Laboratory performances of nano-particles/polymer modified asphalt mixtures developed for the region with hot summer and cold winter and field evaluation

In some regions with hot summer and cold winter, most modified asphalt mixtures cannot meet the requirement of high-temperature stability and low-temperature cracking resistance simultaneously very well, so rutting or cracking often occurs in these regions. This paper tries to use nano-CaCO3/SBR (Styrene butadiene rubber) and nano-ZnO/TiO2/SBS (Styrene–butadiene–styrene) composite modified asphalt mixtures to solve this problem. The properties of these two asphalt mixtures were compared with those of base, SBR modified and SBS modified asphalt mixtures through rutting, beam bending, immersion Marshall, freeze–thaw splitting, three-point bending fatigue and splitting tests. Results show that the high-temperature stability of nano-CaCO3/SBR composite modified asphalt mixture is better than that of SBR modified asphalt mixture, and their low-temperature cracking resistances are close. In addition, the water stability, fatigue performance, performance after ageing, and splitting strength of SBR modified asphalt mixture can be improved by the addition of nano-CaCO3. All of the performances mentioned above of nano-ZnO/TiO2/SBS composite modified asphalt mixture are better than those of base or SBS modified asphalt mixture. In summary, nano-CaCO3/SBR or nano-ZnO/TiO2/SBS composite modified asphalt mixture has good high-temperature stability and low-temperature cracking resistance and can be used in the regions with hot summer and cold winter.