Experimental Research on the Effect of Fiberglass on the Performance of Epoxy Asphalt Concrete
Jintao Wei, Xin Mao, Wei Xu, Chenchen Xi, Shoujing Yan, Tuanwei Sun, Xuquan Hu, Yangyang Wang, Fengxia Chi
Abstract
Fiberglass prepared from broken waste glass can be used in epoxy asphalt mixtures for performance enhancement and a toughening effect. There is no systematic study on the influence mechanism of the size and the amount of glass fiber on the properties of epoxy asphalt mixtures. The effects of fiberglass on the properties of epoxy asphalt concrete were evaluated using a tensile test, three-point bending test, four-point bending fatigue test and an SEM scanning test. The results verify that the tensile strength of epoxy asphalt mastic with a 6 mm length and 2% content increased the most. Compared with the nondoped glass fiber, it increased by 69.2%. Under the influence of the internal composition of the asphalt mixture, the optimal ratio scheme is different from that of epoxy asphalt mastic. A microscopic analysis showed that uniformly dispersed fiberglass in the epoxy asphalt mixture forms a spatial network structure, leading to reinforcement and the restraint of microcrack expansion. The addition of fiberglass with a length of 9 mm and at a concentration of 5% to the epoxy asphalt mixture resulted in the maximum road performance. The Marshall stability increased by 43.5%, and the flexural and tensile strength increased by 33.7%. The fiberglass length is the most important factor limiting the strength and toughening effects of epoxy asphalt mixtures.