Assessment of temperature impact on SDA modified bituminous concrete by non-destructive test

Abstract

The lack of temperature susceptibility in the flexible pavement in tropical zones has prompted the search for economically realistic alternatives for road construction. The current study utilized saw dust ash (SDA) as an alternative filler in the construction of flexible pavements in view to overcome such issue which is profusely obtained from the industry as waste material. Temperature susceptibility of SDA modified bituminous concrete (BC) was determined by the ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV) test is the “state-of-art” of this investigation. However, to implement such study, several percentages of SDA (2, 4, 6, and 8%) were considered for preparing thermal resistance BC mix, and 2% ordinary Portland cement (OPC-43) was also used to prepare the control mix. Marshall method was adopted to accomplish the Marshall volumetrics properties and optimum binder contents (OBCs). After that, the dynamic modulus was estimated at six nominal temperatures of 0, 10, 20, 30, 40, and 45 °C to quantify the temperature impact on SDA modified BC mixes pavement as well as on controlled mix. Eventually, the Cantabro abrasion and indirect tensile strength tests (ITS) were conducted on the prepared samples. Finally, the graph was drawn between dynamic modulus and Cantabro abrasion loss to assess the change of dynamic modulus of SDA modified BC mixes at above mentioned six nominal temperatures, as stated earlier. The results revealed that 8% SDA modified BC mix may be performed significantly in colder zones with a consumption of 0.22% lower OBC than the control mix.