Effect of chemical warm-mix additives on asphalt binder rheological and chemical properties in the context of aging

Abstract

Warm-Mix Asphalt (WMA) has achieved gradually increasing popularity among researchers and agencies because of the environmental and economic benefits associated with lower production temperatures. An ongoing research study sponsored by the Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT) is focusing on evaluating how different chemical WMA additives and the associated lower production temperatures impact asphalt binder and mixture properties and exploring potential relationships between asphalt rheology and chemistry in the context of chemical WMA and various aging conditions. This manuscript presents partial findings from this study that involved testing of two binder types (modified and unmodified binder) and four different WMA additives (chemical additives). Different aging conditions were simulated by changing the Rolling Thin Film Oven (RTFO) temperature, and by subjecting the binder to different cycles of Pressure Aging Vessel (PAV) aging. Frequency and Temperature Sweep tests by a Dynamic Shear Rheometer (DSR) and Bending Beam Rheometer (BBR) tests were performed for rheological characterization, while Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometer (FTIR) test was conducted for chemical characterization. Analysis of the test results indicated that while all the WMA additives can improve the rheological and chemical properties of control binders at original and RTFO conditions, two additives cause inferior properties after 20 h, 40 h, and 60 h of PAV aging, indicating possible higher aging susceptibility and long-term performance concerns. Good correlations (R2 greater than 0.8) observed between binder rheological parameters and chemical indices indicate the existence of fundamental relationships between asphalt binder’s engineering properties and chemical make-up, which also supports the possibility of using FTIR as a quick screen or fingerprint tool for binder selection and comparison. Two new rheological parameters have been proposed for evaluation of the polymer-modified binder in this study. This was important to address the presence of multi-transition behavior in modified binders. These two parameters show consistent trends with increasing aging conditions.