Investigating the effect of ceramic fiber on the mechanical properties of glassphalt.

Glassphalt suffers from performance defects, especially against moisture damage and fatigue cracking. In this research, the performance of glassphalt modified with CF has been evaluated against moisture damage, fatigue cracking and rutting. Based on this, Modified Lottman, Wilhelmy Plate (WP), Indirect Tensile Stiffness Modulus (ITSM), Indirect Tensile Fatigue (ITF), and Repeated Load Axial (RLA) tests have been performed on glassphalt modified with CF. The results of the WP test revealed that CF reduced the acid properties and increased the basic properties of the base bitumen. This increased the adhesion of bitumen and glass cullet, which have acidic properties, and enhanced the glassphalt's performance against adhesive failure. CF also increased the strength of bitumen cohesion, which reduced the possibility of cohesion failure. CF enhanced the stiffness modulus of the glassphalt by forming physical bonds in the base bitumen. The fatigue life of samples containing 1, 3, and 5% CF at 15 ℃ increased by 79%, 114%, and 65%, respectively, compared to the control sample, with the 3% fiber sample showing the greatest improvement in fatigue life among the modified samples. Similar trends were observed at 25 ℃. At 30 ℃, the amount of permanent deformation at the end of loading in samples containing 1, 3, and 5% CF decreased by 32%, 58%, and 74%, respectively. A similar trend was observed at 50 ℃. These findings indicate that the inclusion of additives significantly reduces the permanent deformation of the samples under higher temperatures, thereby enhancing their overall performance and stability.