Rheological properties and engineering application of low-grade asphalt mixture

ABSTRACT

This study investigates the feasibility of low-grade hard asphalt in high-temperature regions. We conducted an analysis of the high-temperature rheological properties of asphalt before and after short-term and long-term aging using the dynamic shear rheological (DSR) test and multi-stress creep recovery (MSCR) test. Additionally, the road performance of the asphalt mixture was studied by rutting test and low temperature beam bending test. The results indicate that the 30# asphalt demonstrates superior anti-rutting performance compared to the 50# asphalt. Furthermore, the rutting factor and fatigue factor of the 30# asphalt during aging are significantly higher than those of the 50# asphalt. With increasing temperature, stress level, and stress action time, the strain of the asphalt gradually increases. The unrecoverable creep compliance of the 50# asphalt exceeds that of the 30#. Although the high-temperature performance of the 30# asphalt mixture outperforms that of the 50# asphalt mixture, it exhibits lower flexural tensile strength and deformation ability at low temperatures compared to the 50# asphalt mixture. Overall, low-grade asphalt demonstrates relatively stable stress variations and exhibits good high-temperature stability.

Keywords
Low-grade hard asphalt; Aging; High-temperature rheological properties; Road performance