Document Type

Report

Publication Date

10-2018

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of a new generation of Ultraviolet (UV) light-induced selfhealing polymers in enhancing the durability and self-healing properties of asphalt mixtures. Self-healing polymers were successfully synthesized in the laboratory and were characterized using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR). In addition, Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA) results showed that the synthesized polymers achieved the required thermal stability to resist asphalt mixture production processes. Viscosity results showed that addition of 5% Recycled Asphalt Shingle (RAS) and/or 20% Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement (RAP) caused an increase in the viscosity of the binder blends. However, a reduction in viscosity of the binder blends containing recycled asphalt materials was observed when adding self-healing polymers. Semi-Circular Bending (SCB) test results showed that addition of recycled asphalt materials negatively affected the cracking performance of mixtures. However, incorporation of self-healing polymer (SHP) and 48h of UV light exposure improved the cracking resistance. This behavior was more evident with mixtures prepared with an unmodified binder. Loaded-Wheel Test (LWT) results showed that the addition of the self-healing polymer led to an increase in the rut depth of the samples prepared with an unmodified binder. However, the final rut depth was less than 6 mm, which is an acceptable rutting performance. Thermal-Stress Restrained Specimen Test (TSRST) results showed that addition of 5% RAS negatively affected the low-temperature cracking performance of the mix. In contrast, 5% SHP enhanced the lowtemperature cracking performance of the mix by increasing the fracture load and decreasing the fracture temperature. For mixtures prepared with an unmodified binder, the optimum crack healing efficiency was observed for the mixtures containing 5% RAS and 5% self-healing polymer and exposed to 48h of UV light. Yet, self-healing polymer did not perform well in mixtures prepared with PG 70-22M polymer-modified binder. This may be due to the interaction between the polymer in the binder and the self-healing polymer.

Comments

Tran-SET Project No. 17BLSU02

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