Effect of Organic Viscosity-Reducing Warm-Mix Agent on the Performance of Rubber Asphalt

Abstract

Dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) and other evaluation methods were used to investigate the effect of WS-1, an organic viscosity-reducing temperature mixing agent, on the rheological and conventional properties of warm-mix rubber asphalt (WMRA). The results demonstrated that the WS-1 warm-mix agent exhibited an excellent viscosity-reducing effect and that, with the increasing of WS-1 content, the high-temperature viscosity of the WMRA decreased significantly. The viscosity and softening point of the WMRA increased at 60 °C simultaneously, with the softening point increasing by about 15 °C. The penetration and ductility decreased by about 1 mm and 6 cm, respectively, and the activation energy (Eη) and temperature sensitivity increased. These results indicated that WS-1 could improve the high-temperature performance of WMRA but had an adverse effect on its low-temperature performance. Upon using temperature scanning for the WMRA, the addition of WS-1 significantly increased the rutting factor (G*/sin δ) of the WMRA and greatly improved its rutting resistance within the temperature range examined. The addition of WS-1 changed the viscosity of WMRA, thus affecting the hot-storage stability of WMRA at high temperatures.