The Effect of Microwave Radiation on the Self-Healing Performance of Asphalt Mixtures with Steel Slag Aggregates and Steel Fibers

Self-healing in asphalt mixtures is a property that can be enhanced by external heating, which causes a thermal expansion that increases the flow of bitumen with reduced viscosity through the cracks. Therefore, this study aims to evaluate the effects of microwave heating on the self-healing performance of three asphalt mixtures: (1) conventional, (2) with steel wool fibers (SWF), and (3) with steel slag aggregates (SSA) and SWF. After evaluating the microwave heating capacity of the three asphalt mixtures with a thermographic camera, their self-healing performance was determined with fracture or fatigue tests and microwave heating recovery cycles. The results demonstrated that the mixtures with SSA and SWF promoted higher heating temperatures and presented the best self-healing capacity during the semicircular bending test and heating cycles, with significant strength recovery after a total fracture. In contrast, the mixtures without SSA presented inferior fracture results. Both the conventional mixture and that containing SSA and SWF presented high healing indexes after the four-point bending fatigue test and heating cycles, with a fatigue life recovery of around 150% after applying two healing cycles. Therefore, the conclusion is that SSA greatly influences the self-healing performance of asphalt mixtures after microwave radiation heating.