Fracture studies on basalt fiber reinforced asphalt mixtures with reclaimed asphalt pavement derived aggregates and warm mix additives

Abstract

The Indian Ministry of Road Transport and Highways’ (MoRT&H) recommended grade II Bituminous Concrete mixture, hitherto referred to as Asphalt Concrete (AC) was investigated during this present research study. Different AC mixtures, with 2 % to 4 % of Sasobit warm mix additive by weight of the asphalt binder, 20 % to 40 % of RAP derived aggregates as replacement to the virgin aggregates and 4 % to 8 % of basalt fibres by weight of the binder as the additive, were investigated during this research study.In addition to the fundamental binder tests, micro structural investigations namely X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and Fourier-Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) were also carried out to understand the crystallographic structure and the functional groups present in the binder, respectively. The efficacy of the WMA and basalt fibre addition in the AC mixtures with RAP derived aggregates was verified through the standard Immersion Type-Hamburg Wheel Track Test (IHWTT) for assessing the rut resistance; through the standard Semi-Circular Bending (SCB) tests for assessing fracture behaviour, and through indirect tensile fatigue test to assess fatigue resistance. It was observed that the AC mixture, with 30 % RAP materials by weight percentage of total aggregates, 6 % chopped basalt fibres by weight percentage of binder and 4 % Sasobit warm mix additive dosage by weight percentage of binder, was found meeting the target AC mixture performance standards.