Methodology for Assessing Adhesive Bonds of Binder with Stone Material Based on Vacuum-Temperature Effects

If we consider asphalt concrete as a composite building material, consisting of heterogeneous components of different nature and properties, ensuring and controlling the connection between the matrix of the binder and the mineral frame is very important. This directly affects the most important technological and strength properties of the final material and the service life of the asphalt concrete road surface. The most common method for assessing adhesive bonds is a visual comparison of an asphalt concrete mixture boiled in water at a given temperature with an image of a reference sample. In our opinion, this control method is very subjective, since the test result is directly influenced by the researcher’s visual perception of the image. We have developed and described a test method that allows us to obtain an objective picture based on changes in the values of the water saturation index under vacuum-temperature influence. Using the developed methodology, studies were carried out on the adhesive properties of the binder before and after modification with various polymers and their compounds to stone material. For the research, asphalt concrete mixtures were selected, which are most often used as a coating material for the top layers of road pavements in the Republic of Belarus. Analysis of the data obtained showed the dependence of the risk of water penetration between bitumen and stone material with loss of adhesion of the binder to the aggregate on the development of the frame and the thickness of the bitumen film. The explanation for this phenomenon is that the percentage of cohesive delamination increases significantly with increasing bitumen film thickness and can reach 65% of cohesive delamination. At the same time, as the results of the study showed, preliminary modification of bitumen significantly reduces the negative consequences of vacuum-temperature effects on asphalt concrete.

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