Asphalt mixture reinforced with banana fibres

• Published in: Road materials and pavement design Vol. 22; no. 8; pp. 1881 - 1893
• Main Authors: Ferreira da Costa, Laiana, Grangeiro de Barros, Ablenya, Lucena, Lêda Christiane de Figueirêdo Lopes, Elísio de Figueirêdo Lopes Lucena, Adriano
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Abingdon Taylor & Francis 03-08-2021; Lavoisier
• Subjects: Asphalt; Asphalt mixes; banana fibres; Binders (materials); draindown; Mechanical properties; Residues; SMA; Stability analysis; Stone mastic asphalt; Synthetic fibers; Tensile strength
• ISSN: 1468-0629; 2164-7402
• DOI: 10.1080/14680629.2020.1713866

Stone Matrix Asphalt (SMA) is a gap-graded mixture which requires high contents of asphalt binder. To prevent draindown, natural or synthetic fibres and polymer-modified asphalt binders are conventionally used in SMA. Banana agribusiness is one of the major sources of post-harvest residue in Brazil. Amongst those residues, fibres extracted from the pseudostem of the banana plant are resistant and used in diverse purposes. The present study assesses the incorporation of fibres from the pseudostem of the banana plant in an SMA mixture. The fibre contents and lengths capable to prevent binder draindown were evaluated from draindown tests. Mechanical properties of an SMA mixture stabilised with different banana fibre lengths were analysed through the tests of Marshall stability, modified Lottman, Indirect Tensile Strength and Cantabro. The results indicated that the fibres studied are a viable alternative for SMA, stabilising draindown and improving its mechanical performance, especially at the length of 20 mm.