Styrofoam (Polystyrene) on the Compressive-Strength and Density of Asphalt-Cement Mixture

Abstract

INTRODUCTION

Due to the high volume of public and private vehicles passing major roads and highways in the country, there is an increasing number of damages on road surfaces causing roads to not last for more than ten years. Roadworks used to always be the solution, but the increase in maintenance costs would always depend on the nation's budget. Styrofoam (polystyrene) is widely used by every single person in the community. However, styrofoam products results in large amounts of waste and this would take many years to fully decompose. This study aimed to create a high-quality but cheap asphalt pavement by adding different concentrations of styrofoam in the asphalt-cement mixture. It also aims to lessen the styrofoam waste in our country.

METHODS

Materials that were needed for conducting the study were prepared and gathered. A kilogram of styrofoam was collected from Viz-Ma Trading and the Asphalt was bought from Legacel Marketing. The collected aggregates were equally separated and placed in twelve (12) different moulders. The asphalt was then mixed and heated with the aggregates in the stainless basin. To make the styrofoam-infused asphalt-cement, styrofoam was cut into small pieces and weighed accordingly to the determined proportions. It was then added to the mixture of asphalt aggregates. Oil was then put on the moulders before putting the mixture. Lastly, the asphalt-cement mixture and the styrofoam-infused asphalt-cement mixture were cooled for 24 hours.

RESULTS

All the samples were brought to X'Well Testing Services to test their density and compressive strength. The product, in a cylindrical shape, is compressed in a hydraulic press to find the maximum pressure of different mixtures and results are expressed in psi. The average compressive strength and density of the asphalt-cement mixture and asphalt-cement styrofoam mixture were 220.00, 603.33, 403.33, 320.00; 1693.67, 1806.00, 1822.67, and 1737.67, respectively. One-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and Scheffe's test were used to treat the results of the study.

DISCUSSIONS

Findings show that adding 1% of styrofoam to the total mass of the asphalt-cement mixture increases its compressive strength, however, any further addition of styrofoam lowers its compressive strength. It can be inferred that a particular amount of styrofoam should be added to the asphalt-cement mixture to further increase its compressive strength. Meanwhile, in terms of density, adding styrofoam to the asphalt-cement mixture did not improve its density.