Evaluation of thermal and viscoelastic properties of asphalt binders by compounding with polymer modifiers

Abstract A series of potentially useful asphalt blends containing polyethylene with different extents of polarity as modifiers have been prepared and characterized for asphalt pavement. The results of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) studies show that poly(ethylene‐graft‐maleic anhydride) (MPE) exhibit more interaction with asphalt phase than low density polyethylene (LDPE) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) due to more dispersion of the amorphous content of MPE into the asphalt matrix. The phase distributions of micrographs from scanning electron microscopy (SEM) confirm that polyethylene modifiers with different extents of polarity in asphalt blends results in dispersion of polymer additive into the asphalt phase and affect the certain degree of the phase separation of asphalt blends. From rheological studies, most of asphalt blends exhibit superior performance at higher temperature with increasing the contents of modifiers such as reducing Newtonian flow response, enhancing rutting resistance as well as frequency of loading and improving creep resistance than tank asphalt. POLYM. COMPOS., 31:1738–1744, 2010. © 2010 Society of Plastics Engineers.