Antioxidants blend effect on neat and polymer modified binders and mixes

Distresses in pavement have lead to different treatment methods to prevent them. Antioxidant addition to binder is one prevention method not commonly used and is the base of this study. An antioxidants mix was blended with three different PG grades, PG64-22, PG70-22 and PG 76-22. The effects of the addition were studied using rheological and mechanical testing as well with imaging compared to original non-blended binder.

The rheological tests binder was subjected to were the Rotational Viscometer, Dynamic Shear Rheometer, Rolling Thin Film Oven, Pressure Aging Vessel and Bending Beam Rheometer. Mechanically the tests performed were the Hamburg Wheel Track Test, Rutting Test, Indirect Tensile Test and Resilient Modulus Test. Imaging depicted a clear view of what happens internally as binder ages and the degradation of polymers and blend itself.

Substantial data was obtained to state the blend improved properties of binder and mixes. Binder didn't age as much as it did without the blend. Mix performances showed improvement throughout most of the tests and very few failing or negative results were observed. Expansion of testing is recommended to refine results and extend the spectrum of effective AO blends.