Surgical Mask: A New Solution for Flexible Pavement Distress

The spread of the Coronavirus epidemic has led to a tremendous rise in plastic waste pollution around the world. In an effort to reduce plastic pollution, this study devised a unique method by employing surgical mask as an antistripping additive to hot mix asphalt to improve the mechanical and rheological qualities of 60/70 grade bitumen, by combining it with used surgical masks in four different proportions by weight of asphalt using wet process, following the ASTM specification. To ascertain the optimum content of mask and investigate the properties of PlastiPhalt mix, several tests have been conducted including Dynamic Shear Rheometer test, Asphalt Pavement Analyzer rutting test and Marshall test. The results of this study reveal that rutting depth decreased from 5.4 mm to 3.5 mm while mask content increased from 5% to 10%, and 10% mask content sample has a lower G*/sin (δ) value than that of 5%, indicating this as an ideal range for mask content to exhibit maximum resistance against fatigue and rutting distress. The Marshall test also supports this conclusion, stating that the optimum mask content is 8.27% of total asphalt (0.49% of total mixture) for optimum asphalt content of 5.95%. The result also illustrates that mask incorporation reduces sensitivity to temperature changes and improves stiffness of the bituminous mix, which results in an enhancement of resilience to rutting, fatigue, and aging. Therefore, using SFM in pavement mix is suggested, since it helps to strengthen the pavement mix as well as recycle plastic waste promoting environmental protection.