Investigating the effect of using copper industrial waste on the performance of thin layer surface treatment

The demand for using industrial waste has increased significantly due to their environmental impacts and limitation of natural resources. Copper waste (CW) is among those that are known to cause environmental problems. Categorized under waste materials, it causes various environmental problems, especially those related to waste disposal. The main purpose of the present study is to investigate the application of CW, as compared to mineral aggregate (MA), in surface treatment. For this purpose, various tests, including wet cohesion test, wet track abrasion test, loaded wheel – displacement test, and loaded wheel – sand adhesion test, were performed on five different mixtures designated as CW0+MA100, CW10+MA90, CW20+MA80, CW30+MA70, and CW40+MA60, with the designations defined based on total aggregate weight. Results showed that, thanks to its unique physical and chemical characteristics, the replaced CW could improve the treatment performance, especially in the CW30+MA70 sample, in terms of abrasion, wet cohesion, and vertical and lateral displacements by about 23, 22, 39, and 33%, respectively, at a residual asphalt of 8%. Also, regarding the analysis of variance, the copper slag is a more effective factor with respect to residual bitumen in increasing the cohesion and reducing the vertical and lateral deformations due to traffic loading