Experimental Investigation of Grid-reinforced Asphalt Composites Using Four-point Bending Beam Tests

Four-point bending beam tests are applied to investigate the bending behavior of asphalt composites strengthened by grid reinforcements made of carbon, glass, and polyester fiber grids. Both experimental and analytical predictions are compared considering the deflection behavior of carbon grid-reinforced beams. This study especially shows significant structural improvement and better crack resistance of asphalt composite beams by carbon grids. Temperature and loading rate dependencies are also evaluated and compared for both reinforced and unreinforced asphalt composite beams. The maximum bending forces of carbon grid-reinforced beams significantly decrease with decreasing loading rate and increasing the temperature. The deflection behavior of asphalt composite beams reinforced by carbon grids is reasonably predicted using a bilinear damage-based model and a viscoelastic beam theory. The layer-parallel direct shear test is conducted for investigating the interlayer shear behavior of asphalt composite beams.