Effect of severe temperatures on the creep-recovery of bituminous mixes modified with PVC waste plastics

Ordinary asphalt is a temperature-sensitive material. Severe climatic changes and traffic in Saharan regions diminish its quality, and hence its level and duration of service. Plastic has become a basic material in everyday life. Its consumption is part and parcel of all activities (industrial, agricultural, household, and similar). Plastic waste is growing rapidly due to poor management and a lack of civic-mindedness. It is deposited in an uncontrolled manner without being recycled or treated to prevent it from being stored or carried away by the wind or water, thereby contaminating living environments. PVC waste presents a more serious environmental and health challenge. The modification of asphalt mix with this type of polymer can be investigated in order to adapt it and improve its behavior under severe climatic conditions, such as the hot and cold temperatures of the northern Algerian Sahara region. Prismatic specimens of asphalt mix were subjected to two different types of thermal cycles (heating-cooling and freezing-thawing). They were then subjected to creep recovery tests using four-point bending at temperatures of 0, 25, and 50°C. The results show that ordinary asphalt mix becomes brittle at low temperatures, resulting in cracking, just as it is deformable at high temperatures, resulting in p-deformation.