Reduction in the use of mineral aggregate by recycling cellulose ashes to decrease the aging of hot asphalt mixtures

Abstract

The rapid development that our society is experiencing effects road management, therefore developing economical and efficient solutions, as well as extending road service life is indispensable. Aging is a problem associated to the majority of failures at the pavement surface layer (cracks, fissures, fatigue), including those produced by traffic solicitations. Diverse studies indicate that alterations to mixtures due to age can be decreased by incorporating a filler or mineral filler. Therefore, the present study incorporates cellulose ashes at different Cv/Cs concentrations as contribution filler in bituminous mastic, analysing its influence on aging resistance using the Cantabro wear test. The results indicated that using cellulose ash as contribution filler allows promising results to be obtained in regards to aging resistance of asphalt mixtures, if they are incorporated in concentrations close to or equal to the critical concentration, with an increase in aging resistance from 45.3 to 48.6% depending on the type of bitumen used. Therefore, incorporating them into the design of asphalt mixtures could be an efficient and economical solution to the current problems of early cracking and pavements with a service life lower than the estimated, although a more thorough analysis of its behaviour in other tests and service conditions is required in bituminous mixtures.