Assessing the Effects of Different Fillers and Moisture on Asphalt Mixtures’ Mechanical Properties and Performance

Abstract

This laboratory study was conducted to comparatively assess the effects of different fillers and moisture on the mechanical properties and performance of asphalt mixtures. In the study, a typical Pen70 base asphalt was modified with four different filler materials, namely limestone powder, cement, slaked (hydrated) lime, and brake pad powder, to produce different asphalt mortars that were subsequently used to prepare the asphalt mixtures. Thereafter, various laboratory tests, namely dynamic uniaxial repeated compressive loading, freeze-thaw splitting, and semicircular bending (SCB) were conducted to evaluate the moisture sensitivity, high-temperature stability, low-temperature cracking, and fatigue performance of the asphalt mixtures before and after being subjected to water saturation conditions. Overall, the study results indicated superior moisture tolerance, water damage resistance, and performance for slaked (hydrated) lime, consecutively followed by brake pad powder, cement, and limestone powder. That is, for the materials evaluated and the laboratory test conditions considered, limestone mineral powder was found to be the most moisture-sensitive filler material, whilst slaked (hydrated) lime was the most moisture-tolerant and water-damage resistant filler material.