Rheological properties and effects of aging on acrylated epoxidised soybean oil monomer-modified asphalt binder

This investigation examines the rheological properties and effects of aging on laboratory produced acrylated epoxidised soybean oil (AESO) monomer (LabAESO) and commercially available AESO (ComAESO)-modified asphalt binders at various concentration levels. The rheological curves show that the polymerisation of AESO occurs during blending with the polymer and that the entanglement characteristic curvature appears gradually as AESO concentration level increases. The findings indicated that sufficiently high level of LabAESO is necessary to affect the neat asphalt binder’s rheological properties as shown in Van Gurp-Palmen curves, master curves, and Black diagrams. The research results revealed that AESO monomer has shown great potential to be used as a modifier in asphalt performance modification. Additionally, LabAESO works better on reducing aging susceptibility than ComAESO, and that is shown clearly with increasing dosage levels of LabAESO and ComAESO.