Basic Performance of Fibre Reinforced Asphalt Conc
Basic Performance of Fibre Reinforced Asphalt Conc
Abstract. During the reconstruction of road pavements, the reclaimed asphalt pavement
(RAP), which is obtained through milling of the worn out existing asphalt, is commonly used
for producing new base courses in cold recycling processes. Two of these techniques are most
popular: one using mineral-cement-emulsion mixes and one utilizing mineral cement mixes
with foamed bitumen. Additionally, some amounts of RAP can be incorporated into traditional
hot mix asphalt. The demand for energy efficient and environmentally friendly solutions
however, results in a need for development of new techniques that would result in cheaper and
more reliable solutions with smaller carbon footprint. The reduction of processing temperatures
with simultaneous incorporation of reclaimed material is the most efficient way of obtaining
these objectives, but it often results in the overall decrease of bituminous mix quality. The
paper presents the possibility of using RAP for producing asphalt concrete in warm mix asphalt
(WMA) production process by the use of foamed bitumen modified with Fischer-Tropsch
synthetic wax and polymer-basalt fibers. Additionally, a series of reference mixtures were
produced to investigate the effects of the additives and of the warm process. The carried out
analyses and tests shown that the experimental warm mix asphalt produced with RAP and
foamed bitumen returned satisfactory performance. The introduction of synthetic F-T wax in
the warm foam bitumen mixes resulted in a significantly improved compaction levels and
moisture and frost resistance and the addition of polymer-basalt fibers has further improved the
permanent deformation resistance of the mixes. All of the designed and tested mixes have
fulfilled the requirements for binding course asphalt concrete with medium traffic loads.
1. Introduction
Today’s construction industry pays as much attention to developing and implementing new
technologies as to the reuse and recycling of waste materials. Recycling can help to protect the natural
environment, reduce the exploitation of natural resources and avoid the degradation of virgin materials
used in road pavement construction [1, 2, 3]. Modern road building is implementing innovative and
cost effective solutions based on environmentally friendly state-of-the-art technologies (e.g., warm and
cold mix production) that provide healthy workplace for its workers and cleaner air for all of us [2-8].
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IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 245 (2017) 032092 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/245/3/032092
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The idea of reducing energy use and limiting emissions in road construction industry has been a
subject of interest for many years now by many researchers [9-11]. The reuse of the waste materials
(RAP, waste granulate, rubber waste) is undoubtedly advantageous, however this practice less
common in Poland compared with other European countries. The precursors of material waste reuse
include the Netherlands, Germany, France, Belgium and Denmark. The Netherlands was also one of
the first countries in Europe to start waste reuse projects as early as in the 70s due to economic crisis.
The earliest cases of using reclaimed asphalt pavement material (RAP) for producing new paving
mixes trace back to 1913 [12], but the technology did not become standard practice. In 1970 the
members of the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) proclaimed an oil
embargo with effects on global economy leading to search for new technologies, including recycling
and reduction of the binder use. Cost and environmental benefits are the driving forces in the recycling
technologies. These include limiting the use of non-renewable sources of aggregate and asphalt and
reducing the cost of asphalt mix production, as aggregates and asphalt are the most expensive
components of the mix. In Poland, RAP is currently used in the production of mineral cement mixes
with emulsified and foamed asphalt, intended for road base courses [3, 13, 14].
Two main trends predominate in the road material recycling technology. The new mix should have
the same properties as the one it was made of or the new mix should have better parameters. This issue
has been undertaken to understand the principles of this technology. Compared with other European
countries, in Poland the use of RAP is very modest.
2. Materials
The following materials were used to design binding course asphalt concrete AC 22 mixes for roads
under medium traffic loads (0.5 – 7.3 x 106 ESAL100kN):
2.1. Aggregate
As for the aggregates, a purely limestone mineral mix was used with aggregate dimensions of 0/2 mm,
2/8 mm, 8/16 mm, 16/22 mm and a filler as it can be seen in detail in Table 1.
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IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 245 (2017) 032092 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/245/3/032092
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<0.063 0.063 0.125 0.25 0.5 1.0 2.0 4.0 5.6 8.0 11.2 16.0 22.4
RAP 11.1% 2.8% 5.0% 7.0% 7.5% 13.2% 18.7% 12.1% 8.5% 7.6% 6.0% 0.5%
The synthetic wax was used to produce the asphalt concrete mix at lower temperatures. It was
added in the amount of 2.5% by mass relative to the asphalt. The results of the F-T modified foamed
bitumen are compiled in Fig. 1.
After defining basic properties of the bitumen, two characteristic parameters [18] of the foamed
bitumen were determined (figure 1): expansion ratio (ER) and half-life time (HL).
a) b)
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The test results of the foamed bitumen indicate that at optimum foaming water content (FWC)
designated in accordance to [19], the F-T wax modified bitumen has higher expansion ratio and half-
life time, which is beneficial.
An addition of 0.5% polymer-basalt fibres was used in both mixes. The properties of the fibers are
compiled in Table 4 and the fibers are shown in Figure 2.
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0,063
0,125
16,0
22,4
31,5
2,0
8,0
3.6 +
Bitumen 35/50 -
0.9*
SUM 100 100 Sieve # [mm]
* Bitumen content in RAP Figure 3. Grain distribution in mineral mix used in AC 22
In addition to the data shown in Figure 4a-d the Table 6 presents the descriptive statistics for assesing
the results. More in-depth statistical analysis is provided in Table 7, where the results of one-way
analysis of variance (ANOVA) for the type of mix are shown.
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a) b)
c) d)
Figure 4. The performance of the tested AC mixes: air void content Vm (a), water resistance ITSR (b),
WTSAIR (c) and PRDAIR (d)
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Analysis of the results shown in Fig. 4a indicates that all the AC mixes meet the requirements laid
down in the TG-2 [21] in terms of air void content, which requires 4.0% to 7.0% for these mixes. The
highest amount of air void content was obtained in Mix C produced with foamed bitumen, whereas the
highest compaction was possible in reference HMA Mix A. The remaining mixes containing the
polymer-basalt fibers as well as the F-T wax modifier obtained intermediate levels of air void content
of 4.5% to 5.0%. Based on the result it can be stated that the addition of F-T wax had a beneficial
effect on the compaction of the mixes.
Based on the analysis of the ITSR indices of the analyzed mixes it can be stated, that four out of
five AC mixes under test met the requirements set out in TG-2 [21] for binding courses for roads
under medium traffic category, as the ITSR values were greater 80. It has to be noted that the highest
value of the parameter was recorded for the WMA mix with polymer-basalt fibers (Mix E). The lowest
ITSR=74.6% was obtained by the Mix C, which was produced using ordinary foamed bitumen in
WMA technology, and which also had the highest air void contents.
Analysis of these results indicates that all mixtures investigated satisfied the requirements with
regard to Vm and ITSR. It is worth noting that one freezing cycle is used to determine ITSR in Poland,
similarly as in Finland. At the same time other CEN (European Committee for Standardisation)
member countries, even with similar climate to that in Poland (Slovakia, Germany) do not incorporate
the freezing cycle in calculations if this [22]. It has been stated many times that adverse climates
require increased number of freeze-thaw cycles in bitumen mix testing to properly evaluate the effects
of moisture and frost on the road surface durability [23, 24].
Analysis of the resistance to permanent deformation shown in Fig. 4c and 4d allows stating that in
HMA mix the introduction of polymer-basalt fibers resulted in a substantial increase of the WTSAIR
and PRDAIR characteristics, thus the mix failed to meet the requirements set out in the TG-2 [21].
Similar increase in WTSAIR was also recorded for the WMA mix with foamed bitumen. In the WMA
technology with foamed bitumen and with and without the fibres, the AC mix obtained positive
results.
The analysis of the significance was carried out for the influence of the type of mix on the results in
all of the measured characteristics in mixes differing in production technique, presence of polimer-
basalt fibers and synthetic F-T wax. The analysis showed that all of the described differences in the
results were statistically significant with p-values substantially lower than the adopted significance
level (α=0.05).
5. Conclusion
The review of the literature and the analysis of the test results for the AC 22W mix allow formulating
the following conclusions:
It is possible to design a bituminous mix with asphalt granulate, which meets the requirements for
mixes intended for binding courses.
Both HMA and WMA technologies can be utilised to produce the bituminous mix with asphalt
aggregate.
Compared with the HMA technology, the WMA technology satisfies the requirements in terms of
energy saving and environmental effects.
The WMA mix with an addition of granulate, synthetic wax and fibres had the best service-related
properties in terms of resistance to rutting.
Four AC mixes produced in the HMA and WMA technology with asphalt granulate obtained the
required characteristics.
References
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IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 245 (2017) 032092 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/245/3/032092
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