Effect of Filler to Bitumen Weight Ratio on Low-temperature Cracking Performance of Asphalt Mixture

• Published in: Jordan Journal of Civil Engineering Vol. 18; no. 4
• Main Author: Rezaei, Sajad
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01.10.2024
• ISSN: 1993-0461; 1993-0461
• DOI: 10.14525/JJCE.v18i4.07

The effect of mineral filler weight ratio on the low-temperature performance of hot asphalt mixtures with continuous gradation has been a subject of significant interest in the field of pavement engineering. This study focused on testing mastic, which is a bitumen mixture with mineral filler passing through a No. 200 sieve, using various tests, such as the bending beam rheometer test (BBR), direct tensile (DT) test, Infrared spectroscopy test (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD) test, and semi-circular bending (SCB) test. Different weight ratios of mineral filler to useful bitumen ranging from 0.4 to 1.6 were investigated for PG 70-16 bitumen. According to the SHRP-A-407 standard, the weight ratio of mineral filler to useful bitumen plays a crucial role in determining the low-temperature performance of asphalt mixtures. The research findings confirm this fact, indicating that the weight ratio of mineral filler to bitumen plays a crucial role in determining the low-temperature performance of asphalt mixtures. As the filler-to-bitumen ratio increased, the stiffness of the bituminous mastic increased, leading to reduced fracture strain and decreased low-temperature cracking life. The optimal filler-to-bitumen ratio was recommended to be a maximum of 0.8 to balance performance and control low-temperature behavior. The results of this study underscore the importance of considering the rheological properties of bitumen mastic in addition to bitumen and asphalt mix when evaluating lowtemperature performance. Keywords: Asphalt mixing, Filler-to-bitumen ratio, Cracking performance, Lowtemperature, cracking.