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Performance Evaluation of Fibre Modified Asphalt Mixes in Cold Regions

Abstract

In cold regions such as Canada, pavement structures are subject to extremely low air temperatures and seasonal freeze-thaw cycles over the life cycle of the roadway, resulting in pavement distress, deterioration, and decreased service life. Each year, billions of dollars are spent in Canada on rehabilitation and new construction of asphalt pavements. Hence, prevention of premature failure has become a primary strategy for road owners. Fibers have already been used to reinforce paving materials for many decades in various parts of the world. Polymer fibres have high tensile strength relative to asphalt mixtures, and thus have the potential to improve the cohesive and tensile strength of bituminous mixes and prevent crack propagation in the resulting composite. The most commonly used polymer fibres are polyester, polypropylene, aramid, and combinations of these. There has, however, been less attention to the incorporation of fibres in asphalt mixes to improve resistance to thermal cracking, an application which would prove extremely beneficial for road construction in cold climates. The research objective is to evaluate the effectiveness of adding polymer fibres to hot mix asphalt to increase its resistance to thermal cracking. For this purpose, three different types of polymer fibres including  aramids, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and polyacrylonitrile (PAN), in different sizes, were added into conventional hot asphalt mixes. Samples were compacted in the laboratory and their mechanical properties were compared to the conventional hot mix asphalt

Conference Paper Details

Session title:
Innovations in Pavement Management, Engineering and Technologies (S)
Author(s):
Perca, L.A., Hashemian, L., Liu, J., Kwon, J.
Topics:
Pavements
Year:
2019