Investigating the Effects of Nanoclay and Nylon Fibers on the Mechanical Properties of Asphalt Concrete

This paper describes the effects of reinforcement by randomly distributed nylon fibers and addition of nanoclay on some engineering properties of a typical asphalt concrete. The properties of asphalt concrete reinforced by different percentages of 25 mm nylon fibers have been compared with those of the mixtures containing different percentages of nanoclay and those in which both the fibers and nanoclay have been included. Engineering properties, including Marshall stability, resilient modulus, dynamic creep and fatigue life have been studied. Nylon fibers have been used in different percentages of 0.1, 0.2, 0.3 and 0.4% (by the weight of total mixture), and nanoclay has been used in 2, 4 and 7% (by the weight of bitumen). It is found that the addition of fibers is more effective than the nanoclay for increasing the resistance against fatigue cracking. However, nanoclay improves the resistance of the mixture against permanent deformation better than the nylon fibers. The results also show that the mixture reinforced by 0.4% of nylon fibers and containing 7% of nanoclay has the highest resilient modulus, Marshall stability and fatigue life. However, the mixture containing only 7% of nanoclay has the highest resistance against permanent deformation.