Oxidation and Viscosity Hardening of Polymer-Modified Asphalts

Abstract

Asphalt binders are complex mixtures of a wide variety of hydrocarbon materials. Added to this complexity in recent years has been modification with a variety of polymer modifiers. Binders used in this study were commercial materials obtained directly from the suppliers. They include diblock poly (styrene-b-butadiene) rubber (SBR), triblock poly (styrene-b-butadiene-b-styrene) (SBS), and high-cure ground tire rubber. A study of the effect of these modifiers on oxidative aging and on changes in physical properties due to aging shows several effects. Modifiers can reduce oxidative aging rates to some degree, but a bigger effect tends to be to reduce the hardening of binders that occurs in response to oxidative aging. This reduction in hardening rate is expected to have a positive effect on pavement performance over time, relative to the performance of base asphalts. Furthermore, the effectiveness of modifiers varies with the base asphalt.

The temperature effects in aging index of asphalt during UV aging process

“…The asphalt aging involves a set of complex physicochemical processes that result in a harder and more brittle asphalt, which is subject to both low temperature cracking and fatigue cracking [1][2][3]. The component, chemical structure and morphology of asphalt can be changed due to aging after the process of mixing, laying on the road and exposure in the field, further influencing its rheological and mechanical properties [4][5][6][7]. And the aging of asphalt can be divided into two main different ways.…”

Polymer modification of bitumen: Advances and challenges

“…The first field mainly focused on the microstructure, deformation, cracking, ageing and fatigue of PMB [64][65][66][67][68][69][70][71][72][73][74][75][76][77]. Even now, there are still some academic debates in this field.…”

Study of Antiultraviolet Asphalt Modifiers and Their Antiageing Effects

“…Compared with cement pavement, asphalt pavement has remarkable advantages in comfortableness and smoothness [4,5]. However, the UV radiation leads to a shorter lifespan of the pavement.…”