The performance of asphalt binders and asphalt mixtures can be enhanced by the inclusion of fiber. The viscoelastic characteristics of fiber-reinforced asphalt binders and their corresponding mixtures were characterized in this study. To generate fiber-reinforced asphalt samples for dynamic shear rheometer (DSR) tests, polypropylene fibers (PPFs), polyester fibers (PFs), and lignin fibers (LFs) were added into modified asphalt with a ratio of 5wt%. Indirect tensile resilience tests were conducted on the fiber-reinforced asphalt mixture with Marshall samples, which was prepared with a 6.4% of bitumen/aggregate ratio. The addition of fiber can increase the anti-rutting performance of asphalt binders, and also reduce the anti-fatigue performance of asphalt binders to varying degrees. Viscoelastic properties of the fiber-reinforced asphalt binders are highly dependent on the shape of the used fiber. The resistance of the fiber-reinforced asphalt binders to rutting at high temperatures increases with the roughness degree of the fiber’s surface morphology. PPF-reinforced asphalt binders surpass the others in terms of anti-rutting capabilities. The high-temperature deformation resistance of the PPF-reinforced asphalt mixture is stronger, whereas the low-temperature crack resistance of the PF-reinforced asphalt mixture is stronger, which can be observed from the master curve of indirect tensile resilient modulus.

Water damage is one of the major distresses of asphalt pavements. Existing methods for investigating the water stability of asphalt mixtures rely primarily on static water test methods, the tensile strength ratio (TSR) test, and the retained Marshall stability (RMS) test, which evaluate the strength and stability loss after freeze-thaw damage or hot water immersion, respectively. However, these methods do not accurately replicate the actual dynamic water damage conditions to pavement. Therefore, in this study, a variety of damage conditions, including static water conditions and dynamic water pressure conditions, were used to investigate the effects of lignin fibers (LFs), polyester fibers (PFs), and polypropylene fibers (PPFs) on the water stability of asphalt mixtures. First, three fibers-enhanced SMA gap-gradation asphalt mixtures were designed. Then, TSR and RMS were measured under traditional static water damage conditions and new dynamic water pressure damage conditions to evaluate the effect of fiber types on the water stability of asphalt mixtures. Finally, the void rate of asphalt mixtures and its changes under dynamic water damage conditions were further revealed with the help of CT scanning technique. Results showed that, among these three types of fibers, PFs-enhanced asphalt mixture exhibited excellent stability under both static and dynamic water conditions, and the CT scanning test also indicated that the PFs can significantly reduce the increase rate of voids in asphalt mixtures after dynamic water pressure damage. This study identified the potential of incorporating suitable type of fiber to enhance the performance of asphalt mixture under dynamic water pressure damage.