Use of Coconut Charcoal in Pavement as filler

Published on 14 May 2022. Written by Vinay Raj

Nowadays, the steady increase in traffic intensity in terms of commercial vehicles, and the seasonal temperature variations are throwing us into a situation to think some alternatives for the improvisation of the pavement quality and characteristics by applying some necessary changes which shall fulfil both the economic aspects as well as strength.

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A filler is an inert dust material passes through the 200-mesh sieve in a bituminous mixture. The filler fills the voids that are created between coarse aggregate by which the density, stability, and toughness of conventional bituminous increases.

For improvement of the pavement, a mixture of asphalt materials is used so that their durability and performance is increased. For this reason, a better suitable mixture is to be adopted. Nowadays SMA mix (stone mastic asphalt or stone matrix asphalt) is used which is better than Dense Graded Mix (DGM). This mix is first implemented in North America and European countries. The SMA is a mixture in which we use high bitumen content with stone or slag as coarse aggregate and different binders as stabilizers. To increase the efficiency of road and to decreasing the cost of the construction by-products from factories, such as fillers are used. Charcoal of coconut shell is one among them.

Coconut shell charcoal possesses resistance to crushing, absorption, surface moisture, grading, freezing, lightweight, and heating which are the most important features for the pavement. Thus, the lifetime of the pavement is increased. Parameters such as air void ratio, stability, etc. of Coconut shell charcoal is obtained to compare it with different types of fillers.

By these properties that are being possessed by Coconut shell Charcoal, we can try for bringing out a good combination of filler and asphalt so it can be used as a substitute for existing fillers for improving the quality and durability of the pavements. The gradation of the aggregate is taken as of IRC-SP-79 for SMA mix. For experimenting, the Marshall test method is used for obtaining better results.

Requirements:

Knowledge of testing bitumen samples.

Need of coconut shells and burn them into ashes.

Knowledge of operating marshal testing machine for testing bitumen samples.

Knowledge of Bitumen Materials (Flow value, Stability Value).

Project Implementation:

1. Collect the coconut shells and burn them.
2. Take bitumen of the desired grade.
3. Coarse and Fine Aggregate.
4. Find the optimum content of Bitumen.
5. Instruments for evaluating Flow, Penetration and Ductility values of Bitumen.

Advantages:

• Fillers are used to filling the space between the Coarse aggregate to make the bitumen dense. As we are using the used product it is efficient as per cost.
• Coconut shell charcoal has good resisting properties for crushing, absorption, etc… which are lacking in the native bitumen.

Conclusion:

In this project, we are trying to make the bitumen denser and resistant towards the important characteristics of the pavement. So, you will be exposed to real-time studies.

Kit required to develop Use of Coconut Charcoal in Pavement as filler:

• Marshal testing machine

Technologies you will learn by working on Use of Coconut Charcoal in Pavement as filler:

• Transportation
• Pavements
• Surface Coarse

Any Questions?