Effect of additive materails in minimizing reflective cracking

Abstract EN

Reflection cracks through a road structure is one of the main causes of premature pavement deterioration which which shortens the service life of overlays.

This phenomenon, which often appears when a layer of asphaltic material is placed on top of a discontinuous base, can have many different aspects, in accordance with the large number of factores governing the mechanism of crack initiation and propagation through a road structure.

A number of additives appear to be promising in plying an important role in improving the properties and performance of paving mixtures.

Wheel tracking testing techniques were developed to examine one type with different contents of asphalt modifier additives (High-density polyethylene) overlays for situations where reflection cracking may normally developed.

The prime objective of this research is to investigate the potential role of High-Density Polyethylene as additive in retarding or minimizing reflective cracking.

A total of 120 Marshall Specimens is prepared and tested by Marshall, Indirect tensile and Creep tests at different temperature decrease.

To simulate the overlay performance under a rolling tire, 18 compacted asphalt concrete beam samples are tested using wheel tracking apparatus after modification.

It can be concluded that modified mixes with 9% of High-Density Polyethylene (by wt.

of asphalt) gives the maximum resistance to reflection cracking.