Investigation on high temperature rheological behaviors and fatigue performance of trans-polyoctenamer-activated crumb rubber modified asphalt binder

Abstract

Asphalt binders have been modified with Crumb rubber (CR) as an effort to fulfil the demand for the development of eco-friendly and sustainable pavements. The objective of this study was to investigate the high temperature rheological behaviors and fatigue performance of crumb rubber modified asphalt (CRMA) binder activated using trans-polyoctenamer (TOR). Long-term and short-term aging tests were performed on samples by thin film oven test (TFOT) and pressure aging vessel (PAV). Rotational viscosity (RV), softening point, and dynamic shear rheometer (DSR) tests were conducted to characterize the rheological and physical performance. A linear amplitude sweep (LAS) test was employed to evaluate the fatigue performance. The results show that TOR-activated CRMA is more capable of hardening the matrix bitumen and improving its high-temperature viscoelastic properties after TFOT. The high temperature viscoelasticity is significantly better than styrene-butadiene-styrene block (SBS) modified asphalt (SBSMA) and CRMA. TOR-activated CRMA exhibits strong rutting resistance, but it is more likely to generate fatigue cracks under the violent advancement of complex modulus. Therefore, TOR active agent has a negative impact on the fatigue performance of CRMA. SBSMA exhibited superior fatigue resistance. The viscosity temperature index (VTS) of TOR-activated CRMA and CRMA was basically identical; the TOR did not significantly improve the temperature sensitivity of CRMA.