Developing Master Curves, Binder Viscosity and Predicting Dynamic Modulus of Polymer-Modified Asphalt Mixtures

Abstract

Four kinds of polymer modifier widely used in China are selected to modify the performance of asphalt mixture: styrene butadiene styrene (China), PR PLAST.S (France), Domix (Germany), and Rad Spunrie (China). The main objective of this paper is to evaluate the influence of these polymer modifiers on the performance of asphalt mixture with the dynamic modulus |E*| indicator through simple performance test. Dynamic modulus is adopted as the primary material property of hot mix asphalt mixtures in the M-E Pavement Design Guide 2002. In this study, the influences of temperature, frequency, and confining pressure on the dynamic characteristic of asphalt mixture are analyzed, and the master curves of dynamic modulus are developed and interpreted. The Witczak |E*| predictive model, which is used in the M-E Pavement Design Guide, is also applied to predict the dynamic modulus, and the predicted values are compared with the examined results. Results show that all these polymer modifiers, especially Domix, can strengthen the mixture stiffness, and that high frequency, low temperature, and high confining pressure increase the dynamic modulus of asphalt mixtures. Additionally, the Witczak |E*| model can soundly predict the dynamic modulus of polymer-modified asphalt mixtures.