IJSTE - International Journal of Science Technology & Engineering | Volume 2 | Issue 12 | June 2016

ISSN (online): 2349-784X

Study on the Effect of Coir Fibre in the

Bituminous Concrete Mix
Ms. P. Bakiya
P.G. Scholar
Department of Transportation Engineering
CEG, Anna University Chennai-600025

C. Kamaraj
Research Scholar
Department of Transportation Engineering
CEG, Anna University Chennai-600025

Prof. S. Lakshmi
Professor
Department of Transportation Engineering
CEG, Anna University Chennai-600025

Abstract
Bituminous concrete mixes are the structural layer used widely in Flexible pavements. The property of bituminous mixes can be
enhanced by addition of fibres such as coirfibres. Fibre lengths were kept i.e. 10mm, 15mm and 20mm and used at the rate of
0.3%, 0.5% and 0.7% by weight of mix. The mechanical properties such as indirect tensile strength test (ITS), short and long term
ageing test and stiffness modulus test were investigated. It is concluded that the incorporation of coir fibre in the mix enhance the
properties of bituminous concrete.
Keywords: Air Voids, Coir Fibre, Flow, Marshall Stability, Indirect Tensile Strength
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
I.

INTRODUCTION

India having a wide range of climates, terrains, and mixed traffic conditions both in terms of heavy axle loads and volumes. The
premature failure of flexible pavement is due to early development of distress like rutting, cracking, bleeding, pot holing etc. The
incorporation of fibre in the mix improve the mechanical properties. In India about 8 lakh tonnes of coir fibre being generated and
used various by products, the residual waste fibre dumped in open land causing serious environmental pollution. Therefore, a study
has been undertaken to utilize the waste fibre as reinforcement in bituminous concrete. In semi dense bituminous concrete (SDBC)
reinforced with coir fibres in the range of 0% to 0.8% by weight of total mix at an increment of 0.2% enhanced the stability value
by 1.3 times when compared to the reference mix [1]. In bituminous concrete (BC), the fibre length of 17.25 mm with 0.46 % of
fibre content the stability value increased by 1.8 times as compared to the conventional mix. [3]. The addition of fibre also increases
the indirect tensile strength (ITS) and reduces the moisture susceptibility [4-5].
II. MATERIAL PROPERTIES
Bitumen
The bitumen used for the study is VG 30 grade of bitumen which is the most commonly used for road construction in India.
Aggregates
The aggregates used in this study are collected from various quarries near Chennai. Laboratory test was carried out to select the
aggregates which satisfy the required specification.
Coir Fibre
Table 1
Chemical and Physical Properties of Coir

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Study on the Effect of Coir Fibre in the Bituminous Concrete Mix

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Coconut fibre is extracted from the outer shell of a coconut. It is the natural fibre of the coconut husk where it is a thick and coarse
but durable fibre. The property of fibre is shown in Table 1.
III. TESTING ON MATERIALS
Test on Bitumen
Tests on bitumen involve determination of specific gravity, aggregate impact value, flakiness index, elongation index and abrasion.
The results of tests on VG 30 grade of bitumen are shown in Table 2.
Table 2
Tests on Bitumen

Table - 3
Tests on Aggregate

Tests on Aggregate
The tests on the aggregates and the recommended values are shown in Table 3.
Gradation of Aggregate
The mix used in this study is a bituminous concrete mix for grade II. The maximum sieve size for aggregates taken for Grade II is
13.5 mmwith bituminous layer thickness of 40mm. The gradation adopted for mix is within the specified limit in MoRTH and is
given in Table 4.
Table 4
Gradation of Aggregate

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Study on the Effect of Coir Fibre in the Bituminous Concrete Mix

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Fig. 1: Gradation curve for conventional mix

Volumetric Analysis of mixes

Marshall Method of mix design (ASTM D 1556) using MORTH specification vide clause 508. The Marshall samples were prepared
with and without coir fiber as reinforcement and the volumetric properties were analysed. The volumetric properties are given in
Table 5 and represented as figure 2. It is observed that the maximum stability of conventional mix is 18.05 kN and the fibre
reinforced mix is 22.16 kN with OBC of 5.21% and 5.3% respectively.
Table 5
Volumetric Analysis of Conventional and Modified Mix

Fig. 2: Shows the stability, bulk specific gravity, VFB, flow values and air voids for conventional and modified mix.

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Study on the Effect of Coir Fibre in the Bituminous Concrete Mix

(IJSTE/ Volume 2 / Issue 12 / 018)

Fig. 2: Volumetric Analysis

The stability values for each size of the fibre are determined and the corresponding percentage of fibre are obtained. Figure 2 shows
the Marshall Stability value for modified mix with 10mm, 15mm and 20 mm fibres.The air voids present in the mix are found to
be decreasing with the increase in the fibre content as shown in Figure 2. The air voids in the coir fibre mix is 3.4 which is 8% less
than the conventional mix. Similarly, the air voids in the leather fibre mix is found to be 3.7 which is 13.51% less than the
conventional mix.
Indirect Tensile Strength (ITS)
The tensile strength ratio of the mix was calculated as per AASHTO T 283 and found that the conventional mix was 81% and the
modified mix of coir is 93% which shows that the mixture will perform well and provide good resistance to moisture damage and
creep.
Table 6
Indirect tensile strength test result
MIX
ITS Dry (kN/m2) ITS Wet (kN/m2)
Conventional
450
553
Modified Mix
1029
960

TSR (%)
81
93

Fig. 3: Tensile Strength Ratio

Stiffness Modulus Test

The stiffness modulus test as per ASTM D -4123-82 was conducted using UTM -16 equipment at 25C, 40C and 60C at a pulse
width of 100ms and peak load of 1600 N. The resilient modulus of the mixes was shown in Table 10.Then the obtained values are
compared with IRC-37, 2012 which shows that modified mix of coir is found to be doubled in stiffness comparing to conventional
mix and also satisfies the IRC specifications.
Table 7
Stiffness Modulus test result

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Study on the Effect of Coir Fibre in the Bituminous Concrete Mix

(IJSTE/ Volume 2 / Issue 12 / 018)

Source: HRS, Guindy

Fig. 4: Comparison of Stiffness Modulus Value

Short and Long Term Ageing Test

The samples have been prepared, kept at particular temperature for a period of time and then tested to determine the short and long
term effect of modified mix based on stiffness modulus value. The results obtained are compared with IRC requirements. It is
observed that the modified mix will sustain well and increases the life time period of pavement. The result is tabulated in Table
11.
Table 8
Short and Long Term Ageing Test Results

Source: laboratory results

The stiffness values are found to be decreasing with increase in age and temperature for the conventional and modified samples.
The values of the stiffness modulus remain higher than the IRC specifications in the sample with coir fibre, after short term and
long term ageing. Moreover, the inclusion of leather fibre further improves the stiffness modulus to a larger extent. Thus a larger
restoration of the stiffness with age and temperature can be achieved with coirfibre.
IV. CONCLUSION

The optimum binder content for conventional mix is 5.21% whereas the optimum binder content for coir mix is 5.3% by
weight of mix.
The maximum stability of modified mix of coir is found 22.16 KN and the conventional mix is 18.06 KN which is 22.6%
more than the conventional mix.
The air voids are found to be decreasing with the increase in the fibre content. The air voids in the coir fibre mix is found be
8% less than the conventional mix.
The tensile strength ratio for coir has been increased to 14.8% comparing to conventional mix.
In ageing test, stiffness modulus values of coir have been reduced upto 10% and 40% after subjecting to short term and long
term ageing test. This minimum reduction will not affects the performance of pavement because by comparing with IRC
values the modified mix is increases upto 40% even after long term ageing process.
It is concluded that, the fibre reinforced bituminous concrete pavement will sustain on various climatic condition in India.
REFERENCES

[1]
[2]
[3]
[4]
[5]

Arpitasuchismita (2009), A study of effects of binder quality and natural fiber on stone matrix asphalt mixtures, Thesis, Department of Civil Engineering,
National Institute of Technology, Rourkela.
IRC 37-2012 Guidelines for the Design of Flexible Pavements Indian Road Congress.
SigitPranowoHadiwardoyo, Evaluation of the addition of short coconut fibers on the characteristics of asphalt mixtures, Civil and Environmental Research,
Vol.3,No.4, 2013, pp63-73.
Subramani T, Experimental investigations on coir fibre reinforced bituminous mixes, International Journal of Engineering Research and Applications, Vol.
2, Issue 3, 2012, pp.1794-1804.
Supriya C B , Manjunath B H , Dinesh, S V Influence of the fiber on improving mechanical properties of bituminous mixes.

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