The effect of EAF dust and waste PVC on moisture sensitivity, rutting resistance, and fatigue performance of asphalt binders and mixtures

Abstract

Considering the increase in the amount of industrial waste in recent years, the reuse of recycled materials has become commonplace in various industries. In the pavement industry, such recycled materials can be used as a modifier of the asphalt mixtures. Electric arc furnace dust (EAFD) and waste polyvinyl chloride (PVC) are two industrial waste materials that are hazardous to the environment. This study aimed to investigate the effect of EAFD and PVC materials on the physical, mechanical, and chemical properties of asphalt binders and mixtures. For this purpose, chemical properties, microstructural characteristics, fatigue life, and rutting resistance of EAFD and PVC modified asphalt binders were studied using FTIR, SEM, LAS, and MSCR tests, respectively. In addition, the effect of PVC and EAFD additives on tensile strength, moisture sensitivity, and rutting performance of asphalt mixtures were evaluated. The results of the FTIR test showed that the addition of EAFD and PVC additives to asphalt binder significantly reduce the carbonyl index of neat asphalt binder and improve the moisture sensitivity and aging resistance of asphalt binders and mixtures. The results of the MSCR test indicated that EAFD and PVC additives reduce asphalt binder strain and subsequently increase rutting resistance, especially at high stress levels. Also, according to the results of the LAS test, adding PVC and EAFD powders to neat asphalt binder increase the fatigue resistance of asphalt binder against micro-crackers at low strain levels. The results of experiments on asphalt mixtures showed that EAFD and PVC additives improve tensile strength, moisture susceptibility, and rutting performance of asphalt mixtures. Overall, the results of this study illustrated that using EAFD and PVC waste materials in pavement industry, not only eliminate environmental problems caused by these materials and reduce the cost of stabilizing them, but also improve the technical performance of asphalt binders and mixtures.