REVIEW PAPER

X. Gu,1 X. Zhang,2 J. Lv,1 Z. Huang,1 B. Yu,1 and X. Zou3

Laboratory Performance Evaluation ofReinforced Basalt Fiber in Sealing Asphalt Chips

ReferenceGu, X., Zhang, X., Lv, J., Huang, Z., Yu, B., and Zou, X., “Laboratory Performance Evaluation of Reinforced Basalt

Fiber in Sealing Asphalt Chips,” Journal of Testing and Evaluation, Vol. 46, No. 3, March 2018, pp. 1269–1279,

https://doi.org/10.1520/JTE20160186. ISSN 0090-3973

ABSTRACT

This study investigated the laboratory performance of basalt fiber (BF) used as an asphalt-chip

seal. Specimens of the basalt fiber asphalt-chip seal (BFACS) at various contents of styrene–

butadiene–rubber (SBR)-modified emulsified asphalt (EA) and BF were prepared. These were

subjected to a series of tests, including plate impact, sweeping, pull-out, and direct shear tests, to

inspect their bond performances. The results indicate that BF can significantly improve the

performances of the aggregate retention and the interlayer bond of asphalt-chip seal. This study

evaluated the performance of BFACS in terms of the low-temperature anti-cracking, interlayer

bond, and skid resistance. Specimens with different EA and BF contents and lengths were

fabricated to quantify their respective impacts. The findings suggest the optimal BFACS design

at 1.8 kg/m2 EA and 70 g/m2 BF with a length of 70 mm. The BF fiber was proven to substantially

enhance the performance of asphalt-chip seal compared to the controlled specimens (0 % BF).

Specifically, the tensile strength, shear strength, and surface texture depth for the optimal design

were increased by 29.2 %, 51.6 %, and 14.2 %, respectively.

Keywords

basalt fiber asphalt-chip seal (BFACS), wearing course, optimal contents, bond performance, aggregate loss

Introduction

Chip seal is a preventive maintenance treatment used for asphalt pavements. This treatment is formed by

spreading well-graded aggregate over an asphalt-binder membrane as a thin wearing course. The unique

advantages of chip seal compared to other types of pavement surface treatment include its low initial cost

and rapid construction [1,2]. However, issues such as aggregate loss, low-temperature cracking, and

bleeding are still frequently observed with the increasing application of chip seal in China [3–5].

Basalt fiber (BF), which consists of natural basalt rock, is produced by melting raw materials in a

furnace at a temperature of 1450°C–1500°C, followed by manufacturing with platinum-and-rhodium-

alloy wire-drawing bushing [6]. Basalt fiber includes many merits, such as natural compatibility and

Manuscript received March 31,

2016; accepted for publication

January 5, 2017; published online

October 10, 2017.

1 School of Transportation,

Southeast University, Nanjing,

Jiangsu 210096, China

2 School of Transportation,

Southeast University, Nanjing,

Jiangsu 210096, China

(Corresponding author), e-mail:

xyzhang_email@163.com

3 Jinhua Highway Administration

Bureau, Jinhua, Zhejiang 321103,

China

Journal of Testing and Evaluation

Copyright © 2017 by ASTM International, 100 Barr Harbor Drive, PO Box C700, West Conshohocken, PA 19428-2959 1269

doi:10.1520/JTE20160186 / Vol. 46 / No. 3 / March 2018 / available online at www.astm.org

outstanding high-temperature performance, as well as superior

mechanical and stable chemical properties [7,8]; this is one of

the four major high-tech fibers used in China [9].

The applications of BF in asphalt mixture and cement con-

crete have triggered abundant research interests [10]. Sim and

Park [11] investigated BF in concrete structures, which improved

the overall performance of concrete. The tensile strength and duc-

tility were increased by 0.5–1.0 and 3–5 times, and the bearing

capacity was also enhanced compared to the other fiber concretes.

Zielinski and Olszewski [12] determined the optimal content of

BF by testing its physical and mechanical properties using the

modified cement mortar specimens after curing for 28 days.

Dias and Thaumaturgo [13] studied the effects of BF on the frac-

ture toughness of inorganic polymer cement concrete and Portland

cement concrete mixed with BF. Li et al. [14] reported that the

addition of 0.1 % (volume fraction) of BF into the cement concrete

increased its compressive strength and toughness at about 26 %

and 14 %, respectively. Yang et al. [15] concluded that the best

BF volume content to enhance the toughness of concrete is

0.2 %. Fan et al. [16] investigated the properties of BF-reinforced

concrete through a laboratory test and found that the BF-reinforced

concrete has a higher compression strength and deformation capac-

ity compared to the controls (concrete without fiber). Xu et al. [17]

and Wang et al. [18] investigated the performances and mechanical

properties of the BF-reinforced asphalt concrete and found that fiber

positively influenced the performance of asphalt mixture in terms of

high-temperature deformation resistance, low-temperature cracking

resistance, and fatigue behavior. Morova [6] investigated the effect

of BF in hot mix asphalt (HMA) concrete using the Marshall

stability test. The results indicate that the optimum asphalt content

(5 %) and fiber ratio (0.50 %) led to better stability values compared

with other asphalt contents.

Considering its outstanding physical and mechanical proper-

ties, BF is becoming a research hotspot in civil and road engineer-

ing. However, there is limited knowledge on the use of BF as

additives in asphalt-chip seal. In this study, the application rate

and length of BF used in chip seal is investigated to enhance the

performance of asphalt-chip seal in terms of aggregate retention,

interlayer bond, low-temperature anti-cracking, and skid resis-

tance. For this purpose, the specimens of basalt fiber asphalt-chip

seal (BFACS) at various contents of the modified emulsified as-

phalt (EA) and BF were prepared and evaluated by a series of

laboratory tests to determine the optimum BFACS design.

Materials

MATERIAL PROPERTIES

In this study, SBR-modified EAwas used in BFACS. The properties of

EA binders satisfied the requirements of JTG E20-2011 [19], as given

in Table 1. The BF characteristics are presented in Table 2. Basalt rock

was used as an aggregate for the BFACS with a particle size of

5–10 mm, that is, overall gradation is one size or uniformly graded

with fractured faces of 70 %. The physical test results of the aggregates

are listed in Table 3 [20]. The BFACS structure is shown in Fig. 1.

MATERIAL APPLICATION RATES

The fiber asphalt-chip seal (FACS) and ordinary asphalt-chip seal

(OACS) are similar in material design. The FACS solely uses fiber

as an additive to design a procedure of FACS, which can refer to

the OACS theoretically and empirically [21]. The theoretical

method (such as the Kearby and McLeod methods) has different

versions in different countries or regions, without a unified stan-

dard design [22–26]. Thus, the empirical method is frequently

used to determine the range of suitable material contents accord-

ing to the field condition in the construction process [27,28].

Meanwhile, the test specification for the FACS is not well es-

tablished, and the rates in chip seal application are mainly

TABLE 1 EA binder properties.

Properties Values

Evaporated residue Evaporated residual content (%) 63

Penetration (25°C, 0.1 mm) 70

Softening point (°C) 55

Ductility (15°C, 5 cm/min) >100

Solubility (Trichloroethylene) (%) 98.5

Adhesive with mine materials >2/3

Particle charge Positive ion

Emulsification velocity Quick (RS)

Surplus (1.18 mm) (%) 0.02

Mean particle size (μm) 5.65

Maximum particle size (μm) 9.93

TABLE 2 BF characteristics.

Characteristics Values

Physical and mechanical

Density (g/cm3) 2.78

Tensile strength (MPa) 4,100–4,840

Elastic modulus (GPa) 93.1–110

Ductility at break (%) 3.1–3.2

Filament diameter (μm) 13–20

Chemical resistance

H2O (%) 1.5

2 n NaOH (sodium hydroxide) (%) 2.8

2 n HCL (hydrochloric acid) (%) 2.2

TABLE 3 Aggregate properties.

Specific

Gravity

(g/cm3)

Moisture

Absorption (%)

Los Angeles

Abrasion (%)

Crushing

Values (%)

Flakiness

Index (%)

2.946 1.017 15.60 14.33 3.5

1270 Journal of Testing and Evaluation

determined by an empirical method. In this study, the initial

material application rates were determined based on the empirical

method as follows [29]: (1) the aggregates are well graded with a

size of 5–10 mm. The aggregate content was set to 9.5–12.5 kg/m2

in BFACS so that the wearing course can form a compact con-

figuration as a thin layer of even particle distribution. (2) The EA

content range was set to 1.4–2.2 kg/m2 with an interval of

0.2 kg/m2. (3) The BF content range was set to 50–110 g/m2

to investigate the effect of BF on asphalt-chip seal.

Test Methods of BondPerformances and Results

The distresses of OACS in the field occurs because of the insuf-

ficient bond between the binder and the aggregate or between the

chip seal layer and the beneath layer. Therefore, it is important to

assure the bond performance between the component materials

in chip seal design and the engineering application. The bond per-

formance of BFACS was investigated using different test methods,

including plate impact, sweeping, pull-out, and direct shear tests.

The plate impact test was conducted at a low temperature,

whereas the sweeping test was performed at natural temperature

to inspect the adhesion properties between the EA and the aggre-

gates. The oblique load between the chip seal layer and the origi-

nal pavement can be decomposed into the normal and shear

forces. Thus, the pull-out and direct shear tests were carried

out to evaluate the pull and shear strengths upon the interlayer.

To determine the optimum content of each component, this study

used five EA and four BF contents. At this stage, the BF measured

at a length of 70 mm. Three replicated specimens were prepared

and tested in this study.

PLATE IMPACT TEST

The plate impact test (PIT) was used to test the adhesive perfor-

mance between the asphalt and the aggregates under impact

load in chip seals. This can evaluate the aggregate retention

performance by computing the aggregate loss [30,31]. The test

temperature was −18. The developed procedure for the plate

impact test is as follows:

1. Wash and dry the aggregates of 5–10 mm sizes and preparethe specimen mold with dimensions of 180 × 180 mm,maintaining the aggregate and mold at a constant temper-ature of 60°C

2. Take and spray half of the mass of the designed EA contentonto themold, and then scatter the BF evenly onto the mold.

3. Take and spray the other half of the designed EA contentonto the specimen mold, and then scatter it evenly at about100 aggregates on the asphalt binder surface to form a sur-face abrasion layer, as shown in Fig. 2a.

4. Cure the specimens at 60°C for 8 h, and then store them at−18°C for 2 h.

5. Directly invert a specimen mold on the testing apparatusfor 10 s after being cured in the freezer, as shown inFig. 2b, then it is dropped to a stainless steel ball thrice froma 50-cm height on the back of the specimen mold.

6. Count the number of residual aggregates in the mold tocalculate the percentage of aggregate loss using Eq 1.

Aggregate loss rate ð%Þ=NT ,aggregate−NR,aggregate

NT ,aggregate×100 (1)

where:

NT,aggregate and NR,aggregate = the number of aggregates on the

chip-seal specimen before and after the test, respectively.

SWEEPING TEST

Sweeping test (ST) was also used to examine the bond perfor-

mance between the asphalt and the aggregate under friction loads

by calculating the off-aggregate mass for the BFACS. In general,

the more off-aggregate weight in the specimens, the lower the ad-

hesion between the asphalt and the aggregate, and vice versa. The

test procedure follows ASTM D7000-11 [32] (Marshall et al.

[33]). The test temperature was 25°C. The specimens and appa-

ratus of the ST test are presented in Fig. 3a–c. The aggregate loss

was calculated using Eq 2.

Aggregate loss mass ð%Þ =WB,aggregate −WA,aggregate

WB,aggregate× 100 (2)

FIG. 1

Structure model of FACS: (a) structuralschematic diagram of BFACS, and (b) BF.

GU ET AL. ON BASALT FIBER IN SEALING ASPHALT CHIPS 1271

where:

WB,aggregate andWA,aggregate = the weights of the aggregate on

the BFACS specimen before and after the test, respectively.

PULL-OUT TEST

Aside from the bond behavior of chip seal components, it is also

important to evaluate the adhesive property between the chip seal

and the original pavement [34]. The pull-out test was carried out to

investigate the effects of the EA and BF contents on the pull-out

strength between the abrasion course and the original asphalt sur-

face course. The specimen fabrication and test procedure are as

follows:

1. Prepare the base-plates of the asphalt concrete with a heightof 50 mm and a cross section of 300 × 300 mm, referring tothe test methods of JTG E20-2011 [19].

FIG. 3

ST test: (a) specimens, (b) wet wheelabrasion tester, and (c) homemadecleaning brush.

FIG. 2

PIT test: (a) specimen, and (b) inversion ofthe specimen.

1272 Journal of Testing and Evaluation

2. Fabricate a BFACS layer on the base-plate, and then com-press the specimens.

3. Cure the specimens on the over at 60°C for 16 h, and thencool them at room temperature (25°C).

4. Cut the specimens into a square dimension of 50 × 50 mmand paste the pull head on the specimen using an epoxyresin adhesive, as shown in Fig. 4a.

5. Keep the specimens flat, and then install the pull-out in-strument on the pull head and perform the pull-out loadingat a load rate of 100 mm/min [35].

6. Record the pull-out loading value and the size of the BFACSfailure area at the interface to obtain the pullout strength.

DIRECT SHEAR TEST

Direct shear test (DST) was performed to determine the shear

strength and to evaluate the bond performance between the layers

of the tangent direction under shear loads. Through the DST test,

the influence of the EA and BF contents on the bond performance

between the fiber asphalt-chip seal (abrasion course) and the

original pavement course were investigated.

The test was conducted at 25°C in a 50 × 50 mm loading area.

The test model is shown in Fig. 4b. The specimen preparation and

test procedure are similar with the pull-out test.

TEST RESULTS

The four set of test results are plotted in Figs. 5–8. The PIT test in

Fig. 5 shows that the aggregate loss rate in the BFACS gradually

decreases as the EA content increased under the constant BF con-

tent. However, for the same EA content, the value decreases first

and then increases as the BF content increases. The minimum

aggregate loss rate is obtained at 70 g/m2 BF contents and

2.2 kg/m2 EA contents. Similar findings are obtained for the

ST test, as shown in Fig. 6. The minimal aggregate loss values

achieved for the BF and EA contents are 90 g/m2 and 2.2 kg/

m2, respectively. This finding also suggests that the increase of

asphalt content positively influence the adhesion performance be-

tween the aggregate and the asphalt at low and medium temper-

atures. The fiber can significantly improve the aggregate retention

performance, but this improvement effect decreases with exces-

sive fiber. This result can be attributed to the mixture with BF,

which adsorbs the existing redundant oil in the EA to effectively

stop the flow of the free asphalts and to form a dense network

structure among the fiber, asphalt, and aggregates. However, as

the amount of fiber increases continuously, it absorbs the useful

oil content to decrease the adhesive force between EA and aggre-

gate and to increase the aggregate loss.

FIG. 4

Test model for the: (a) pull-out, and(b) DST tests.

FIG. 5

Results of the PIT test: (a) effects of the EA,and (b) the BF contents.

GU ET AL. ON BASALT FIBER IN SEALING ASPHALT CHIPS 1273

The pull-out test indicates that, under the same BF dosage, the

strength generally increases as the EA content rose. However, the

strength rises first and then drops with increasing BF dosages at

the same EA dosage. As shown in Fig. 7, the peak strength value

occurs at 90 g/m2 BF and 2.2 kg/m2 EA contents under pull-out

loading. The DST test result indicates that the shear strength in-

creases first and then reduces with the increase of the EA and BF

contents. Fig. 8 shows that the maximum shear strength is obtained

at 70 g/m2 BF and 1.8 kg/m2 EA contents under shear loading.

Based on the above results and analyses, the aggregate reten-

tion and the strength of the BFACS specimens significantly im-

proved compared to those of the control specimens. Furthermore,

the optimum contents for BF and EA are 70 g/m2 and 1.8 kg/m2,

respectively.

FIG. 6

Results of the ST test: (a) effects of the EA,and (b) the BF contents.

FIG. 7

Results of the pull-out test: (a) effects ofthe EA, and (b) the BF contents.

FIG. 8

Results of the DST test: (a) effects of theEA, and (b) the BF contents.

1274 Journal of Testing and Evaluation

Pavement Performances Evaluation

This section further inspects and analyzes the performances of

BFACS in terms of low-temperature anti-cracking, interlayer

bond, and skid resistance. Specimens at varying EA contents

(1.4, 1.6, 1.8, 2.0, and 2.2 kg/m2), BF contents (0 [control], 50,

70, 90, and 110 g/m2), and BF lengths (30, 70, and 110 mm) were

fabricated to quantify the individual impact. The test matrix is

presented in Table 4.

ANTI-CRACKING AT LOW TEMPERATURE

Cracking is a common distress that occurs in asphalt pavement,

especially in cold regions. The plate tension test (PTT) was used

to obtain the tensile strength of BFACS to further evaluate the BF-

reinforced effect on chip seal. The specimen fabrication and test

procedure are as follows:

1. Prepare a dusting agent of specimens coated by glass base-plates with a length of 300 mm and breadth of 60 mm, andthen place the glass base-plates into a 60°C oven to a con-stant temperature.

2. Fabricate a BFACS layer on the base-plate, and then com-press the specimens.

3. Cure the specimens at a 60°C oven for 8 h; then cool themat a −10°C for 2 h.

4. De-mold the specimens and measure their thicknesses; andthen place the specimens quickly on the testing machine(see Fig. 9), where the loading rate is 20 mm/min under−10°C [35].

5. Record the tensile loading value and calculate the tensilestrength using Eq 3.

σt =P

h × 60(3)

where:

αt = the tensile strength,

P = the maximum tensile load, and

h = the thickness of the specimen.

Effect of EA Content

In the Group A specimen, the developing curve of the tensile

strength and the EA content (see Fig. 10a) show that the tensile

strength of the specimens increases first and then decreases when

the EA content rises at a constant BF content and length.

Furthermore, the low temperature anti-cracking performance

has similar rules and the peak value occurs at 1.8 kg/m2 EA

content. When the EA content is lower than 1.8 kg/m2, it is ab-

sorbed by the fiber so that the asphalt content that binds the ag-

gregates is insufficient. This explains the reduced anti-cracking

performance. With the EA content is increasing, the BF absorbs

the redundant asphalt to form a network structure system and

enhances the bond performance. However, once the EA content

is excessive, the free flow of the asphalt binder in the mixture does

not completely contact with the BF, which develops a weak inter-

face in fiber composites. Thus, the anti-cracking performance at a

low temperature is weakened.

Effect of BF Content

In the Group B specimen, Fig. 10b indicates the developing rule

for tensile strengths, which is similar to that of Group A. The fiber

possesses a high elastic modulus and an excellent tensile strength,

which forms a network system after absorbing the asphalt binder

to effectively prevent an initial cracking extension, thereby

enhancing the crack resistance performance. However, with

the continuous increase of BF content, an excessive BF content

may produce an uneven distribution and even bundle together

resulting in a weak structure interface. The peak strength of

the curve is between 70 and 90 g/m2 BF contents. The peak value

of the tensile strength for BFACS is increased by 32.6 % compared

to the control.

Effect of BF Length

For the Group C specimen, Fig. 10c suggests that the tensile

strength of the specimen increases as the BFs length extends from

TABLE 4 Different BFACS designs.

Type EA Content (kg/m2) BF Content (g/m2) BF Length (mm)

A 1.4/1.6/1.8/2.0/2.2 70 70

B 1.8 0/50/70/90/110 70

C 1.8 70 30/70/110

FIG. 9 PTT tester.

GU ET AL. ON BASALT FIBER IN SEALING ASPHALT CHIPS 1275

30 to 110 mm. Furthermore, the difference in strength at 70 and

110 mm BF length is limited.

ADHESIVE PERFORMANCE AT THE INTERLAYER

Pushing and lumping are frequently observed in the asphalt

pavement under hot temperature, where the former can result

in pavement cracking and the latter influences surface course

smoothness. One of the main causes of these distresses is the lack

of an effective adhesion between the asphalt pavements under re-

peated horizontal vehicle loads resulting in the sliding at the in-

terlayer [34]. The chip seal placed as the surface abrasion layer

above the pavement course is thinner than the other pavement

courses. Thus, these distresses can more easily occur on the in-

terlayer. In this study, the results of the interlayer shear strength

are obtained based on the DST, which further discusses and eval-

uates the bond performance of different EA content, as well as BF

content and length.

Effects of EA and BF Contents

In the Group A specimen, Fig. 11a shows that the shear strength

first increases and then decreases with increased EA content when

the peak strength corresponds to 1.8 kg/m2 EA content. This re-

sult can be attributed to the enlarging aggregates on the contact

areas of the asphalt with aggregates given the same BF content

and the increasing EA content. This condition increases the ad-

hesive force, thereby improving the shear strength. However, if

the EA content is excessive, the additional asphalt binder in-

creases the asphalt film thickness to weaken the interlock between

the aggregates and to degrade the bond performance at the inter-

layer in BFACS.

Fig. 11b indicates that, with the increase of BF content, the

shear strength changes for the Group B specimen is similar with

that of Group A, and its peak strength increased by 51.6 % com-

pared to the result of the control specimen with a corresponding

BF content of 70 g/m2. This is because after mixing with fiber, BF

adsorbs the EA asphalt to increase the viscosity and to form a

dense network structure among the fiber, asphalt, and aggregates.

In addition, the partial fibers inserted into the asphalt concrete

course connect the surface abrasion layer of the chip seal and

the asphalt concrete course to improve shear strength. When

the amount of fiber increases continuously, the fiber may lump

together to form a weak layer to reduce shear strength.

Effect of BF Length

Fig. 11c indicates the limited change of the interlayer shear

strength for the Group C specimen. This result explains that

the BF length is not the main factor influencing the adhesive

property of the interlayer under constant contents of EA and BF.

FIG. 10

Performances of low temperature anti-cracking: (a) EA content, (b) BF content,and (c) BF length.

1276 Journal of Testing and Evaluation

SKID-RESISTANCE PERFORMANCE

The surface abrasion layer of pavements directly contacts with the

vehicle tires; thus, the performance of skid resistance needs to be

assured. The pavement surface texture based on micro- and

macro-textures is strongly related to skid-resistance and tire-

pavement friction, which are important to minimize traffic acci-

dents [36]. In this study, the depth of the surface texture as an

indicator was measured by conducting a texture depth test to

evaluate the effects of the BF on the skid-resistance performance

of the pavement. This test was performed with reference to the

testing method T0731-2000 for JTG E20-2011 of China [19],

wherein sand in the cylinder is initially poured on the surface

of the BFACS specimen, and then spread out into a round shape

from inside to outside using a pushing flat-plate. The diameter of

the round shape is finally measured. The calculated equation of

the surface texture depth is as follows:

TD =1000 × Vπ × D2=4

=31; 831D2 (4)

where:

TD = the surface texture depth value (mm),

V = the volume of sand at 25 cm3, and

D = the average diameter of the flatted sand (mm).

Effect of EA Content

Fig. 12a suggests that the texture depth gradually decreases as the

EA content increased for the Group A specimen; thus, the skid

resistance performance also decreases as the EA content rose. As

the EA content becomes larger than 1.8 kg/m2, the change rate of

the texture depth quickens. For this reason, the rising effect of

asphalt increases along the surface of the aggregates with in-

creased EA content, hence the surface texture depth decreased

at the constant BF content and length of BFACS.

Effect of BF Content

Fig. 12b shows that the skid resistance remarkably increases as the

BF content rises for the Group B specimen. For this reason, the

amount of EA absorbed in the fiber increases as the BF content

increased to reduce the free asphalt content; thus, the rising effect

of EA is diminished. Eventually, the surface texture depth is in-

creased at the same EA content and BF length in BFACS.

Effect of BF Length

Fig. 12c indicates that the texture depth is nearly identical despite

the increased BF length for the Group C specimen. Thus, the BF

length has a limited impact on the skid resistance performance for

the surface abrasion course.

FIG. 11

Performances of the interlayer bond:(a) EA content, (b) BF content, and (c) BFlength.

GU ET AL. ON BASALT FIBER IN SEALING ASPHALT CHIPS 1277

Conclusions

In this study, the basalt fiber additive was used as a surface abrasion

layer in asphalt-chip seal and its performances were evaluated us-

ing a series of laboratory tests. Based on the experiment results

obtained in this paper, the following conclusions can be drawn:

1. Results of the bond performance testing showed that the BFadded in the asphalt-chip seal can remarkably enhance theadhesion performance among the aggregate, asphalt, thepull-out strength, and the shear strength at the interlayercompared to the control specimen. However, it should alsobe noted that this reinforcement effect may decrease givenexcessive fiber. Based on the above results, the optimum BFand EA contents were obtained as 70 g/m2 and 1.8 kg/m2,respectively.

2. Based on the performance analysis of BF-reinforced as-phalt-chip seal in terms of low temperature anti-cracking,interlayer bond, and skid resistance, the findings confirmedthat the ultimate optimal chip seal is composed of1.8 kg/m2 EA and 70 g/m2 BF at a length of 70 mm.

3. The basalt fiber was demonstrated to significantly improvethe asphalt-chip seal performance, including low temper-ature anti-cracking, interlayer bond, and skid resistanceas opposed to the control specimens (0 % BF), wherein

the tensile strength, the shear strength, and the surface tex-ture depth (the optimal content) were increased by 29.2 %,51.6 %, and 14.2 %, respectively. The usage of BF in asphalt-chip seal has a substantial positive impact on the BFACSperformances.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The writers gratefully acknowledge the support of the National

Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51108082). All of

the authors of the works cited herein are much appreciated.

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Skid resistance performances: (a) EAcontent, (b) BF content, and (c) BF length.

1278 Journal of Testing and Evaluation

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