THE EFFECT OF SBR LATEX AND WARM MIX AGENT ON THE PERFORMANCE OF DRY AND WET ASPHALT MIXTURES

Abstract

Moisture damage has been identified as one of the most common causes of distress in asphalt mixes. The attachment between bitumen aggregate components deteriorates when water interacts at the interface, causing the binder to be stripped from the exterior of the aggregate and cohesive breakdown inside the asphalt binder. To reduce the moisture sensitivity of asphalt mixes, styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) and antistripping warm mix additive (WMA) have been frequently utilized. Nevertheless, the application of SBR and WMA as a compound modifier has yet to be investigated thus this research aims to evaluate the influence of SBR and WMA i.e., ZycoTherm on the moisture resistance of asphalt mixtures. For this reason, several tests, including modified Lottman, resilient modulus, and dynamic creep, were used to assess the mechanical properties of the mixes in both wet and dry situations. The results found that the SBR improved the mechanical performance of the mixture in dry conditions, whereas using the ZycoTherm as a single modifier was more effective in improving the performance of the mix in dry conditions. However, the application of the compound modifier (SBR and ZycoTherm) could optimize the performance of asphalt mixtures in both conditions i.e., dry and wet.