Effect of long-term aging on waste tire rubber and amorphous poly alpha olefin compound modified asphalt binder and its mixtures

Abstract

The aging resistance of asphalt mixture has an important impact on the long-term quality and service life of asphalt pavements. This research aims at studying the effects of long-term aging on waste tire rubber (WTR) and amorphous poly alpha olefin (APAO) modified asphalt binder and mixtures. The prepared compounds included, 12%WTR + 4%APAO and 15%WTR + 4%APAO modified asphalts, were used as experimental objects. Base asphalt binder (70 penetration grade), 15%WTR modified asphalt and styrene–butadiene-styrene (SBS) modified asphalt were the reference objects. First, pressure aging vessel (PAV) and long-term oven aging (LTOA) were used to simulate the long-term aging of asphalt binder and mixture, respectively. Secondly, the performance tests of asphalt binder and mixture were carried out, and the evaluation indexes of the effects of long-term aging on performance were proposed. For the asphalt binder, the results show that the incorporation of WTR and APAO significantly improves the post-aging conventional properties, rheological properties and fatigue properties. The Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) results were found to correlate to the physical tests results. In the asphalt mixture part, the results show that 15%WTR + 4%APAO modified mixture has better high temperature and fatigue performance after aging, among the rubber-based asphalt mixtures. The low-temperature performance of WTR/APAO asphalt mixture was not compromised after aging. Compared with the SBS modified asphalt mixture, the high and low-temperature performance of 15%WTR + 4%APAO asphalt mixture after aging are better. Overall, 15%WTR+4% APAO asphalt mixture has better advantages to counteract the influence of oxidative aging.