Viscoelastic Equivalent Creep Behavior and Its Influencing Factors of Basalt Fiber-Reinforced Asphalt Mixture under Indirect Tensile Condition

Abstract

The aim of this study is to further investigate the effect of different basalt fiber (BF) factors on the viscoelastic equivalent creep behavior of fiber-reinforced asphalt mixture (FRAM) under indirect tensile (IDT) condition. A two-dimension mesostructural model composed of different components including fiber mortar polymer and coarse particle aggregate is constructed via the section image processing for the IDT FRAM specimen, where BF is considered as random distribution in the mortar polymer. Furthermore, the stress distribution and equivalent creep of the IDT mesostructural model in simulation software are analyzed to discuss the influence of components on the creep behavior of FRAM. Moreover, the laboratory creep test of IDT specimens under 0% and 0.3% BF contents for FRAM is carried out to validate the simulated values. Research results indicate that the simulated creep deformation of the IDT mesostructural model is in agreement with that of the experiment. Finally, creep simulations are further conducted to discuss the effect of BF (e.g., fiber content, length-diameter ratio, and fiber modulus) and aggregate on the creep characteristic of FRAM. The increase of fiber content and length-diameter ratio has a significant reinforcing effect on the equivalent mechanical behavior, but the change in the modulus of fiber and aggregate has slight effects.