Effect of Diatomite and Basalt Fibers on Pavement Performance and Vibration Attenuation of Waste Tires Rubber-Modified Asphalt Mixtures

Abstract

As an eco-friendly pavement material, waste tires rubber-modified asphalt mixtures (WRMs) have been applied in pavement engineering widely. To further improve the performance and adaptability of WRM, diatomite and basalt fibers are, respectively, added to WRM. Subsequently, the Marshall tests, the rutting tests, the low-temperature splitting tests, the freeze-thaw splitting tests, and the vibration attenuation tests are conducted to study the effect of diatomite and basalt fibers on pavement properties of WRM. Furthermore, the correlation degree between the content of diatomite, basalt fibers, asphalt, and the pavement properties of WRM is analysed by the grey correlation grade analysis (GCGA). The results show that the addition of diatomite and basalt fibers can significantly improve the pavement and vibration attenuation properties of WRM. The improvement of high-temperature permanent deformation resistance, low-temperature cracking resistance, and water damage resistance of WRM is mainly attributed to diatomite, basalt fibers, and asphalt-aggregate ratio, respectively. The improvement of the vibration attenuation of WRM by diatomite and basalt fibers is mainly attributed to the increase of waste tires rubber-modified asphalt (WRA) content caused by adding diatomite and basalt fibers.