High-Temperature Performance Evaluation of Asphaltenes-Modified Asphalt Binders

Abstract

Asphalt binder comprises four main fractions—asphaltenes (A), saturates (S), aromatics (A), and resins (R)—referred to as “SARA”. Asphaltenes plays an important role in determining the linear viscoelastic behavior of asphalt binders. In this research, asphaltenes are added as a distinct modifier to improve the performance properties of asphalt binder. The modified binders are aged using a rolling thin film oven. A dynamic shear rheometer is then used to measure the rheological properties of the binders at high temperatures. Changes in the chemical composition of the modified binders are also studied through the determination of SARA fractions, using precipitation and gravity-driven chromatography methods. The rheological results show that asphaltenes improve the stiffness and elasticity of asphalt binder. It is also shown that the addition of asphaltenes raises the high Performance grade (PG) temperature of the asphalt binder, with every 6% of asphaltenes added resulting in a one-interval increase in high PG temperature grade. SARA analysis shows that the increase in polar fraction content due to the addition of asphaltenes causes the stiffness, elasticity, and viscosity of asphalt binders to increase. The results indicate that asphaltenes are an effective yet inexpensive additive to improve asphalt binder properties at high temperatures.

Amelioration of Bitumen Characteristics Via Natural Rubber Latex and Chlorine Gas

“…The amplitude sweep test shows that the process of chlorination does definitely change the G* and δ for these blends. This is supported by the results from references [13,5]. As such, it can be expected that chlorinated latex bitumen binders have potential application in the roofing applications.…”

“…Another important property to get suitable performance requirements of bitumen pavement is asphaltene equilibrium. Previous research has indicated that increasing asphaltene contents decreases asphalt temperature susceptibility [13]. The asphaltene is the major responsible viscoelasticity of asphalt blends and raising the asphaltenes contents increases asphalt mixes stiffness and viscosity resulting in penetration and creep compliance decrease [13].…”

Penentuan Stabilitas Penyimpanan Aspal Modifikasi Berbasis Karet Alam Padat Jenis Crumb Rubber

“…Difusi fraksi maltene dalam crumb rubber menyebabkan fenomena ekspansi volume (swelling) pada crumb rubber Xia et al, 2021). Fenomena swelling yang terjadi pada crumb rubber oleh fraksi maltene berdampak pada rasio asphaltene dalam aspal yang meningkat dan membuat aspal semakin keras (Ghasemirad et al, 2020). Kekerasan aspal meningkat setelah penambahan crumb rubber mengindikasikan bahwa rata-rata berat dan kerapatan molekul campuran aspal juga turut meningkat (Fang et al, 2016;Hofko et al, 2016).…”

Correlation Analysis between Mechanical Properties and Fractions Composition of Oil-Rejuvenated Asphalt

“…Preliminary studies [ 42 , 43 , 44 ] have been conducted to show that the asphaltene content affects the basic indices of penetration, softening point, Frass brittle point, etc. Among different structural fractions, asphaltenes display the lowest temperature susceptibility [ 45 ], and they significantly contribute to bitumen stiffness, rigidity, and elasticity [ 46 , 47 ]. Xin et al [ 48 ] further investigated the effect of polycyclic aromatic compounds (PAC), a major fraction of asphaltene, on asphalt, and found that the elasticity and complex modulus of asphalt were reduced with increasing PAC.…”