ISSN: 1945-7553
CODEN: JTEVAB
Published Online: 22 January 2013
Page Count: 11

Evaluation of Asphalt Blended With Low Percentage of Carbon Micro-Fiber and Nanoclay

Yao, Hui
School of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Central South Univ., Changsha, Hunan
Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Michigan Technological Univ., Houghton, MI

You, Zhanping
Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Michigan Technological Univ., Houghton, MI

Li, Liang
School of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Central South Univ., Changsha, Hunan

Goh, Shu Wei
Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Michigan Technological Univ., Houghton, MI

Mills-Beale, Julian
Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Michigan Technological Univ., Houghton, MI

Shi, Xianming
Civil Engineering, Western Transportation Institute, Montana State Univ., Bozeman, MT

Wingard, David
Research Assistant Professor, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Clemson Univ., Clemson, SC

(Received 15 March 2012; accepted 2 August 2012)

Abstract

The objectives of this study are to investigate the applicability of carbon micro-fiber and nanoclay in asphalt binders and to evaluate the performance of micro- and nano-modified asphalt (NMA) binders in terms of rheological properties. Due to their unique characteristics, micro- and nanomaterials were hypothesized to play a critical role in enhancing the performance behavior of asphalt binders. In light of existing research, carbon micro-fiber (MCF) and Nanomer I.44P (NI.44P) were selected as the micro- and nanomaterials for this research. Then, these materials were added into the PG 58-34 control asphalt binder at the concentrations of 2 % and 4 % by weight. Superpave™ binder tests—rotational viscosity (RV), dynamic shear rheometer (DSR), and bending beam rheometer (BBR)—were then conducted for evaluating the performance of each modified asphalt binder. Also, the characterization tests were run on the aged samples prepared using the rolling thin film oven (RTFO) and pressure aging vessel (PAV) to simulate the short-term and long-term aging. Subsequently, the viscosity, dynamic shear modulus (

Keywords:
asphalt, modified asphalt (MA), rheological properties, nanomaterial, complex shear modulus, viscosity, scanning electron microscope

Paper ID: JTE20120068
DOI: 10.1520/JTE20120068
ASTM International is a member of CrossRef.