Basalt fiber has been widely used in asphalt mixture due to its excellent mechanical properties and good combination with asphalt. In order to systematically evaluate the enhancement effect of basalt fiber on the fatigue performance of the mixtures, gradations of Stone Mastic Asphalt and Superpave with different nominal maximum aggregate sizes, namely SMA-13, SUP-20 and SUP-25, were prepared, and a four-point bending beam fatigue test was adopted under the strain control mode. The fatigue damage mode was assessed based on the phenomenology theory, energy dissipation theory and change rate of dissipated energy. The results showed that basalt fiber could well increase the fatigue life of the mixtures. Basalt fiber could also increase the cumulative dissipated energy of the mixtures, and it was linearly correlated with the fatigue life in double logarithmic coordinates. In the meantime, adding basalt fiber could increase the change rate of dissipated energy of the mixtures. Furthermore, it is not appropriate to take the stiffness modulus declined to 50% of the original as the fatigue failure criterion of the mixture; this paper suggested that it is reasonable when the stiffness modulus was 15–25% that of the initial. These findings provide a theoretical basis for exploring the fatigue failure of asphalt pavements.
To clarify the influence of fiber type on the long-term performance of stone mastic asphalt (SMA), this paper used basalt fiber (BF) and lignin fiber (LF) to modify SMA-13 (SMA with aggregate nominal maximum particle size of 13.2 mm) asphalt mixture. The pavement performances (high-temperature performance, cracking resistance at low and medium temperature, and water stability) of the two kinds of fiber-reinforced SMA-13 were checked under different aging degrees (unaged, short-term aged and long-term aged), scanning electron microscope (SEM) test was conducted to explain the strengthening mechanism of the fibers. Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FTIR) was used to analyze the changes in the chemical composition of asphalt after aging. The results of the wheel tracking test and uniaxial penetration test showed that the high-temperature performance of the BFSMA-13 (defined as the SMA-13 containing BF) is better than that of the LFSMA-13 (defined as the SMA-13 containing LF) at different aging degrees. The high-temperature performance of BFSMA-13 increases with the increase of the aging degree, while the aging process decreases the high-temperature property of LFSMA-13. The results of the three-point bending test and semi-circular bending (SCB) proved that BFSMA-13 is more capable of deformation and less prone to cracking at low and medium temperatures. The results of the immersion Marshal test indicated that BF can better improve the strength and the water stability of the SMA-13 mixture than LF. The SEM images showed that basalt fibers form a solid three-dimensional network structure in the mixture which could contribute to the strengthening of the mixture. The results of infrared spectroscopy analysis showed that styrene–butadiene–styrene (SBS) degrades during asphalt mixture aging, and that the chemical composition of asphalt changes more after aging in LFSMA-13 than in BFSMA-13. The conclusions of this study help toward further understanding of the performance changes of the SMA-13 mixture during its service life and to guide the selection of fiber additives for SMA-13 mixtures.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.