ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Built Environ.
Sec. Transportation and Transit Systems
Volume 11 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fbuil.2025.1638263
This article is part of the Research TopicAdvancements and Applications of Balanced Mix Design (BMD) In Asphalt Pavement Engineering: Towards Sustainable And Resilient InfrastructureView all 5 articles
Research on Component Compatibility and Aging Behavior of Chemically Toughened High-Performance Asphalt
Provisionally accepted
- 1Hunan Provincial Expressway Group Co., Ltd., China, Changsha, China
- 2School of Transportation, Changsha University of Science and Technology, Changsha, China
- 3Modern Investment Co., Ltd., Changsha, China
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The compatibility between different oil-source asphalts and green high-viscosity modifiers critically determines the performance and aging resistance of modified asphalt materials. This study systematically investigated three representative oil-source asphalts (noted as BA-A, BA-B, BA-C) combined with a novel green high-viscosity modifier to prepare chemically toughened high-performance asphalts (noted as HP-A, HP-B, HP-C). The research employed comprehensive analytical methods, including physical property characterization, dynamic shear rheometry, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and gel permeation chromatography, to evaluate compatibility mechanisms and aging behavior under both short-term aging (using thin-film oven test) and long-term (using pressure aging vessel) aging conditions. Results show that the green high-viscosity modifier exhibits optimal compatibility with BA-C asphalt, displaying elevated softening point and Brookfield viscosity with superior resistance to shear deformation, making it particularly suitable for high-temperature applications in high-temperature regions and heavy-duty traffic pavements. Under short-term aging condition, HP-A asphalt has the minimal softening point increment of 0.4°C, while HP-C asphalt has the lowest viscosity aging index of 2.6%. Under long-term aging, HP-C asphalt has the lowest softening point increment and viscosity aging index of 4.2°C and 6.1%, respectively, indicating good long-term aging resistance. Molecular analysis reveals that SBS modified asphalt and HP-B asphalt show increased molecular weight distribution ratios due to oxidative crosslinking, whereas HP-A and HP-C asphalts show decreased ratios due to chain segment fracture. HP-B asphalt has the highest sulfoxide aging index increase due to elevated sulfur content, while HP-C asphalt shows superior antioxidant properties with lower carbonyl and sulfoxide aging indices, 43.2% and 36.6%, respectively, attributed to its high aromatic content. The findings recommend the BA-C asphalt and green high-viscosity modifier combination for applications in high-temperature regions and heavy-duty traffic pavements, offering significant improvements in pavement high-temperature stability and long-term durability.
Keywords: Chemically toughened asphalt, Multi-source asphalt, Compatibility, aging behavior, Rheological properties, Functional group index
Received: 30 May 2025; Accepted: 30 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Huang, Wang, Yang, Wang, Zhao and Jiang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Chenxi Wang, School of Transportation, Changsha University of Science and Technology, Changsha, China
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