Film formation properties of asphalt emulsion under ambient temperature drying

Abstract

ABSTRACT The film formation properties of asphalt emulsion under ambient temperature drying are important to the mechanical properties of cold asphalt emulsion mixture. Nevertheless, the importance of these properties is not fully understood yet. The dynamic modulus and bonding ability of emulsion residue were studied to characterise the film formation properties of asphalt emulsion. The maximum packing fraction of asphalt droplets (ϕ m) formed during drying was proposed to quantitatively characterise the film structure of emulsion residue. The relationship between the film properties and ϕ m of asphalt emulsion was studied to reveal the mechanism for the different film formation properties of asphalt emulsions. Results showed that the residue properties of different asphalt emulsions could be significantly different due to the various film structure of emulsion residue formed under ambient temperature drying. The dynamic modulus and bonding ability of emulsion residue can linearly increase with the ϕ m of asphalt emulsion. Besides, the ϕ m of asphalt emulsion is decreased with the increasing asphalt droplet size. Therefore, to ensure higher dynamic modulus and bonding ability of emulsion residue, asphalt emulsion with small droplets size is recommended.