Abstract
Fatigue failure is regarded as one of the most common failures in the road pavement and necessitates spending huge cost annually to maintain the road. Asphalt binder modification and asphalt mixture reinforcement are among the commonly used methods to increase the pavement resistance to a failure caused by fatigue. By proposing a modified-reinforced composite hot mix asphalt (MRC-HMA), the present study aimed to examine the fatigue life of this mixture with one of the most traditional methods (i.e., four-point bending beam fatigue test) and compare it at constant strain conditions and the strain levels of 500, 700, and 900 μ ε and a temperature of 20 ± 0.8 ° C to that of the other three specimens, including control specimens, geogrid-reinforced (GR-HMA) specimens, and nanosilica-modified (NSM-HMA) specimens with 5% nanosilica. In all experiments, the condition to reach the failure stage was assumed equivalent to a 50% reduction in the stiffness coefficient in each load repetition, and the load was applied semisinusoidal at a frequency of 10 Hz without rest. The results showed that the MRC-HMA mixture improved the fatigue life at the strain level of 500 μ s by about 701, 172.5, and 156.4% compared to the control, NSM-HMA, and GR-HMA specimens, respectively. Based on the results, the use of GR-HMA specimens has almost the same results as NSM-HMA ones, but the use of the MRC-HMA mixture can significantly increase the fatigue life of MRC-HMA in all three levels of strain compared to all specimens studied in the present study. Thus, the introduced mixture can be a proper choice for pavements with heavy or light (with a large amount) traffic loads, which usually have a vast adverse effect on the fatigue behaviour of asphalt mixtures.
Highlights
Traffic loading and environmental issues are the most important factors causing damage in the asphalt pavement which could contribute to accidents [1, 2]
In the 4PB fatigue test by the fixed strain method, the fatigue life of the specimens was determined in three strain levels of 500, 700, and 900 με and for control asphalt concrete, GR-HMA, NSM-HMA, and modified-reinforced composite hot mix asphalt (MRC-HMA) beams
The fatigue life of the composite mixture was compared with the control specimen, the specimen modified with 5% nanosilica (NSM-HMA), and the specimen reinforced with geogrids (GR-HMA)
Summary
Traffic loading and environmental issues are the most important factors causing damage in the asphalt pavement which could contribute to accidents [1, 2]. E eco-friendly pavements (green pavements) are those in which environmental issues are concerned in all aspects (e.g., design, construction, and maintenance) [3]. Repetition of these stresses and tensions usually leads to pavement damage. Fatigue cracks are craze cracks that increase with continuous loading in the pavement system and eventually expand in the form of cracks as a result of fatigue. Accumulation of these cracks results in pavement failure. Since the fatigue phenomenon almost occurred in the asphalt mixture, tests related to fatigue behaviour can be applied [4]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
