Performance of Hot Mix Asphalt Mixture Incorporating Kenaf Fibre

Abstract

Kenaf fibre has been recognised to increase the strength of concrete, but its application in asphalt concrete is still unanswered. This research investigated the performance of Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA) incorporated with different percentages of kenaf fibre (0.1 %, 0.2% and 0.3% by weight of dry aggregate) in term of resilient modulus, rutting performance using Asphalt Pavement analyser (APA) and moisture damage using the Modified Lottman test (AASHTO-T283). The fibre was interweaved to a diameter of about 5-10 mm and length of 30 mm which is three times the nominal maximum aggregate size used in the mix. Asphaltic mixtures of asphalt concrete (AC) 10 were prepared and compacted using Marshall compactor which were subsequently tested to evaluate the resilient modulus and moisture susceptibility. Twelve cylindrical specimens (150mm diameter) from AC10, two control samples with two modified ones for each percentage of kenaf fibres compacted using Gyratory compactor were used for rutting test using APA. The laboratory results reveal that the addition of kenaf fibres slightly reduce the resilient modulus of the mixes and that asphaltic mix with 0.3% kenaf fibre can mitigate both rutting and moisture damage which makes the pavement more sustain to the loads applied even in the presence of water. 0.3% kenaf fibre content is considered to be the optimal content which had the least rut depth and the highest TSR of 81.07%. Based on grid analysis, addition of 0.3% kenaf fibre in asphaltic concrete was recommended in modifying the samples.