Polymer Modified Asphalt Binders, Part 2

摘要

The present investigation deals with asphalt mixtures, binder and stoneaggregate. Asphalt mixtures have been made on a laboratory scale in order to study how the binder is affected by the production process and subsequent storage until the asphalt mixture is applied to the road or airfield. Different types of asphalt mixtures have been part of the study. Two different bitumens have been used, one of which has been modified with three different polymers. On the analogy of the investigation concerning binders only (part one) the asphalt mixtures were produced both in air and under an inert atmosphere, nitrogen. The binder has been characterized by SEC (size exclusion chromotography) before and after incorporation into the mixtures. The result of the experiments in air was in accordance with what could be expected from the results obtained previously on binders. The polymer degraded and the bitumen fraction was oxidized. When the experiments were repeated under an inert atmosphere the results were identical, degradation of the polymer and oxidation of the bitumen phase. Since the experiments with binders only under an inert atmosphere left both the polymer and bitumen phase practically unchanged the authors find the present results remarkable.