Low temperature properties of hot mix asphalts prepared with different polymer modified binders

Abstract

The low temperature crack propagation resistance of pure and polymer modified mixtures is analysed in the paper by means of linear and nonlinear fracture mechanics. The influence of two bitumen-modification binders is considered: styrene-butadiene-styrene (SBS) and ethylene-vinyl-acetate (EVA). The experiments demonstrated that the fracture toughness values increase, and the maximum vertical strain values decrease, with a decrease in temperature. It was established by both techniques used in the paper that the lowest fracture toughness was obtained using the EVA binder.