Performance Evaluation of Reinforced Asphalt Using Six Organic and Inorganic Fibers

Abstract

This paper aims to evaluate the performance of asphalt individually reinforced by six types of fibers, including three organic and three inorganic fibers, to study the interface between fibers and asphalt, and to analyze their relationships. Specifically, the chemical and physical interaction between fiber and asphalt was analyzed using FTIR testing. The interface pullout behavior of the fibers from asphalt was analyzed using a fiber-asphalt pullout (FAP) test. The high-temperature performance of the fiber-reinforced asphalt using dynamic shear rheology (DSR) testing. The relationship between the performance index and interface index was analyzed using linear and grey correlation methods. Meanwhile, the interface micromorphology was observed using SEM testing. The results showed that the inorganic fibers and organic fibers mainly physically interacted with the asphalt. The interface bonding ability between BF-A and asphalt was the largest, followed by BF-B, GF, PEF, PAF-A, and PAF-B. The organic fibers decreased the phase angle and increased the complex modulus and rutting factor better than the inorganic fibers. The performance index G* and G*/sinδ are positively correlated with the interface pullout parameters. The influence of the interface pullout parameters on the performance index G* was the biggest, followed by the fiber modulus, fiber volume content, and fiber density. The research results obtained in this paper could be applied as a reference to design the fiber-reinforced asphalt material. It could help design the fiber-reinforced asphalt from the perspective of interface pullout behavior. Meanwhile, when more fibers (different fiber types or different modifications of the same fiber) are used to further systematically conclude the relationship between the performance index and the interface index in the future, it could also be adopted to predict the performance of fiber-reinforced asphalt using the interface index.