Construction and Building Materials 30 (2012) 340346

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Construction and Building Materials

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Inuence of surface treated y ash with coupling agent on asphalt mixture

moisture damage
Jun Xie a, Shaopeng Wu a,, Ling Pang a, Juntao Lin a, Zuhuang Zhu b
a
b

State Key Laboratory of Silicate Materials for Architectures, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, PR China
Hubei Chutian ExpressWay Co., Ltd., Wuhan 430070, PR China

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history:
Received 13 August 2011
Received in revised form 21 October 2011
Accepted 24 November 2011
Available online 30 December 2011
Keywords:
Surface treated
Fly ash
Moisture damage
FTIR
Filler

a b s t r a c t
Moisture damage is of great negative impacts on asphalt pavement. It exacerbates the service performance (e.g., rutting, cracking) for asphalt mixture under trafc load. This paper describes the inuence
of surface treated y ash with silane coupling agent on asphalt mixture moisture damage. The ller combined with coupling agent and y ash was named compound y ash modier (CFAM). Primarily the properties of CFAM were characterized by Scanning Electron Microscopy and Fourier Transform Infrared
Spectroscopy. As ller, its effects on moisture sensitivity of asphalt mixture were evaluated by modied
Lottman test, indirect tensile stiffness modulus test, static creep and indirect tensile fatigue test. It is
shown that the asphalt mixture with CFAM has excellent moisture sensitivity in terms of higher indirect
tensile strength and tensile strength ratio during frostthaw process. In addition, after specic moisture
damage treatments, CFAM modied asphalt mixtures show better stiffness modulus, resistance to permanent deformation and fatigue life. It is concluded that CFAM can improve the moisture sensitivity
of asphalt mixture effectively.
2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Asphalt pavements suffer severe moisture induced damage all
around the world. It is caused by distress mechanisms induced by
the presence or inltration of moisture and manifests itself in phenomena referred to as rutting, cracking, etc. The moisture damage
occurs due to loss of adhesion on the interface between asphalt
and aggregate and (or) loss of cohesion in asphalt binder [1]. As
moisture damage reduces the internal strength of the HMA mix,
the stresses generated by trafc loading increase signicantly and
lead to premature rutting, raveling and fatigue cracking on the
HMA layer [2]. Enormous funds and human resources have been
exhausting on the repairing and maintenances of asphalt
pavements.
Many methods have been taken to mitigate moisture induced
damage in asphalt pavement. A common way is adding antistripping additives, including hydrated lime, cement, y ash, etc.
[35]. Among them, y ash has become research hotspot under
background of valorization of waste [68]. Ali stated that stripping
resistance of mix was increased by the addition of y ash [9]. Asi
determined that modifying the asphalt concrete mixes with y
ash improved the mixes resistance to water damages [10].
Utilization of y ash as ller in asphalt mixture has also been
Corresponding author. Tel./fax: +86 27 87162595.
E-mail addresses: xiejun3970@whut.edu.cn (J. Xie), wusp@whut.edu.cn (S. Wu),
zhuzuhuang173@163.com (Z. Zhu).
0950-0618/$ - see front matter 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2011.11.022

investigated by Chinese researcher for years. Nonetheless the extent of improvement on moisture resistance is limited. Therefore
there is little application case for y ash in asphalt pavement engineering in China for its poor cementitious properties. Such a difference in researching results between Chinese and Europe/America
might be caused by the different essential properties of y ash after
coal combustion. Also the workmanship and machine conditions
will affect the effect of y ash. It is possible that the particles in
y ash may form a cluster and agglomeration, resulting in a
llerller interaction only and therefore poor interfacial bonding
due to strong polarity of hydroxyl groups on the surfaces of y ash
[11]. Therefore anti-stripping methods should be applied if y ash
was used in asphalt mixtures in China [5].
Surface treatment with coupling agent inspires a solution to
amplify the improvement degree of y ash in term of moisture sensitivity. Several researchers activated y ash with coupling agent to
enhance its cementitious properties [12,13]. Besides, coupling
agents have been demonstrated its effectiveness in asphalt mixes.
Estevez used a zwitterionic molecule (phosphatidyl-choline) to
increase the adhesion between the hydrophobic asphalt and the
hydrophilic gravel [14]. Liu investigated the low-temperature performance properties of asphalt mortar modied by an aluminate
coupling agent (ACA) [15]. He stated that ACA could improve signicantly the low-temperature performance and intermediatetemperature fatigue performance of asphalt mortar. However,
limited information is available concerning inuence of surface
treated y ash on moisture properties of asphalt mixes.

J. Xie et al. / Construction and Building Materials 30 (2012) 340346

In this study, raw y ash was treated with silane coupling agent,
which was called CFAM. The major objective is to evaluate the
inuence of CFAM on asphalt mixture moisture damage. Various
laboratory tests include modied Lottman test, indirect tensile
stiffness modulus test, static creep and indirect tensile fatigue test
were conducted. Test results with CFAM were compared to those
with limestone powder.
2. Materials and experiments
2.1. Materials
2.1.1. Aggregate
Granite as coarse and ne aggregates was procured from Ma city, Hubei province in China. Standard methods were used to test its properties according to the
Chinese norm JTG E42-2005 [16]. And its specications were listed in Table 1.
2.1.2. Asphalt
The asphalt used was 60/80 penetration graded as AH70 from Guochuang Co.,
Ltd., in China. All the test results were within specication (Chinese norm JTJ
052-2000) limits and were shown in Table 2 [17].

Table 1
Basic properties of granite aggregate.
Properties

Measured
values

Requirements

Standards

Coarse aggregate bulk specic

gravity (g cm3)
Fine aggregate apparent specic
gravity (g cm3)
Abrasion loss (Los Angeles) (%)

2.669

>2.6

2.679

>2.7

12.5

<30

Frost action (with Na2SO4) (%)

3.9

612

Polishing value

46.8

>42

T03042005
T03282005
T03172005
T03142005
T03212005

Table 2
Basic properties of AH70 base asphalt.

341

2.1.3. Filler
Fly ash was obtained from Hongxing coal plant located in Hanchuan, Hubei
province. Limestone powder (LP) was selected as the control ller, which was from
Nv wo Co., Ltd., Ma city in Hubei province. Silane coupling agent used on the ash
was 3-(triethoxysilyl)-propylamine, supplied by Chenguang Co., Ltd., in China.1 Its
molecular structure was shown in Fig. 1.
CFAM was prepared in laboratory. Five percent (of the weight of ash) silane coupling agent solution was prepared in 50 ml dry toluene. Dry y ash was then added
to the solution at 120 rpm constant stirring rate at room temperature (about 25 C)
for 5 h. Follow this, the slurry was washed with toluene and dried in an oven at
105 C for 24 h.
The properties of llers including CFAM and LP were listed in Table 3. The determination of hydrophilic coefcient was strictly followed the Chinese norm JTG E422005 [16]. It is shown in Table 3 that the hydrophilic coefcient of CFAM is 0.36, lower
than LP. Hydrophilic coefcient is the ratio of the volume expansion in unit volume of
water to that in the same volume of parafn oil. Therefore it is commonly considered
an indication of its afnity with asphalt. Consequently it is concluded that CFAM is
more hydrophobic than LP, leading to a better adhesive bond with asphalt.
As a major approach to obtain topographic image, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) was used to determine the microscopic morphology of LP and CFAM.
Ejected electrons generated from the collision between electron beam and samples
were collected and sent to a viewing screen in SEM device. Consequently the digital
3D-like topographic image of samples was obtained [18]. As shown in Figs. 2 and 3,
LP consists of irregular-shaped particles in the forms of long columns and polyhedral blocks, whereas CFAM is mainly composed of spherical particles. Moreover
CFAM exhibits a far smoother surface and relatively more homogenous distribution
than LP, which indicates that CFAM has relatively lower adsorption than LP. The
conclusion coincides with preliminary test results in Table 3. Table 4 exhibits the
chemical composition of original y ash. Silica (SiO2) is the major component in
y ash.
2.1.4. Mixture design
Gradation with nominal maximum size 19 mm was designed following a standard Marshall design method. Marshall specimens were prepared with 75 blows on
each side of cylindrical specimens. After sieve analyzes, each fractions of granite
crushed stone were mixed in adequate proportion. Additionally, the ne aggregate
proportions for the gradation selected were adjusted to allow for the 4% addition of
CFAM. Gradation was nally determined after the measurement of volumetric
properties in a series of Marshall specimens. The gradation was shown in Fig. 4.
The determination of optimum binder content depends on the measurement of
maximum stability, unit weight, 4.8% air voids and 80% voids lled with asphalt. Five
preliminary binder ratios were designed in Marshall specimens respectively. The
specic results of Marshall were listed in Table 5. The results in Table 4 were
the mean testing values of 4 Marshall specimens for each bitumen content. Finally
the optimum binder content was determined to be 4.8% by weight of aggregate [19].
2.2. Experiments

Properties

Measured
values

Requirements

Standards

Specic gravity (g cm3)

Penetration at 25 C/0.1 mm
Ductility, 5 cm/min, 15 C/cm
Softening point (C)
Flash point (C)
Viscosity at 60 C/Pa s
Loss on heating (%)

1.032
68
P150
48
320
198
+0.02

6080
>40
>46
>260
>180
60.8

T0603-1993
T0604-2000
T0605-1993
T0606-2000
T0611-1993
T0625-2000
T0610-1993

CH3
CH 2
O
O

Si
CH 2 CH 2
H 2N

CH2

CH 2

CH3

2.2.1. FTIR
Infrared spectrum analysis was conducted on a Nexus FTIR spectrometer with a
0.019 cm1 resolution, provided by Thermo Nicolet Co., Ltd., USA. The materials was
mixed with dried powdery KBr, pelletized under pressure and then scanned. The
scanning speed was 0.2 cm s1, and the samples were measured in the range of
4000400 cm1 as KBr pellets.
2.2.2. Modied Lottman test
Modied Lottman test (AASHTO T283) is widely used to evaluate moisture sensitivity of asphalt mixture. For each ller, 24 Marshall specimens of 7.0 0.5% air
voids were prepared on the same conditions. They were divided into 6 groups
according to the principle that the average specic gravity of the specimens in each
group shall be equal. Additionally, except the control group, the rest were treated in
frostthaw process. That is: after taken into vacuuming saturation for 15 min, the
specimens were placed in plastic bags with 10 ml of water and frozen at minor
18 C for 16 h. They were then put in a water bath at 60 C and the plastic wrap
was immediately removed. After that, they were allowed to soak for 24 h. Above
steps are repeated for subsequent cycles. Totally 5 frostthaw cycles were designed
with the goal of identifying mixtures at risk to water damage.
All the specimens were tested by loading the specimens at a constant rate
(50 mm/min vertical deformation at 25 C) and the force required to break the specimen was measured. Water sensitivity of mixture can be evaluated using the tensile
strength ratio (TSR) value as follows:

TSRi TSi =TS0

CH2
CH 3

Fig. 1. The structure of 3-(triethoxysilyl)-propylamine.

where TSRi is the tensile strength ratio at the ith cycle, %; TSi is the average tensile
strength of 4 specimens at the i cycle, MPa; TS0 is the average tensile strength of the
controlled group, MPa.
1

http://www.lookchem.com/cas-919/919-30-2.html

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J. Xie et al. / Construction and Building Materials 30 (2012) 340346

Table 3
Basic properties of selected ller.
Properties
Apparent specic gravity (g cm

3

Limestone powder

CFAM

Requirements

Standards

2.704

2.521

>2.50

T0352

Moisture content (%)

0.9

0.6

<1.0

T0103

Hydrophilic coefcient

0.67

0.36

<1.00

T0353

Percent passing (%)

0.6 mm
0.15 mm
0.075 mm

100
93
85.9

100
93.1
89.6

100
90100
80100

T0351

100
Upper limit

90

Lower limit

Passing Percent (%)

80

Used gradation

70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0

0.1

10

Sieve Size (mm)

Fig. 4. Designed gradation curve for granite asphalt mixture.
Fig. 2. SEM morphology of limestone powder (2000).
Table 5
Volumetric properties of Marshall specimens.
Binder
content (%)

V.M.A
(%)

Air void
(%)

Unit weight
(g cm3)

Stability
(kN)

Flow
(1 mm)

4
4.5
5
5.5
6

15.335
15.352
15.653
15.903
16.616

6.5
5.4
4.6
3.8
3.5

2.413
2.424
2.427
2.431
2.422

11.2
12.3
13.5
13.4
12.9

3.7
4.3
4.3
4.7
5.7

denoted as protocol 3#. Thereafter the moisture sensitivities of asphalt mixes were
assessed by analyzing the afnities of mechanical properties of mixes treated by
moisture treatments mentioned above.

2.2.3.2. Indirect tensile stiffness modulus test. As one of important mechanical parameter, stiffness of asphalt mixture can be measured easily and quickly using the indirect tensile stiffness modulus test, which is a non-destructive method and has been
widely used for determination of stiffness values [20]. Cylindrical specimens at
appropriately 7% air void were compacted by gyratory compactor. Then they were
cored and sawed carefully to required dimensions (100 mm in diameter, 60 mm in
thickness). Resilient modulus of specimens were tested at the 20 C by universal
test machine (UTM-25), while the Poissons ratio is 0.35. The stiffness modulus
can be determined as follow:

Fig. 3. SEM morphology of compound y ash modier (CFAM) (2000).

2.2.3. Evaluation of moisture sensitivity by mechanical test

2.2.3.1. Moisture treatment. Moisture treatments were applied on the specimens
involving in the following mechanical test in order to assess their moisture resistance in terms of mechanical quantication. Specimens were classied into three
sets: one subset was untreated named as protocol 1#(the controlled); another subset was immersed in static water at 25 C for 96 h, denoted as protocol 2#; the last
one was experienced under 18 C for 16 h and immersion in 60 C water for 24 h,

Sm

Lv 0:27
Dt

where Sm is the indirect tensile stiffness modulus, MPa; L is the peak value of the applied vertical load, N; D is the mean amplitude of the horizontal deformation obtained from the last ve applications of the load pulse, mm; t is the mean
thickness of the test specimen, mm; v is Poissons ratio.

Table 4
Chemical composition of original y ash.
Oxides

SiO2

Al2O3

Fe2O3

CaO

MgO

SO3

Na2O

K2O

LoI

Contents (%)

50.48

28.24

5.80

13.08

1.30

0.97

0.30

2.00

1.07

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J. Xie et al. / Construction and Building Materials 30 (2012) 340346

Indirect tensile strength (MPa)

2.2.3.3. Static creep. Static creep test was used to evaluate the resistance of asphalt
mixture to permanent deformation in the presence of water. Marks stated that
creep test related well to the perceived resistance to rutting [21]. Also some
researchers have demonstrated its validity [22,23]. Cylindrical specimens at appropriately 7% air void were prepared and sawed to obtain the desired slice (100 mm in
diameter, 60 mm in thickness). The at faces were polished by #50 grit paper to
remove surface irregularities that would result in uneven, internal stress distribution. A constant 0.1 MPa load was maintained for 3600s and unloaded for 1800s.
The whole experiment was executed in a environmental chamber of 20 C. During
this process, the deformation versus time was recorded automatically by Linear
Variable Differential Transformer (LVDT).

2.2.3.4. Indirect tensile fatigue test. Indirect tensile fatigue test was conducted to
evaluate the fatigue sensitivity of asphalt mixture in presence of water. Required
specimens in the test were the same as described in static creep test. Test began until the temperature of specimens had been kept at 20 C for 5 h. The fatigue life test
was stress controlled at stress levels approximately 40%, 50%, 60%, 70% of the maximum indirect tensile strength of the corresponding asphalt materials, while load
frequency of 1 Hz was applied on specimens under have sine loading. Failure was
dened as full crack propagation across the specimen, which is based on the development of tensile stresses in the center zone of the specimen under repeated dynamic-compressive loading [24]. The number of cycles to failure was determined
as the fatigue life of asphalt mixture.

The modied Lottman test results are depicted in Figs. 6 and 7.

Indirect tensile strength (ITS) is best dened as HMA strength
when subjected to tension [25]. Intrusion of water combined with
aging of asphalt binder during frost thaw cycles inuence integral
strength of mixes negatively. As a corollary, the indirect tensile
strength decreases smoothly as frostthaw cycles increases. Notably the ITS of mixes with LP in the 5th cycle is not shown in Fig. 6
because the specimens have already crushed prior to test. CFAM

% Transmittance

2958

2850

2918

1733
1463
1097

4000

3000

2000

556
461

1000
-1

Wavenumbers (cm )
Fig. 5. IR spectrums of y ash and CFAM.

1.4

Four cycles

Five cycles

1.2
1.0
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
LP

Tensile Strength Ratio (%)

100

CFAM

One cycle

Two cycles

Three cycles

Four cycles

Five cycles

80
60
40
20
0

LP

CFAM

Filler Type
Fig. 7. Tensile strength ratios of asphalt mixtures with different llers.

show a positive effect on the ITS of asphalt mixture. For example,

for the specimen treated with 4 cycles frostthaw, the ITS with
CFAM is 23.3% higher than the ITS with LP.
It is shown in Fig. 7 that the tensile strength ratios (TSRs) of
mixes with CFAM are higher than those with LP. In particular at
the 1st cycle, the TSR of CFAM mix is 85.2%, 10.7% higher than that
of LP mix. It is indicated that signicantly less moisture damage occurs in the mixture containing CFAM.

3.3. Indirect tensile stiffness modulus test

In order to correlate moisture content insightfully with stiffness
modulus, percentage saturation was calculated using the following
formula:

555
1086
461

Three cycles

Fig. 6. Indirect tensile strength of asphalt mixtures with different llers.

Fly ash

CFAM

One cycle

Two cycles

Filler Type

3.1. FTIR analysis

3.2. Modied Lottman test

The controlled

1.6

0.0

3. Test results and discussion

Fig. 5 shows the IR spectrums of y ash and CFAM. The peaks at

1086 cm1 and 459 cm1 are the characteristic peaks of silica
(SiO2). The newly appearances of the peaks around 2958 cm1,
2918 cm1 and 2850 cm1 shown in the spectrum of CFAM represent stretching vibration of saturating CH. This could be related to
the existence of ethyl on the surface of y ash, which could further
demonstrate that silane coupling agent has wrapped the surface of
y ash. After the modication of coupling agent, a new peak at
1463 cm1 is generated. This represents the bending vibration of
CH. Moreover, the characteristic peak of SiOC has moved from
1086 cm1 to 1097 cm1. It is concluded that the changes are favored by the reaction between coupling agent and puried y ash.

1.8

"
#
Mw  Md
Md
Gmb

 GMmmd

 100

where S is the percent saturation, %; Md is the mass of dry specimen;

Mw is the mass of wet specimen, g; Gmb is the bulk specic gravity
and Gmm is the maximum specic gravity.
Fig. 8 shows indirect tensile stiffness modulus (ITSMs) test results versus corresponding percent saturation. It is seen that the
percent saturations of mixes after protocol 3# treatment vary from
65% to 75%, implying relatively higher moisture content in them.
The general trend for ITSM is to decrease as the saturation level increases. Application of protocol 3# results in signicant decrease in
ITSM. This may be caused by intrusion of large amount of water
retained in voids of mixes, indicating that severe water damage

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J. Xie et al. / Construction and Building Materials 30 (2012) 340346

30

7000

Protocol 1#

Protocol 1#

Protocol 2#

25

5000

Creep Stiffness (MPa)

Indirect Tensile Stiffness

Modulus (MPa)

6000

Protocol 3#

4000
3000
2000

Protocol 2#

20

17.2

17.5
14.7

16.2

13.8

15
10
5

CFAM mixes

1000

22.4

Protocol 3#

LP mixes
0
-10

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

ev/e is the ratio of permanent deformation to total deformation

(deformation ratio, denoted as DR), which indicates the recoverable ability of mixes indirectly. Lower DR means more powerful
ability to recovery. For the mixes treated with protocol 1#, DR
for CFAM mixes is 7.2%, lower than 22.2% for mixes with LP. The
trend is similar when protocol 3# is applied, as seen from Table
6. It is concluded that CFAM presents its benets on improvement
of resistance to permanent deformation.
Additionally, creep stiffness modulus was calculated to further
investigate the evaluation of creep properties of mixes during
moisture treatments. With the initial height of the specimen, the
axial strain e, therefore the stiffness modulus at the critical time
when static load was simultaneously removed were determined
by the following formula:

110

Retained Stiffness Ratio (%)

Ratio 1
82.8

90

Ratio 2

80.4

80
70

61.9

60
45.3

50
40
30
20
10
0

LP

CFAM

Fig. 10. Creep stiffness of asphalt mixtures with different llers.

Fig. 8. Indirect tensile stiffness modulus versus corresponding percent saturation

for different asphalt mixtures.

100

LP

Filler Type

Percent Saturation (%)

CFAM

Filler Type

Smix

Fig. 9. Retained stiffness ratios of asphalt mixtures with different llers.

occurred. The ITSMs of mixes with CFAM are signicantly higher

than those with LP.
In addition, stiffness ratios (ratios of protocol 2# and 3# conditioned stiffness to the controlled stiffness shortened as ratio 1, ratio 2 respectively) were calculated to investigate the effect of
moisture conditioning on the load bearing capacity (stiffness modulus) of mixes. It is seen from Fig. 9 that CFAM shows its benets in
moisture resistance with retained stiffness value (protocol 3# treated stiffness to the controlled stiffness) for the mixes with CFAM
approaching 61.9%, compared to the retained stiffness value of
45.3% for the mixes with LP.
3.4. Creep properties
Creep test results are shown in Table 6. Where e is total deformation; ee + ede is elastic deformation plus recoverable elastic
deformation; ev is permanent deformation.

r
e

where r is applied stress; e is axial strain.

Fig. 10 shows the results of creep stiffness. Compared to the
mixes with LP, there is a substantial improvement in the resistance
to permanent resistance of the CFAM mixes as indicated by higher
creep stiffness. It can be explained by the improvement of adhesive
bond between asphalt and aggregate caused by the bridging effect of coupling agent over CFAM, which is capable of bonding
inorganic aggregates to organic asphalt to form or promote a stronger bond at the interface. The chemical formula of 3-(triethoxysilyl)-propylamine is (C2H5O)3Si(CH2)3NH2. The C2H5 usually
associates with surface of inorganic materials such as y ash and
aggregate by reactions, Van der Waals force and electrostatic
adsorption. It is widely accepted that the ethyl (C2H5) probably
reacts with hydroxyl (OH) on the surface of y ash, companied
by the generation of ethanol (C2H5OH) [26]. Also the amino group
(NH2) could react with carboxyl group (COOH) in asphalt. A typical reacting process is shown in Fig. 11.

Table 6
Creep properties of asphalt mixtures with different llers.
Filler type

Treated protocols

e (103)

ee + ede (103)

ev (103)

(ev/e) (%)

Limestone powder

1#
2#
3#

7.43
6.78
6.19

5.78
4.25
3.67

1.65
2.53
2.52

22.2
37.3
40.7

CFAM

1#
2#
3#

4.46
5.82
7.25

4.14
3.64
5.04

0.32
2.18
2.21

7.2
37.5
30.5

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J. Xie et al. / Construction and Building Materials 30 (2012) 340346

OEt
O

Si
Fly ash

Si

Fly ash

CH2

O
Si

OEt

Si

H2N

CH2

OEt

CH2

OEt

Si

OH

OEt

Si

C2 H5 OH

Fig. 11. Surface modication of y ash with silane coupling agent.

Fatigue lifes (Cycle)

Protocol 1#
Protocol 2#
Protocol 3#

Protocol 1#
Protocol 2#
Protocol 3#

10000

1000

superior to those of mixes with LP. A possible reason is that existing of coupling agent in CFAM enhances the adhesive bond
between asphalt and aggregate. This appears to have contributed
to a better resistance to crack propagation under repeated load.
Additionally, correlated with the results of Section 3.2, the mixes
with CFAM shows a relatively larger stiffness modulus, which is
benecial for the increase of fatigue life. It is consistent with the
researches of Epps and Tangella [27,28].
The fatigue performance of asphalt mixes can be depicted by
the following fatigue equation:

Nf Krn
0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7 0.8 0.9

0.4

Stress (MPa)

0.5

0.6

0.7 0.8 0.9

Stress (MPa)

Fig. 12. Fatigue lives of asphalt mixtures after various moisture treatments (A:
mixes with limestone powder; B: mixes with CFAM).

R2

Filler type

Treated
protocol

Regression
formula

Limestone
powder

1#
2#
3#

y = 246.89x2.7734
y = 577.81x2.9925
y = 296.3x2.8157

246.89
577.81
296.30

2.7734
2.9925
2.8157

0.9225
0.9093
0.9263

CFAM

1#
2#
3#

y = 536.75x2.4892
y = 1531.6x1.7781
y = 205.51x2.4832

536.75
1531.60
205.51

2.4892
1.7781
2.4832

0.9460
0.9560
0.9090

where Nf is the cycle numbers to failure; r is the test strain; K and n

are the fatigue regression parameters.
From Table 7 it is seen that the n values of asphalt mixes with
CFAM are lower than the values of asphalt mixes with LP, which indicates that the former are less sensitive to fatigue induced failure.
4. Conclusions

Table 7
Fatigue regression parameters of asphalt mixtures with different llers.
Regression index

3.5. Fatigue properties

Fig. 12 presents the extent and degree of moisture damage in
terms of the deterioration of fatigue life. A signicant fatigue life
decrease can be observed when mixes were prepared with moisture treatment.
It is found that CFAM increases fatigue life of moisture treated
mixes that it offset partially the effects of moisture damage. When
subjected to protocol 3#, the fatigue lives of mixes with CFAM are

This paper mainly focused on a laboratory evaluation of moisture sensitivity of asphalt mixtures with silane coupling agent treated y ash which is called compound y ash modier (CFAM).
Limestone powder (LP) was selected as reference ller to provide
comparison benchmarks with CFAM prepared asphalt mixtures.
From the ndings, the following conclusions were drawn:
1. The mix with CFAM exhibits higher indirect tensile strength and
tensile strength ratio during frostthaw process, which indicates that signicantly less moisture damage occurs in them.
It can be further concluded that CFAM improves integral
strength of asphalt mixtures.
2. Indirect tensile stiffness modulus is signicantly improved for
the mix with CFAM even after moisture treatments incorporating immersion and frostthaw. It is referred that CFAM has benet in increasing load bearing capacity of asphalt mixture.
3. The addition of CFAM could also improve the resistance of
asphalt mixture to permanent deformation before and after
water intrusion, which indicates its positive effect on creep
properties of asphalt mixture.

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J. Xie et al. / Construction and Building Materials 30 (2012) 340346

4. CFAM increases fatigue life of moisture treated mixes that it offsets partially the effects of moisture damage. The cycle numbers
to failure (also termed fatigue life) of mix with CFAM was
extended, compared to the fatigue life of mix with limestone
powder.
5. Based on the above experimental results, it can be concluded that
CFAM can signicantly improve the moisture sensitivity of
asphalt mixture in term of resistance to a combined failure
including moisture intrusion and mechanical distress. The above
ndings demonstrate the feasibility of surface treated y ash
with silane coupling agent to improve moisture sensitivity of
asphalt mixture. The study also illuminates an effective and economic method to active Chinese y ash to guarantee its high-performance functions on resistance to moisture damage in asphalt
mixture.
5. Further research work
The author elaborates further research plan to investigate the
characteristics of CFAM in binder and asphalt mixture. CFAM modied asphalt binder will be characterized by a series of tests including Bending Beam Rheometer, low shear viscosity, etc. In addition,
repeated creep test, 3-point beam test will also be considered. The
correlation between permanent deformation and low shear viscosity should be investigated and analyzed.
Acknowledgments
This work presented in this paper was supported by Project of
Transportation Construction Technology in Western Area of China
(2009318811045) from Ministry of Transport of China and International Science and Technology Cooperation Program of China
(S2010GR0483) from the Ministry of Science and Technology of
China. Authors appreciate the nancial support.
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