The Effect of Sugar Palm Fiber Content on the Marshall Performance of Hot Mix Buton-Asphalt Mixture

Abstract

With large natural asphalt deposit sits in its soils, Indonesia should not worry regarding the availability of the pavement material in the near future. However, this natural asphalt, called Buton Asphalt, has some deficiency in terms of its ability to sustain crack. Therefore, it should be modified with material resisted to cracking. One of such materials is palm sugar fiber. The objective of this research was to investigate the effect of adding palm sugar fiber to the hot mix Buton-asphalt mixture based on the Marshall characteristics. The sugar palm fiber was varied at 0.2-0.4% of the mixture weight at 0.5-1.5cm fiber length. The mixture preparation conformed to the 2018 Bina Marga Specifications. The result showed that the mixture's optimal sugar palm fiber content was 0.2% of the mixture weight with a length of 0.5 cm. Adding sugar palm fiber increased Marshall stability up to 3.11% and Marshall Quotient by 15.56%. VMA and VIM also increased to 7.97% and 33.76%, respectively. The Marshall flow, however, decreased to 13.07%. The result indicates that adding sugar palm fiber to the mixture improved the mixture's performance. Therefore, for future use, it is recommended to add this fiber as the modifier. As for future research, other types of fiber such as coconut fiber should also be investigated for its potential use in Buton Asphalt mix.