Ain Shams Engineering Journal

Ain Shams Engineering Journal

Volume 12, Issue 4, December 2021, Pages 3619-3627
Ain Shams Engineering Journal

Civil Engineering
Improving the rutting resistance of asphalt pavement modified with the carbon nanotubes additive

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asej.2021.02.038Get rights and content
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open access

Abstract

Up to the present time, assiduous efforts were devoted to mitigating the development of asphaltic pavement rutting. To this intention, nanotechnology recently received considerable attention to magnify the resistance against such distress. This work elucidated the worthiness of utilizing the industrial carbon nanotubes, CNT, as a strengthening additive. Accordingly, four dosages with an upper limit of 2.0% from this nanoscale material were added to two bitumen grades, 40/50 and 60/70. The modified binders were subjected to several tests including penetration, softening point, viscosity, and rheological properties. Furthermore, sets of cylindrical and slab-shaped specimens containing these binders were fabricated and underwent volumetric analysis, Marshall test in addition to rut measurement by the wheel tracking test. The outcome of this work revealed that higher viscosity bitumen consumes relatively less amount of the CNT with a better rutting performance rate and Marshall stability, whereas the 40/50 grade yielded an increase in rutting resistance by 61.0% and stability by 35.0% at 1.5% of the CNT while the 60/70 grade needed 2.0% of this material to be near these improving values. Regarding the Superpave rutting indicator addressed by G*/sin δ, a continuous ascending tendency was observed by adding the CNT for the basic and aged conditions. The cost analysis results specified the 1.5% of CNT mixed with 40/50 bitumen to be the threshold of economic feasibility, any further dosage or utilizing softer bitumen will omit its viability. All the results have been subjected to a comprehension statistical analysis that produced a significant regression model.

Keywords

Asphalt pavement rutting
Carbon nanotubes
Wheel tracking test
Cost analysis
Statistical analysis

Cited by (0)

Dr. Mohammed Qadir Ismael, is an assistant professor at the Department of Civil Engineering, University of Baghdad. He is the scientific supervisor for the road materials lab. He received all his scientific degrees from the University of Baghdad (a B.Sc. degree in Civil Engineering in 1993, an M.Sc. degree in Transportation Engineering in 1999, and a Ph.D. degree in Transportation Engineering in 2007). His area of research interest is highway pavement materials and traffic engineering.

Dr. Mohammed Yousif Fattah, is a professor at the Department of Civil Engineering, University of Technology. He is the Dean of roads and bridges branch. He received his B.Sc. degree in Civil Engineering in 1989, an M.Sc. degree in Geotechnical Engineering in 1996 and a Ph.D. in 1999 in Geotechnical Engineering from University of Baghdad. His area of research interest is Transportation Geotechnics.

Dr. Abbas F. Jasim is a lecturer in the Highway and Transportation Engineering Department at Mustansiriyah University. He received his B.S. and M.S. degrees with honors in Highway and Transportation Engineering from Al-Mustansiriyah University, Baghdad- Iraq, in 2002 and 2006, respectively. He received his Ph.D. in 2018 from the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, Rutgers University, the State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, USA. His current research of interests focus on pavement material, simulation and roadway energy harvesting using piezoelectric materials.

Peer review under responsibility of Ain Shams University.