HOME JOURNALS CONTACT

Journal of Applied Sciences

Year: 2011 | Volume: 11 | Issue: 22 | Page No.: 3708-3716
DOI: 10.3923/jas.2011.3708.3716
Effect of Commercial Wax and Typical Additives on Moisture Susceptibility of SMA Mixtures
Ali Mokhtari, Hamid Behbahani and Abbas Rashidi Ghortekolai

Abstract: The deteriorating effect of moisture could result in premature failure of asphalt concrete caused by segregating the asphalt film from the aggregate surface. Warm mix asphalt has been recently known as a new method used in pavement industry that provides a range of technologies by which the construction temperatures of asphalt mixtures could decrease. This fact could bring some problems in terms of moisture sensitivity of asphalt concrete. The effect of warm mix asphalt additives on moisture sensitivity of asphalt mixtures (especially Stone Matrix Asphalt (SMA) mixtures) has not been completely identified. In this study, two types of additives such as a warm mix asphalt additive (wax) and regular additives (Styrene-Butadien-Styrene, cellulose fiber and mineral fiber) were added to SMA mixtures to investigate the effect of these additives in improving the susceptibility of SMA mixtures when exposed to the moisture. Moisture susceptibility of each kind of mixtures was evaluated by performing Indirect Tensile Strength (ITS) test in dry and preconditioned forms. The results indicated that Fischer-Tropsch waxes did not have the capability to reduce the binder drain down, thus the use of fibers should be considered as an obligation in warm SMA mixtures. Although, waxes could not significantly improve the moisture sensitivity, 3% and 4% of wax slightly increased the Tensile Strength Ratio (TSR) value. It was also observed a very good trinomial correlation between percents of wax and ITS or TSR values using statistical analysis (R2 = 1). In addition, SBS modified mixtures had the highest ITS/TSR values among all SMA specimens. There was no significant difference between ITS/TSR values of two types of fiber.

Fulltext PDF Fulltext HTML

How to cite this article
Ali Mokhtari, Hamid Behbahani and Abbas Rashidi Ghortekolai, 2011. Effect of Commercial Wax and Typical Additives on Moisture Susceptibility of SMA Mixtures. Journal of Applied Sciences, 11: 3708-3716.

Related Articles:
© Science Alert. All Rights Reserved