The effect of nano-SiO2 and the styrene butadiene styrene polymer on the high-temperature performance of hot mix asphalt

摘要

The production of modified asphalt mixtures with appropriate performance in high temperature has always been under the attention of researchers. One of these modifiers is Styrene Butadiene Styrene (SBS) polymer. Since the application of SBS polymer in bitumen and asphalt mixture does not have expected performance of field due to phase separation of bitumen and polymer, oxidation, and aging, the present study tries to not only improve the polymer defects, but also analyzes its high-temperature performance by using nano-SiO2 and SBS polymer in bitumen modification. According to the study results, adding nano-SiO2 and SBS polymer with 3 and 4.5 bitumen weight percent, respectively, to bitumen in asphalt mixture leads to an increase of flow number in dynamic creep test at 50 degrees C for 399 times and at 60 degrees C for 1,015 times compared to unmodified asphalt mix. This, in turn, indicates the considerable improvement of asphalt mixture high-temperature performance.