Mechanical and rheological properties of polyurethane-polyurea (PU-PUa) modified asphalt binder

Abstract

Polyurethane (PU) is one of the common polymer modifiers used for asphalt, and the PU modified asphalt currently plays a fundamental role in road constructions. However, most of the PU as the modification could bring about an increasement in viscosity and rigidity to asphalt binders, thus leading to insufficient ductility and deformation compatibility for the materials to some extent. In the present study, a composite polymer material synthesized with polyurethane and polyurea (PU-PUa) was introduced as a modifier to the asphalt binder in an attempt to integrate their individual advantages into the asphaltic material. The curing time, tensile strength, and Fourier Transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) tests were conducted to determine the optimal proportion of the PU and PUa in the compound polymer, and its formation mechanism was also discussed. The fundamental properties of the asphalt binders modified with various contents of PU-PUa (5%, 10%, and 15% by weight), such as the storage stability, rheological properties, creep recovery capacity, and fatigue resistance, were investigated through the thermal storage, dynamic rheological, stress creep recovery (MSCR), and linear amplitude sweep (LAS) tests. Furthermore, in order to understand the adhesion property of the PU-PUa modified asphalt on aggregates, the pull-off tests considering both dry and water immersion conditions were performed. The test results showed that the PU-PUa could be effectively used to modify asphalt binders, and 7:3 was found to be the best proportion of the PU and PUa. The addition of PU-PUa could promote the high temperature performance, enhance the recovery ability for creep, and extend the fatigue life of the asphalt binders (for both 70# and SBS asphalt). The optimal content of PU-PUa for the modification was found to be 10% based on the storage stability and mechanical performance of the modified asphalt binders.