Evaluation of the Long-Term Performances of SMA-13 Containing Different Fibers

Abstract

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.

Recent Advances in Basalt Fiber Reinforced Asphalt Mixture for Pavement Applications

“…Long-life pavement has been a hot topic, so the long-term performance study of fiber-reinforced asphalt pavement deserves attention, and obviously, there is less research in this area. By wheel tracking test and uniaxial penetration test, Wu et al [ 72 ] found that the high temperature performance of BF SMA-13 improved with increasing aging, while the aging process of lignin SMA-13 reduced its high-temperature performance. This is because in BF SMA-13, although SBS degradation also leads to a decrease in the high-temperature performance of the asphalt mix, the BFs work better synergistically with the stiffer binder, which ultimately leads to an improvement in the high temperature performance of the asphalt mix.…”

Adhesive Property and Road Performance Evaluation of Asphalt Overlay Pavement with Geotextile Interlayer

“…e semicircular bending (SCB) test was used to evaluate the low-temperature crack resistance of asphalt mixtures. e fracture energy (G) was calculated as the evaluation index [25,26]. e setup for the SCB test consists of a loading ramp at the top center of the sample and two supporting rollers at two sides of the bottom, with a distance of 80 mm, as shown in Figure 6.…”

Influence of Basalt Fibers on the Crack Resistance of Asphalt Mixtures and Mechanism Analysis

“…Fibers and polymers are the two main admixtures for asphalt mixtures. Fibers have already been applied for asphalt mixtures for more than 50 years [4]. After the 1990s, with the use of stone mastic asphalt (SMA) in pavements, more fibers were adopted in asphalt mixtures [3], such as synthetic fibers [5], kenaf fiber [6], glass fiber [7], etc.…”