Variation in chemical property of asphalt immersed in varying aqueous solutions and its leachate property

Abstract

The pavement asphalt properties are susceptible to deterioration under environmental factors, and the deterioration product will affect its surrounding aqueous environment. For this reason, the idealized asphalt-aggregate mixture was treated with coupled temperature, ultraviolet and aqueous solutions based on self-made multifactorial coupled simulation device. Subsequently, the deterioration of asphalt chemical properties was analyzed by fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and saturate-aromatic-resin-asphaltene tests. Meanwhile, the effect of environmental factors on leachate properties was explored based on organic matter contents and chemical elements. Based on that, the grey correlation method was adopted to correlate asphalt chemical properties and leachate properties. The results clearly showed that environmental factors increased the sulfoxide and carbonyl group content of asphalt and transformed the chemical components within it into polar substances. The asphalt chemical properties were gradually improved when coupling ultraviolet with sodium carbonate, sodium chloride and distilled water sequentially. Compared to neutral solution, alkaline solution exacerbated the effect of asphalt precipitates on leachate properties. The environmental factors increased the organic matter contents and chemical elements of leachate with time. The interaction mechanism between asphalt and aqueous environment involved the deterioration of asphalt properties caused by the presence of water, as well as the release of precipitates from aged asphalt into surrounding aqueous environment.