A well-developed road network provides good services for road consumers. Most roads in the world are flexible types of pavement. Bitumen has viscous-elastic properties and is very sensitive to temperature; it plays a vital role in producing hot mix asphalt and influences the performance of HMA pavement. Flexible pavements are linked to extreme temperatures, causing rutting and fatigue cracking. Pavement distress shortens service life and increases maintenance costs. This research focused on improving pavement resistance to distress by modifying the conventional properties of bitumen using alternative materials such as shredded PET plastic. In this study, two stages were applied. The first stage was collecting samples, and the second stage determined the conventional properties of bitumen by adding 3%, 6%, and 9% of shredded PET plastic to the bitumen. Penetration, ductility, and softening point tests were performed to analyze the conventional behavior of bitumen. Finally, top-down and bottom-up cracks are used to evaluate rutting damage, with 3D-Move analysis software that accounts for moving vehicles under various loads and speeds. From the conventional bitumen test, at 3% PET plastic added to the bitumen has no significant effect on the penetration grade, Ductility, and softening point. However, when 6% and 9% PET by weight of bitumen mixed, the penetration grade, ductility, and softening result become 49.3mm, 45.5mm, 97mm, 85mm, and 57mm and 62oC, respectively compared with the penetration grade, ductility, and softening point value of unmodified bitumen (66.5mm, 142cm, and 48.9oC). Besides, the 3D-Move Analysis software results show that asphalt binders with higher PET plastic content best resist the rutting damage, top-down, and bottom cracks.
Abstract A well-developed road network provides good services for road consumers. Most roads in the world are flexible types of pavement. Bitumen has viscous-elastic properties and [...]
Evaluation of conventional behavior of bitumen containing PET plastic and HMA pavement response utilizing 3D-Move analysis software 
