The effect and modeling of environmental boron wastes on the performance of hot mix asphalts

Recycling and sustainability concepts have recently come into prominence in pavement engineering as in other fields due to global warming. Pavement engineers conduct detailed studies on the production of asphalt concrete with recycled materials and apply their studies in work-site environment. This study aims to use boron wastes which formed in Eskişehir and surrounding provinces that hold nearly 70% of the world' s boron reserves to the service of road construction industry. Furthermore, this research examines the performance characteristics and usability of asphalt concrete specimens prepared by aggregate and bitumen modification techniques. Specimens are composed by boron waste additive materials such as Crushed Boron Waste (CBW), Borax pentahydrate (BP) and Borax Anhydrous (BA). Asphalt concrete specimens are applied Marshall Design tests and creep tests. Test results prove that these three materials comply with the specifications. However, usage of CBW is considered to be more suitable in terms of strength, long service life, financial, environmental and sustainability aspects. Besides, an artificial neural network (ANN) model was created for the evaluation of obtained data. Furthermore, examination of modelling and statistical analysis, mechanical performance of asphalt concrete samples with and without CBW addition has been predicted in noticeable manner. As a result of regression analysis, training and test sets r2 values are reached 0.95-0.91 for stability and 0.91-0.87 for flow values. Finally, boron waste additives which used in road constructions by this technique will remove the environmental pollution caused by waste storages and provide significant profit in regard to sustainable life.