Investigations on the long-term skid resistance of epoxy asphalt mixture based on accelerated loading test

Abstract

Under long-term vehicle loads and large attenuation degrees, asphalt pavements are expected to have reduced slip resistance that does not meet the code requirements, thus impacting driving safety. Epoxy asphalt mixture has been widely used in road construction throughout recent years. Accordingly, it is necessary to explore the long-term skid resistance of epoxy asphalt mixture. Therefore, based on the indoor accelerated loading testing methodology, this paper investigates the anti-skidding performance attenuation of epoxy asphalt and SBS-modified asphalt mixtures at room and high temperatures. The rule of skidding resistance of asphalt mixture with loading times is analyzed, and the feasibility of epoxy asphalt in improving the long-term skid resistance of asphalt pavement is also explored. In general, the study results have shown that the decay rates of British Pendulum Number (BPN), the mean texture depth (MTD), and mean profile depth (MPD) epoxy asphalt mixtures are lower than those of SBS-modified asphalt ones under normal and high temperature loading conditions. Moreover, the fractal dimension of the epoxy asphalt mixture is larger and decays more slowly, and its section texture can be preserved to a greater extent during the loading process. Besides, it is observed that epoxy asphalt mixtures have better long-term skid resistance and greater retention of section texture than the SBS-modified asphalt ones.