Using Waste Cigarette Butt Fibers as Asphalt Binder Stabilizer in Stone Matrix Asphalt: Mechanical and Environmental Characterization

Abstract

This paper examines the merits of using fibers derived from cigarette butts to enhance the performance of stone matrix asphalt (SMA). To this end, mechanical and environmental performances of SMA mixtures contained cigarette butt fibers were determined and compared with conventional SMA mixtures contained cellulose fibers. Two methods were applied to use cigarette butt fibers in mixtures included encapsulation with asphalt binder and mixing with hot asphalt binder for periods of three, five, and eight minutes. Performance tests included Marshall stability, asphalt binder drainage, moisture susceptibility, semicircular bending (SCB) at low and intermediate temperatures, wheel tracking tests, and toxicity characteristic leaching procedure (TCLP) were carried out on SMA mixtures contained different fibers. Mechanical test results showed that using encapsulated cigarette butts has detrimental effects on durability, low and intermediate temperature fracture resistance, and rutting performance in comparison with cellulose fibers. Nevertheless, utilization of cigarette butt fibers mixed with hot asphalt binder for 8 min improve water resistance, fracture characteristics, and rutting performance of SMA mixtures. Furthermore, by reducing the mixing duration of fibers with hot asphalt binder, moisture susceptibility and mechanical properties of mixtures were adversely impacted. TCLP test results revealed that utilization of cigarette butt fibers in SMA mixtures does not exhibit any environmental consequences. Finally, it was concluded that cigarette butt fibers mixed with hot asphalt binder for 8 min are good replacement for conventional asphalt binder stabilizers.