Multiparameter Sensitivity Analysis of Flexural–Tensile Property of Basalt Fiber–Reinforced Asphalt Mixture

Abstract

To evaluate the sensitivity of basalt fiber content, length-diameter ratio, and modulus to the flexural–tensile properties of fiber-reinforced asphalt mixture, the spatial random distribution of basalt fibers was realized by using the rand function in MATLAB and VBA in AutoCAD. A three-point bending beam with randomly distributed basalt fibers was modeled by ABAQUS finite-element software. Basalt fiber content W (0.1%, 0.2%, 0.3%), length-diameter ratio Ld (23, 35, 47), and modulus E (8×104, 9×104, 1×105 MPa) were set for the experiment. Through the orthogonal experiment, the maximum tensile stress at the bottom of the specimens under 0.7 MPa wheel load was calculated, and the sensitivity of the influence of basalt fiber parameters on the flexural–tensile properties of asphalt mixture was analyzed by using range and variance analyses. Results show that the significance of variance analysis is consistent with that of range analysis. The order of sensitivity of parameters is W>Ld>E, which shows that basalt fiber content has the greatest influence on the flexural–tensile properties of asphalt mixture, followed by the length-diameter ratio, and the influence of fiber modulus on the flexural–tensile properties of asphalt mixture can be ignored. With the increase in basalt fiber and length-diameter ratio, the maximum tensile stress of asphalt mixture decreases, indicating the improvement of flexural–tensile performance. With the increase in the fiber modulus, the flexural–tensile properties of asphalt mixture are almost unchanged. The research results are believed to provide a reference for the application of basalt fibers in asphalt mixtures.