Incidencia del tipo de filler en las propiedades del mástico asfáltico.

Abstract

Mineral fillers significantly affect the behavior of asphalt mixtures in aspects related to their stiffness, durability, and workability. Although this material has been extensively studied internationally for many years, it receives little attention in Ecuador, where only recovered fillers collected by dust collectors at asphalt plants are used. For this reason, the objective of this study is to assess the impact of different types of fillers—some potentially used as additives—on the quality of mastics prepared with asphalt cement from the Esmeraldas Refinery, both unaged and aged, through routine control tests, in order to formulate recommendations for their use in asphalt mixtures. The fillers used were: lime, Portland cement, basalt, tuffaceous slate, and silty sand, with the first two considered as potential additive fillers. In the preparation of the mastics, the ratio between volumetric concentration and critical concentration was always maintained at one. It is concluded that two properties of the filler are the most influential in its behavior as part of the mastic: particle size distribution (physical) and composition (chemical). Finer gradations, associated with high CaO contents in lime and cement, resulted in mastics with lower consistency and better elastic capacity, both aged and unaged. The disadvantages of using only recovered fillers in the country are evident, especially for asphalt mixtures intended for main roads.