ASPHALT REINFORCEMENT

Asphalt Reinforcement
 PRESENTATION CONTENTS
• Asphalt Reinforcement Concept.
• Where We Can Use The Reinforcement.
• Functions of The Asphalt Reinforcement Material.
• Reflected Cracks & Reinforcement Mechanisms.
• Reinforced Vs. Unreinforced Asphalt performance.
• Polyester Vs. Fiber Glass Performance.
• Installation Guidelines.
• Some Successful Projects By Geo Natpet
• Conclusions & Recommendations.

Asphalt Reinforcement
 ASPHALT REINFORCEMENT CONCEPT:
Asphalt Reinforcement Concept was
appeared in the early 1950s in the US, and
it was based on the general idea that if
HMA is strong in compression and weak in
tension, then reinforcement can be used to
provide the asphalt matrix with the needed
tensile resistance, (same manner as
reinforced concrete).

Asphalt Reinforcement
 WHERE WE CAN USE THE REINFORCEMENT

Under or within newly constructed Pavement Maintenance of old constructed pavement

Widening Old Constructed Road Above The Expansion Joint of the Concrete Slabs

Asphalt Reinforcement
 FUNCTIONS OF THE ASPHALT REINFORCEMENT MATERIAL

As per the EN ISO 15381 There are three main functions to include the Asphalt
reinforcement composite within the Asphalt pavement :

• Sealing of the underneath pavement parts, because when the non-woven absorb
the bitumen emulsion will form an isolation barrier , and prevent water or oxygen
to reach the lower asphalt matrix.

• Stopping or delaying the developing of reflective cracks by different types of

mechanisms .

• It can work as a stress relief between the solid components by absorbing and
redistributing the stresses resulted from variations of temperature and traffic
loads.
Asphalt Reinforcement
 REFLECTED CRACKS & REINFORCEMENT MECHANISMS
Reflected cracks: In traditional asphalt maintenance
the wearing asphalt course is milled and replaced by a
new one , however due to the existing of some cracks
within the old layer these cracks will quickly grow up
within the new overlay under the effect of traffic
loads, and shortly the road surface will need for a new
maintenance.

The Asphalt reinforcement can stop or delay the

developing of such cracks by different mechanisms as:

1. Increasing the asphalt flexural strength

(reinforcement) by absorbing the tension forces
developed while traffic passing, or soil settlement.
Asphalt Reinforcement
 REFLECTED CRACKS & REINFORCEMENT MECHANISMS

2. locking the top-down cracks (resulted from

temperature variations) and keeping strong interlock
between the two opposite asphalt edges , which
would help to resist the applied shear force at the
crack section.
τ
τ

Asphalt Reinforcement
 REFLECTED CRACKS & REINFORCEMENT MECHANISMS

3. Relieving the Localized tension stress at

the crack tip.

Stress-relieving system (non-woven

saturated with bitumen) enables the
occurrence of considereable movements of
the (existing) pavement layers without
causing large tensile stresses in the overlay
above the crack/joint.

Asphalt Reinforcement
 REINFORCED VS UNREINFORCED ASPHALT (LABORATORY TESTING)

Tech.University of Prag, Ass.Prof.Ing. Luxemburg, PhD.

• Indirect tensile strength result (ITSR). ASTM D6931 – 12,

Results show more than 20 % increase in indirect tensile
strength when the sample is reinforced with polyester
comparing to non –reinforced sample.

Asphalt Reinforcement
 REINFORCED VS UNREINFORCED ASPHALT (LABORATORY TESTING)
• Resistance to permanent deformations . (laboratory-
simulated wheel tracking models,TP 109)

Conditions: water bath Temperature 50°C, vertical load

710N, number of cycles 15.000, stress on wheel-
specimen contact 0,71MPa.

Results: The measured rutting:

without reinforcement = 2.20mm.
with reinforcement = 1.03 mm.
The Asphalt reinforcement decrease the surface rutting
by more than 50 %.

Asphalt Reinforcement
 REINFORCED VS UNREINFORCED ASPHALT (LABORATORY TESTING)

• FLEXURAL STRENGTH (STRESS STRENGTH BY BEND) TP 151.

Without reinforcement: Flexural strength = 4.7Mpa, and with

reinforcement flexural strength = 5.3 Mpa, increased by 14 %.
(due to placing the reinforcement near of the neutral axis the
sample didn’t show high increase in the flexural strength )

Asphalt Reinforcement
 REINFORCED VS UNREINFORCED ASPHALT (LABORATORY TESTING)
• Marshall test (stability, strain, stiffness).

Summery of test results:

Unreinforced Reinforced Performance
Sample Sample Ratio
Stability SM (strength, Kn ) 9.2 10.3 112%
Strain PM (value of vertical deformation of %), 31 % 42% 135%
Factor of stiffness (TM) (100x SM/PM) 29.7 24.50 82.5%

This means that the factor of stiffness decreased (improved) by 17.5 %

Asphalt Reinforcement
 REINFORCED VS UNREINFORCED ASPHALT (Field TESTING)
Federal University of Rio de Janeiro-Brazil research
• 100m long section constructed on Rio-Teresopolis highway.
• 50m was rehabilitated with a conventional overlay & 50 m
reinforced with polyester.
• In the conventional section, the cracks came out after
192.000 cycles and propagated in the entire thickness from
bottom to top.
• For the composite interlayer system, the test was stopped
after 220.500 cycles, because some cracks had appeared on
the surface which were top-down cracks attributed to a
possible oxidation of the hot mix asphalt.
• There was no crack propagation above the polyester grid,
and the composite interlayer system was able to block the
crack propagation.

Asphalt Reinforcement
 GEOCOMPOSITE PERFORMANCE (Polyester VS. FIBER GLASS )

Mainly the asphalt reinforcement material could be made of polyester or

fiberglass fabricated with non-woven geotextile and it consist mainly from :

- The reinforcement strands.

- The non-woven fabric.
- The coating polymer.

Grid of Polyester or fiberglass Coated geocomposite of Polyester and non- Coated geocomposite of Fiberglass and
woven geotextile non-woven geotextile

Asphalt Reinforcement
 GEOCOMPOSITE PERFORMANCE (Polyester VS. FIBER GLASS )
1. Sao Paulo university test .

• The purpose of the test is to evaluate the

fatigue behavior of polyester and glass
fibers, the test imposes cyclically alternate
vertical displacements, generating fatigue
in the fiber in shear mode.
• The results showed a superior
performance of polyester grid in
comparison to glass. The glass broke
a) Equipment;
between 16.000 to 21.000 cycles and b) Polyester fiber (not broken)
the polyester grid did not break after c) Glass fiber (broken)
160.000 cycles.

Asphalt Reinforcement
 GEOCOMPOSITE PERFORMANCE (Polyester VS. FIBER GLASS )
2. RAWTH Aachen University Research :
Purpose : Polyester and fiber glass performance against damage installation.
Research Plan :
A. Measuring the traffic passing effect alone .
B. Measuring the compaction effect alone .
C. The combination of traffic and compaction.
Procedure :
A. The traffic passing effects:
• The samples were placed on clean and even
road surface.
• (5) axis truck passed (7) times over the
samples with a velocity of 20 ± 5 km/hour.
(the total cyclic loading is 35).

Asphalt Reinforcement
 GEOCOMPOSITE PERFORMANCE (Polyester VS. FIBER GLASS )
(B & C) compaction / traffic - compaction effects :
• Firstly a lower layer of asphalt placed and compacted.
• Then the asphalt reinforcement of both row materials were placed.
• Additionally some of the pre-damaged samples from the previous
traffic test were installed as well (for combination effect) .
• The samples which will be tested (after compaction) for tensile
strength were warped by aluminum foil and coated with a separated
agent to great very poor interlayer pond.
• After that (50)mm Asphalt wearing course was placed and
compacted by a roller with 6 passes (2 statics and 4 dynamics).
• The samples were removed after the compaction and before the
asphalt get dry.

Asphalt Reinforcement
 GEOCOMPOSITE PERFORMANCE (Polyester VS. FIBER GLASS )
TEST RESULTS :
After each stages many samples were taken to be tested for tensile strength according to EN ISO 10319 , and the
residual tensile strength were measured then the retained ratio were calculated. The results shown in the table below:

TYPE OF DAMAGE POLYESTER FIBER GLASS Performance Ratio

(Retained Ratio) (Retained Ratio)
TRAFFIC DURING THE CONSTRUCTION 85 % 44% 190 %
AFTER COMPACTION 71% 21% 340%
TRAFFIC & COMPACTION 70 % 11% 640%

Retained Ratio = residual strength / strength before corresponding damage X 100 %

Asphalt Reinforcement
 INSTALLATION PROCEDURE
1. SURFACE PREPARATION:

- Surface milling .

- Surface cleaning by sweeper and then by air compressor.

- Crack surface treatment by bituminous material.

- In case the surface is too rough after milling a thin leveling
Layer of asphalt is recommended. .

Asphalt Reinforcement
 INSTALLATION PROCEDURE

2. Tack-coat Spraying :
The surface must be clean and dry before placing the ARI for good adhesion.

- RC_2 (rapid curing asphalt cement )Tack coat usually used (temperature from 50- 80 C) .

- The rate of tack coat depends on the milled surface roughness (0.7 – 1.0) liter /m2.

- Bleeding of binder through the asphalt could occur if too much binder has been

applied on the paving fabric.

Asphalt Reinforcement
 INSTALLATION PROCEDURE
3. LAYING THE GRID & JOINTS/OVERLAPS.

- Immediately unroll the ARI after spraying the tack coat (manually or by machine).
- Making overlap between the adjacent roll as follows:
- Transversal overlap 15 cm , longitudinal 5 -10 cm.
- Anchoring the transversal lapping by nail and washers , with 40 cm intervals
between them.
- Remove any wrinkles could form during the unrolling and make sure that the grid
is a flat on the surface .
- Bonding with lower asphalt layer more than 90 N is acceptable before placing the
overlay.

Asphalt Reinforcement
 INSTALLATION PROCEDURE

4. APPLYING THE OVERLAY:

- After making sure that the bond strength between the lower asphalt layer and
the ARI is sufficient , the asphalt mix can be placed. The non-woven will help for
better adhesion with the road surface.

- Minimum thickness of overlay is 40 mm.

- The asphalt temperature ranges between (145⁰ to 180⁰).

- Rubbre wheel compacter is used , vibrator during the compaction is not allowed.

- The asphalt overlay should be extend 25 cm further than the asphalt

reinforcement edges.

Asphalt Reinforcement
 SOME SUCCESSFUL PROJECTS BY GEONATPET

1. Project Name : Aswan , Luxor& Saint Catherine Airports

2. Client Name :Egyptian Airport Company

3. Quantity Used :35,000 M2

4. Material Used :Geo NAT Asphalt PET 50/50

5. Type Of Treatment : Maintenance.

Asphalt Reinforcement
 SOME SUCCESSFUL PROJECTS BY GEONATPET
1. Client Name : Ministry of Works AL BAHRIN - 2019

2. Project Name : Sheikh Jaber Al Ahmad Al Sabah Highway Upgrade Project.

3. Quantity Used : 25,740 m2

4. Material Used : Geo Natpet ARI , Comp PET 50/50

5. Type Of Treatment : Maintenance.

Asphalt Reinforcement
 CONCLUSION & RECOMMENDATIONS
Some advantages for Asphalt Reinforcement:
1. Stop the reflective cracks .
2. Acts as a long-term water barrier.
3. Acts as a stress relief membrane.
4. The fatigue life can be increased by 10 times as per some researches.
5. The life of the pavement to the critical rut depth can increase by 3 times when reinforcement is included.
6. Provides shear resistance against rutting especially in high stress locations.
7. Additionally the paving fabric system gives additional overlay performance equivalent to increased overlay up to
40%.

Asphalt Reinforcement
 CONCLUSION & RECOMMENDATIONS

Polyester Vs. the fiberglass composite:

1. Fiberglass has higher stiffness than the polyester.
2. Fiberglass melting point is higher than that of Polyester, but still polyester mechanical
properties not affected up to 180⁰ .
3. Polyester can resist damage installation much better than fiberglass.
4. Polyester under dynamic loading is 10 times much better than the fiberglass.
5. The fiberglass is not recommended to be placed over milled surface(especially when the
roughness is high)
6. The Polyester shows better thermal compatibility with the asphalt comparing to the fiberglass.

Asphalt Reinforcement
 CONCLUSION & RECOMMENDATIONS
we recommended our clients by the following :

• The asphalt reinforcement material should be selected and designed professionally

before be involved in the project.

• The contractor must follow the design and installation guidelines to ensure the best
efficiency of the material during the service life.

• Quality testing of the material should be carried out regularly to ensure the material
matching the project requirement.

Asphalt Reinforcement
 THANK YOU

Asphalt Reinforcement