Rheological and chemical characterization on the polymer modified bitumen with different rejuvenators

Abstract

The current commercially available rejuvenators are designed mostly for base bitumen and not suitable for the recycling of PMA. For this reason, this research aims at designing an innovative rejuvenator specifically for the recycling of PMA. Firstly, a series of performance-based test methods, including viscoelastic properties, rutting resistance, fatigue resistance, cracking resistance, relaxation ability and aging ability. Meanwhile, it was found that a series of performance-based evaluation methods can be used to determine the rejuvenator dosage in recycling. Finally, to reveal the rejuvenation mechanism, an environment scanning electron microscope (E-SEM) was utilized in investigating the microstructure of the rejuvenated binder. The results indicate that E-SEM method can distinguish the influence of rejuvenator dosage, rejuvenator type and addition of fresh bitumen on the morphology of aged PMB, which helps us to have a better understanding of the rejuvenation mechanism.