Investigation on Geotextiles Effect on the Fatigue Life of Asphalt Specimens

Nearly all the pavements in Iran are made of asphalt concrete. These pavements have short service life due to various reasons. One of the most specific destructions of asphalt pavements is the fatigue crack which occurs due to the numerous traffic loads on the roads. Geotextiles may act as reinforcing agents and increase the service life of asphalt pavements. In this research, three types of geotextiles are studied and their impact on the fatigue life of asphalt beams is investigated. The fatigue test has been implemented by 4 - point bending beam at constant strain condition with haversine wave, 10 Hz frequency. Results show that the fatigue life of all the specimens reinforced by Iranian and other geotextiles is increased, but this increase is higher for the foreign specimens compared to Iranian ones, and at various strain levels for any type of geotextile materials is different. The results also show that the average flexural stiffness of laboratory specimens may be increased or decreased by using geotextiles but totally geotextiles improve the quality of asphalt pavements.