Investigating the Dynamic Creep of Polymer Modified Hot Mix Asphalt

Abstract

Jordan's road network continues to deteriorate as a consequence of the continuous increase in traffic and the absence of adequate maintenance work. The primary objective of this study was to enhance HMA performance by using polymer-modified asphalt mixtures. The polymer modifier known commercially as Eastman (EE-2) was mixed with binder penetration grade (60–70) at a ratio of 12%. In order to investigate the performance of polymer, the dynamic creep, the resilient modulus and the stability-flow tests were performed. Marshall Mix design was utilized to prepare a total of 50 samples, of which 20 were used to determine the optimal binder content, and the remaining samples were used to determine the effect of EE-2 modifier on asphalt mixtures. The results showed that the optimal asphalt content was 4.57 percent and revealed that the addition of EE-2 polymer to asphalt cement contributed to the production of a variety of desirable properties. The most important indicator of these developments is increased rutting resistance. For instance, the total permanent deformation has decreased by 87% (8500 to 1000 μm). Conversely, addition of EE-2 has resulted in a threefold increase in the resilience modulus (from 3632 to 10590 MPa). Finally, effect of the EE-2 polymer on the stability was demonstrated by increasing the stability value by about 52%

Keywords

• asphalt mixture
• polymer
• dynamic creep
• resilient modulus
• rutting