ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Mater.
Sec. Smart Materials
This article is part of the Research TopicFunctional Materials for Sustainable Pavement Engineering: Multi-scale Design and Environmental IntegrationView all 3 articles
Effects of Salt-induced degradation on the Moisture Stability and High-Temperature Performance of PPA/BF/SBS Composite Modified Asphalt Mixture
Provisionally accepted
- 1Guangxi Nanning Second Ring Expressway Co., Ltd., Nanning, China
- 2Nanning Expressway Construction & Development Co,Ltd, Nanning, China
- 3College of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Guangxi University, Nanning, China
- 4Guangxi University College of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Nanning, China
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Asphalt pavements in coastal hot and humid regions are perennially affected by salt-induced degradation, which exacerbates moisture damage and aging processes in asphalt mixtures. To enhance the resistance to salt-induced degradation, this study employed polyphosphoric acid (PPA) and chemically modified bagasse fiber (BF) for composite modification of SBS asphalt. A systematic evaluation was conducted on the fundamental characteristics of the PPA/BF/SBS composite modified asphalt and pavement performance of its mixtures. By simulating the actual service environment of coastal pavements, a vibrating salt solution immersion test was designed to investigate the evolution of pavement performance for the PPA/BF/SBS composite modified asphalt mixture under salt-induced degradation environment. Molecular dynamics simulations were further integrated to investigate the asphalt adhesion mechanism. The results indicate that after salt-induced degradation, the penetration of all asphalt samples reduced, while the softening temperature and flow resistance increased. The composite modified asphalt exhibited the smallest changes in properties, demonstrating superior resistance to salt-induced degradation. Based on the performance variations both prior to and following salt-induced degradation, the optimal content was determined as 1.0% PPA + 3% BF. The composite modified asphalt mixture maintained higher residual stability both prior to and following salt-induced degradation, indicating effectively improved moisture and high-temperature stability. Molecular dynamics simulations further revealed that the decline in adhesion energy between PPA/BF/SBS composite modified asphalt and the aggregate in salt solution was less pronounced than that of the SBS asphalt, verifying its enhanced anti-erosion mechanism. Overall, the comprehensive pavement performance of the PPA/BF/SBS composite modified asphalt surpasses that of the SBS asphalt.
Keywords: bagasse fiber, Composite modification, Molecular Dynamics Simulation, Pavement performance, Salt-induced degradation
Received: 18 Nov 2025; Accepted: 11 Dec 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Huang, Jian, Liang, Nong, Xu and Huang. 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: Huangfeng Nong
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.