The Effect of Carbon Nano-tube on the Fatigue Life of Asphalt Mixtures

The fatigue cracks are observed in asphalt surfaces much more than ruts. This paper deals with the influence of carbon nano-tube on the fatigue life of asphalt mixtures. These samples are made up of the slabs cut by the asphalt cutting saw. Fatigue beams contain 0, 0.3, 0.6, 0.9, 1.2, and 1.5 percentof Carbon Nano-tube. The fatigue experiment was conducted using a 4-point semi-sinusoidal loading on a flexural beam for a constant strain (600 micro-strain) at 20oC. The end of these samples, fatigue life is assumed to be when 50% reduction in the initial rigidity happens. The results show that with an increase in the percentage of carbon nano-tube in the fatigue samples, the fatigue life of asphalt mixtures and the amount of cumulative dissipated energy increase noticeably, and the rate of damage propagation is reduced. Also rut depth, Fracture Energy density, Marshall Stability, Indirect Tensile strength have been improved excellently.

Keywords:

Fatigue life , carbon nano-tube , experiment of flexural beam , rate of damage propagation