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. 2018 Dec 5;10(12):1345.
doi: 10.3390/polym10121345.

Effect of Aging on Chemical and Rheological Properties of Bitumen

Zhen Yang  1 , Xiaoning Zhang  2 , Zeyu Zhang  3 , Bingjie Zou  4   5 , Zihan Zhu  6 , Guoyang Lu  7 , Wei Xu  8 , Jiangmiao Yu  9 , Huayang Yu  10
Affiliations

Effect of Aging on Chemical and Rheological Properties of Bitumen

Zhen Yang et al. Polymers (Basel). .

Abstract

Engineering performance of asphalt pavement highly depends on the properties of bitumen, the bonding material to glue aggregates and fillers together. During the service period, bitumen is exposed to sunlight, oxygen and vehicle loading which in turn leads to aging and degradation. A comprehensive understanding of the aging mechanism of bitumen is of critical importance to enhance the durability of asphalt pavement. This study aims to determine the relations between micro-mechanics, chemical composition, and macro-mechanical behavior of aged bitumen. To this end, the effect of aging on micro-mechanics, chemical functional groups, and rheological properties of bitumen were evaluated by atomic force microscope, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and dynamic shear rheometer tests, respectively. Results indicated that aging obviously increased the micro-surface roughness of bitumen. A more discrete distribution of micromechanics on bitumen micro-surface was noticed and its elastic behavior became more significant. Aging also resulted in raised content of carbonyl, sulfoxide, and aromatic ring functional groups. In terms of rheological behavior, the storage modulus of bitumen apparently increased after aging due to the transformation of viscous fractions to elastic fractions, making it stiffer and less viscous. By correlation analysis, it is noted that the bitumen rheological behavior was closely related to its micro-mechanics.

Keywords: aging; bitumen; functional group; micro mechanics; rheological property.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Topography of bitumen specimens before and after lab-simulated aging: (a) 70# bitumen; (b) 50# bitumen; (c) 30# bitumen, for (i) Virgin; (ii) rolling thin film oven (RTFO); (iii) pressure aging vessel (PAV).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Changes in the micromorphology of bitumen before and after aging: (a) Bee structure number; (b) area ratio of bee structure; (c) single bee structure area; (d) roughness.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Derjaguin-Muller-Toporov (DMT) modulus of bitumen specimens before and after aging: (a) 70# bitumen; (b) 50# bitumen; (c) 30# bitumen, for (i) Virgin; (ii) RTFO-aged; (iii) PAV-aged.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Histograms of the DMT modulus of bitumen before and after lab-simulated aging: (a) 70# bitumen; (b) 50# bitumen; (c) 30# bitumen, for (i) Virgin; (ii) RTFO; (iii) PAV.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) spectra of different bitumen before and after aging: (a) 70# bitumen; (b) 50# bitumen; (c) 30# bitumen.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Relationship between the principal component and DMT modulus.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Relationship between the DMT modulus and G’.
Figure 8
Figure 8
Force curve of bitumen in the Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) test.
Figure 9
Figure 9
Master curves of bitumen storage modulus G′ at 20 °C: (a) 70# bitumen; (b) 50# bitumen; (c) 30# bitumen.
Figure 10
Figure 10
Relationship between the DMT modulus and E.
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