Laboratory Investigation of the Composite of Slurry Seal Asphalt Reinforced by Hybrid Nanomaterials and Fiber

Abstract Slurry seals are a hard wearing surface for pavement preservation. The main purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of nanomaterials and styrene butadiene rubber (SBR) latex on fatigue and rutting performance, wet cohesion properties, abrasive performance, and raveling resistance of the fiber-reinforced slurry seal. Firstly, the optimal slurry seal composition was determined under the effect of SBR polymer and synergistic nanomaterials. Results showed that simultaneous addition of nanolime and nanoclay significantly improves the fatigue life and rutting resistance of slurry seal mixtures. In addition, the simultaneous addition of nanomaterials reduces the amount of abrasion by about 63 % and significantly enhances the resistance of a slurry seal mixture. Moreover, the combination of nanomaterials, in particular, nanoclay, with 4 % modified asphalt binder, increases the raveling resistance and ultimately improves the friction resistance of the slurry seal. Finally, after comparing the performance of different mixtures, the slurry seal modified with polyester fiber with 8 % asphalt binder emulsion containing 6 % latex, 3 % nanoclay, and 3 % nanolime was determined as the optimum mixture. The analysis of variance showed that the nanomaterials have a significant effect on the fatigue and rutting properties, adhesion and cohesion resistance and abrasion performance of slurry seal at the confidence level of 95 %.