET including 0, 3, 6 and 9% (by the weight of total binder of control mix) were added to asphalt concrete containing 0, 10, 20 and 30% of RAP and the properties including Marshall stability and flow, indirect tensile strength (ITS), moisture damage resistance, dynamic creep and constant stress fatigue resistance have been evaluated. Results reveal that RAP inclusion improves Marshall Stability, resistance against permanent deformation, tensile strength and fatigue resistance. In addition, moisture sensitivity of asphalt mixture containing RAP is less than the control mix, and, for the mixtures containing the same PET content, inclusion of 20% RAP results in the highest tensile strength ratio (TSR). Results also show that PET results in decrease of Marshall Stability, permanent deformation and fatigue resistance. Moreover, in the mixtures containing the same RAP content, ITS and TSR of the mixtures containing 0 to 6% of PET are higher than those of the control mixture. From the results in this study it can be inferred that using RAP and PET simultaneously can result in better properties than the control mixture and using RAP allows using higher PET content without scarifying the properties.