Rheological properties of asphalt mixtures containing various fibers

Abstract

Rheological characteristics of fiber-modified asphalt mixture were investigated. Cellulous fiber, polyester fiber and mineral fiber were used as additives for asphalt mixture, and the dosages were 0.3%, 0.3%, 0.4%, respectively. Dynamic modulus test using superpave simple performance tester (SPT) was adopted to study the dynamic modulus and phase angle for the control mixture and fiber-modified ones at various temperatures and frequencies. Test results show that the rheological properties can be improved significantly by the addition of various fibers. The dynamic modulus increases with the increase of frequency, and the phase angle decreases with the increase of frequency. When various fibers are used, the dynamic modulus increases and phase angle decreases at each frequency. This indicates that the stiffness and the elastic portion of fiber-modified asphalt mixtures can be enhanced when various fibers are used, which results in the change of viscoelastic properties of mixtures. The creep test results show that the total strain and the permanent strain of asphalt mixtures during load-unload cycle can be significantly reduced, which results in the improvement of resistance to permanent deformation for asphalt mixtures containing various fiber additives. The Burgers model can be employed effectively to illustrate the rheological properties of fiber modified asphalt mixtures.