Abstract
Applications of nanotechnology in the pavement industry have increased rapidly during the last decade in order to enhance a pavement’s sustainability and durability. Conventional asphalt binder generally does not provide sufficient resistance against rutting at high temperatures. Carbon black nano-particles (CBNPs, produced by perennial mountain trees’ carbonization) were mixed into the performance grade (PG) 58 asphalt binder in this study. Conventional asphalt binder tests (penetration, ductility and softening point), frequency sweep, performance grading, and bitumen bond strength tests were conducted to study the enhancement in the properties of asphalt binder. Dynamic modulus and wheel tracking tests were also performed to investigate the effect of CBNPs on asphalt mixture properties. Experimental results demonstrated that preferred dosage of CBNPs in asphalt is 10% by weight of the bitumen. Results of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and storage stability tests validated homogenous and stable dispersion of CBNPs in the asphalt binder. Asphalt mixtures became stiffer and resistant to rutting at high temperatures by addition of CBNPs in asphalt binder. Significant improvement in bitumen aggregate bond strength was also observed by incorporating CBNPs. It is concluded that CBNPs can be used to effectively enhance the high-temperature performance and consequently the sustainability of flexible pavements.
Highlights
Poor flexible pavement performance at high temperatures is the major problem that is faced by the pavement industry in Pakistan
Reduction in penetration along with ductility and increase in the softening point shows the increase in stiffness and decrease in high-temperature susceptibility by the introduction of carbon black nano-particles (CBNPs) in asphalt binder
According to temperature zoning done by Mirza et al [17], Samples modified with CBNPs have higher pull-off tensile strength (POTS) values than the base asphalt binder after 24 h of performance grade (PG) 70-10 is considered suitable for most parts of the country
Summary
It has been learnt that high dosages of carbon black in asphalt can increase the rutting resistance and lessen the temperature susceptibility [2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11]. Different types of carbon black nano-particles (CBNPs) have been manufactured and incorporated to modify asphalt properties [14,15,16] but, to the authors’. The selected CBNPs come from a natural source and their effect on the rheology of the modified binder, bitumen-aggregate adhesion, and moisture susceptibility needs to be investigated. The paper aims to investigate the effect of CBNPs (150 nm) produced by perennial mountain trees’ carbonization on the rheological properties of asphalt binder, aggregate and asphalt binder bond strength, and rutting resistance of asphalt
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