Experimental investigation on preparation and performance of clear asphalt

Abstract

Coloured micro-surfacing technology has become increasingly popular in pavement construction because of its economic benefit and ability to accept traffic quickly. The main goal of this study was to produce a clear asphalt with superior performance that can be easily emulsified. Two types of resin that are easy to emulsify and one kind of extract oil were used to synthesise the clear asphalt. The clear asphalt was mixed with a styrene butadiene styrene (SBS) modifier at different proportions using a mechanical agitator. The physical properties of the samples were determined via conventional bitumen tests and the optimum formula was obtained by changing the mixture ratio through orthogonal experimentation. The thin-film oven test evaluated the ageing property of the clear asphalt. The surface energy components corresponding to the advancing process and the receding process were determined using the Wilhelmy plate method. The surface free energy (SFE) of the aggregates was measured with a gravimetric sorption analyser. The adhesive bond energies between asphalt samples and aggregates were calculated using their SFE components to evaluate their properties of fracture and healing. Results show that depending on the amount and type of resin added, different synthetic clear asphalts can be obtained. Further, the clear asphalt mixed with SBS is capable of synthesising better properties at high or low temperature. The clear asphalt with aggregates had fracture and healing properties similar to common base asphalt.

Keywords:

• Clear asphalt
• SBS
• pavement performance
• surface free energy
• healing property
• fracture resistance