Low-Temperature Reversible Aging

Properties of Selected Asphalt Binders

Based on Thermal Analysis
Haibo Ding 1; Yanjun Qiu, Ph.D. 2; and Ali Rahman, S.M.ASCE 3
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Abstract: The objectives of this paper are twofold: (1) Investigate the low-temperature reversible aging discrepancy mechanism of the
asphalt binders with similar regular low-temperature performance grade; and (2) evaluate the effects of commercial wax on the reversible
aging properties of asphalt binder. First, the mechanisms of reversible aging in asphalt binder were reviewed. Then, regular performance
grading tests and extended bending beam rheometer tests were used to comprehensively evaluate the effect of base asphalt binder type and
commercial wax content on regular performance and reversible aging properties. Moreover, a modulated differential scanning calorimetry test
was applied to analyze the phase transition, crystallization, and melting behavior of selected asphalt binder samples before and after long-term
conditioning. The results showed that commercial wax-based warm mix additive increased the degree of reversible aging (physical hardening)
in asphalt binder. There is a strong relationship between endotherm peak enthalpy and commercial wax content. For asphalt sample with a
higher degree of reversible aging (physical hardening), glass transition temperature (T g ) increased and two separate amorphous domains
formed with the extension of conditioning time. DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)MT.1943-5533.0002625. © 2018 American Society of Civil
Engineers.
Author keywords: Reversible aging; Physical hardening; Thermal analysis; Asphalt binder; Low temperature.

Introduction
Asphalt mixture is one of the essential construction materials that is
used widely in pavement engineering. Recently, because of its
waterproof function, vibration attenuation and bearing capability,
engineers have also applied it as the surface of high-speed railway
track bed (Li et al. 2016). Asphalt pavement cracking issue is a
major distress in cold regions around the world. There are many
factors such as aggregate gradation, asphalt content, pavement
structure, and mixture design that may cause cracking in the pave-
ment. However, physical and mechanical properties of asphalt
binder itself are the critical points that determine the ultimate pave-
ment cracking resistance ability. Using laboratory test methods to
rank the performance of asphalt binder or choosing a suitable as-
phalt binder for a specific region is an effective way to prevent
cracking. Therefore, the bending beam rheometer (BBR) test
(Bahia et al. 1992), direct tension test (Dongré et al. 1997), fracture
toughness test (Hoare and Hesp 2000; Velasquez et al. 2011),
binder compact tension test (Edwards and Hesp 2006), asphalt
binder thermal cracking test (Kim 2005), 4-mm dynamic shear
1
Research Assistant, Highway Engineering Key Laboratory of Sichuan
Province, School of Civil Engineering, Southwest Jiaotong Univ., Chengdu
610031, China. Email: dinghaibo@my.swjtu.edu.cn
2 regular low-temperature performance grade (LTPG), and to assess
Professor, Highway Engineering Key Laboratory of Sichuan
Province, School of Civil Engineering, Southwest Jiaotong Univ., Chengdu
610031, China (corresponding author). Email: yanjunqiu@gmail.com;
807580289@qq.com
3
Research Assistant, Highway Engineering Key Laboratory of Sichuan
Province, School of Civil Engineering, Southwest Jiaotong Univ., Chengdu
610031, China. Email: a.rahman@my.swjtu.edu.cn
Note. This manuscript was submitted on June 11, 2018; approved on
August 30, 2018; published online on December 28, 2018. Discussion per-
iod open until May 28, 2019; separate discussions must be submitted for
individual papers. This paper is part of the Journal of Materials in Civil
Engineering, © ASCE, ISSN 0899-1561.
rheometer (DSR) (Sui et al. 2010), cyclic shear cooling test (Bueno
et al. 2014), Glover-Rowe parameter (Mensching et al. 2015),
and an alternative BBR approach (Marasteanu and Falchetto 2018)
were developed to better characterize the low-temperature proper-
ties of asphalt binder. Premature and excessive cracking, however,
are still a challenge for pavement engineers, especially in northern
Ontario, Canada (Ding et al. 2017; Hesp et al. 2009a, b, c; Yee
et al. 2006). One of the main reasons is an insufficient consider-
ation for low-temperature reversible aging, which is a phenome-
non of gradual hardening when the asphalt sample is conditioned
at a cold temperature for a long time. With requirements like en-
ergy conservation, low emission of greenhouse gases, and main-
taining the temperature of hot mix asphalt during transport, more
pavement engineers are seeking to use commercial wax-based
warm mix additives to meet these demands (Jamshidi et al. 2013).
For a long time, wax was recognized as one of the leading factors
that are responsible for the reversible aging or phase separation in
asphalt binder (Michon et al. 1999; Schmets et al. 2010). How-
ever, Edwards et al. (2006) held the opinion that most of the com-
mercial waxes are microcrystalline waxes that will not increase
the degree of reversible aging in asphalt binder, as indicated by
creep shift factor.
For these reasons, this paper aims to research the reversible
aging discrepancy mechanism of the asphalt binders with similar
the effects of commercial wax on the reversible aging properties
of asphalt binder. To fulfill these objectives, the mechanisms
of reversible aging in asphalt binder are first reviewed. Then,
the regular performance grading (PG) test and the extended
bending beam rheometer (Ex-BBR) test were applied to compre-
hensively evaluate the effect of base asphalt binder type and
commercial wax content on regular performance and reversible
aging properties. Furthermore, a modulated differential scanning
calorimetry (MDSC) test was applied to analyze the phase tran-
sition, crystallization, and melting behavior of selected asphalt

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J. Mater. Civ. Eng., 2019, 31(3): 04018402

 binder samples before and after long-term low-temperature
conditioning.
Background
Reversible Aging in Asphalt Binder
Reversible aging can be separated into steric hardening, which
occurs primarily within the intermediate temperature range,
and physical hardening, which usually refers to the reversible phe-
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nomenon at low temperatures. In this paper, reversible aging re-
lates primarily to physical hardening. Because of the complex
compositional characteristics of asphalt in the pavement, crystal-
lization of waxes and internal structuring of highly polar fractions
(asphaltene) have been recognized as possible mechanisms to ex-
plain reversible aging (Hesp et al. 2007). Claudy et al. (1992) pro-
posed the term spinodal decomposition to describe the theoretical
framework for wax contributions to the reversible aging process.
When an asphalt sample was conditioned at a cold temperature for
a long time, natural wax composition phase would separate or pre-
cipitate from original single homogeneous asphalt binder. Bahia
and Anderson (1991) held the opinion that the collapse of free
volume merely caused the reversible aging as the asphalt passed
through the glass transition region, and it was sensitive to iso-
thermal temperature. Recently, Laukkanen et al. (2018) studied
the low-temperature mechanical properties of asphalt binder
and considered the effect of reversible aging on the shape of
the binder relaxation spectrum. They used the complex glass-
forming liquids theory to explain the coexistence of liquid and
glassy microphases in bitumen when conditioned at low temper-
ature. Johansson and Isacsson (1998) reported that the effect of
filler on the low-temperature reversible aging of asphalt binder
was insignificant.
Thermal Analysis Related to Asphalt Performance
Strategic highway research program researchers found that, com-
pared with small-angle laser scattering and optical microscopy,
thermal analysis is sensitive enough to reveal a detailed phase mor-
phology of asphalt binder and any variation of the structure as a
result of changing the sample thermal treatment. The most available
information regarding thermal analysis of asphalt binder is related
to physical state changes such as glass transition temperature (T g ),
and phase transition such as melting and crystallization. Thermal
analysis can also efficiently determine the natural wax content in
asphalt (Planche et al. 1997). Compared with the regular distillation
method, which needs a high-temperature (up to 500°C) distillation
step, the thermal analysis–based method can avoid destroying the
molecular structure of wax (thermal cracking) in asphalt binder.
Otherwise, cracked, smaller paraffin molecules could be soluble in
ethanol and would not crystallize in the solvent (Lu and Redelius
2007). The differential scanning calorimetry (DSC)–based analysis
approach was developed successfully by Rigg et al. (2017) to de-
scribe the nonisothermal kinetic process of asphalt binder, which
is based on the Ozawa theory. Masson and Polomark (2001) and
Masson et al. (2002) described the time-dependent microstructure
of asphalt by MDSC before and after annealing (conditioning) at
room temperature. However, physical hardening occurs primarily at
lower temperature range. Therefore, the effects of low-temperature
conditioning time on the microstructure of asphalt binder can
be explained by MDSC before and after conditioning at low
temperature.
© ASCE 04018402-2
J. Mater. Civ. Eng., 2019, 31(3): 04018402
Materials and Methods
Asphalt Binders
Two kinds of base asphalt binders that have totally different degrees
of low-temperature reversible aging according to the previous study
were used for further test and evaluation (Qiu et al. 2018). The pen-
etration grade of both asphalt binders is 110#, and all of the em-
pirical performance indicators met the requirements of Chinese
specifications for road materials. The regular performance grade
of these two selected asphalt binders is provided in Table 1. To
further discuss the performance of commercial wax-based modified
asphalt binders, Sample B with different percentages of wax addi-
tive was tested in this study. The reason is that the LTPG of Sample
B suffered from extended conditioning time a little. In other words,
the extent of physical hardening in Sample B is pretty low. By add-
ing commercial wax into this base asphalt, the effect of commercial
wax on the physical hardening of asphalt can be observed more
obviously. If Sample A was chosen as the base asphalt, the possible
higher extent of physical hardening in warm mix asphalt might
be due to the greater extent of physical hardening in base asphalt
rather than additive. The results of regular PG of asphalt samples
are presented in Table 1.
Commercial Wax
The commercial wax used in this paper is FT-paraffin, which is
produced in a so-called Fischer Tropsch synthesis, whereby carbon
monoxide is converted into higher hydrocarbons in catalytic
hydrogenation, followed by a distillation process. It melts at ap-
proximately 100°C, and therefore noticeably reduces the viscosity
of the asphalt binder, which is considered to be an advantage. Ac-
cording to product information offered by the seller, the density of
the commercial wax is 0.912 g=cm3 . First, asphalt binder was
heated up to the 165°C, and then commercial wax was added to
the heated asphalt binder slowly. During this 50-min procedure,
the high shear mixer was set at 5,000 rpm to make the additive
evenly distributed in the asphalt binder.
Extended Bending Beam Rheometer Test
Choosing a right parameter to evaluate the reversible aging degree
of asphalt binders is crucial, as a different method may lead to in-
consistent or even opposite conclusions. Researchers usually use
the creep shift factor, which is the ratio of creep stiffness after time
i of isothermal storage to initial stiffness measured after 1 h of
isothermal storage in BBR, to estimate the magnitude of reversible
aging (Bahia and Anderson 1993; Lu and Isacsson 2000; Santagata
et al. 2016; Tabatabaee et al. 2012). However, there are two primary
deficiencies of this method that restrict its standardization. First,
creep stiffness is a time-dependent parameter, which makes it
impossible to set one threshold for all climates; and second, it is
unable to correlate this parameter with existing theoretical frame-
work to show the adverse effects of reversible aging on field
Table 1. Regular PG of selected asphalt binders
High Intermediate Low
Sample codes grade (°C) grade (°C) grade (°C)
A 66.9 22.3 −26.6
B 64.1 19.1 −27.4
B þ 1%wax 68.6 19.4 −27.0
B þ 2%wax 73.5 21.2 −26.5
B þ 3%wax 79.7 22.8 −25.1
J. Mater. Civ. Eng.

large sample or heating fast
small sample or heating slow
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Fig. 1. Effects of sample size and the speed of heating on DSC curve.
pavement performance. The grade loss (GL) from the Ex-BBR test
(AASHTO TP 122-16) is a prospective parameter to quantify the
magnitude of reversible aging, as it is consistent with the field per-
formance and sensitive to the inferior additives used in asphalt
binder (Angius et al. 2018; Ding et al. 2018; Johnson and Hesp
2014; Kodrat et al. 2007). For these reasons, GL, which is the maxi-
mum difference of low-temperature limiting the grade after 72 h of
conditioning compared with the 1-h result, was used as the param-
eter of low-temperature reversible aging in this paper.
Differential Scanning Calorimetry Analysis
A TA Instrument model 2500 DSC equipped with a refrigerated
cooling system that can control the temperature of crucible between
−90°C and 550°C was used in this study. Compressed nitrogen gas
with a selected rate of 50 mL=min was applied to purge the fur-
nace. For each test, approximately 7–10 mg of asphalt sample
was sealed in the DSC crucible container. To determine how com-
mercial wax may play a role in determining the overall thermal
behavior of the corresponding whole asphalt binder, 5 mg of com-
mercial wax was also tested. (Using great or few amounts of the
tested sample should be avoided, as it may contaminate the sample
container or make the heat flow signal not be clear.) Fig. 1 shows
that by using a significant amount of sample or increasing the heat-
ing speed, the overlap may occur, which can decrease the discrimi-
nating power. However, it can improve the accuracy, as the
detectable signal is amplified and the peak is not affected much
by other external disturbances. Modulated differential scanning
calorimetry applies an oscillating temperature signal to better sep-
arate the reversible and irreversible heat flow. At the same time, it
keeps the same information as regular DSC. Fig. 2 shows the effect
of modulating amplitude on the stability of heat flow signal. As can
be observed, if the modulating amplitude is too low, the signal can
reach a stable state in a few minutes, although it may be hard to
form a distinct signal. If the modulating amplitude is too high,
reaching a steady state will take a long time. To evaluate the tran-
sitions accurately, a temperature scan over a wide temperature
range (from 140°C to −88°C) is recommended. From a series of
trial and error tests, the following procedure was designed. First,
the tested sample was heated to 140°C and held isothermally for
10 min to erase all of the thermal history. It was then cooled at
the rate of 20°C=min to 80°C before being held isothermally for
5 min. Next, it was cooled at the rate of 2°C=min to −88°C and
held isothermally for 5 min. Finally, the temperature was modu-
lated with an amplitude of 0.47°C for 60 s while heating the sample
to 140°C at a rate of 3°C=min. To study the effects of cold storage
time on the thermal behavior of asphalt binders, different condition-
ing times (10 min, 1 h, and 8 h) were also considered, and this
© ASCE 04018402-3
J. Mater. Civ. Eng., 2019, 31(3): 04018402
procedure was according to Bricker and Hesp (2013). The cold
conditioning was performed at −18°C. To explain the significant
difference of the grade loss between Sample A and Sample B, the
cold-conditioning temperature was chosen similar to the Ex-BBR
test.
Results and Discussion
Extended Bending Beam Rheometer Test Results
The grade losses of different kinds of asphalt binders with pro-
longed conditioning time are shown in Fig. 3.
Table 1 and Fig. 3 indicate that two base asphalt binders
(A and B) have almost the same regular PG, whereas their GL has
a significant difference when prolonging the conditioning time. The
GL of Sample A is nearly twice as high as Sample B. Moreover,
adding a certain amount of commercial wax increased the high-
temperature performance grade (HTPG) of Sample B, whereas it
did not significantly decrease the regular LTPG. However, adding
more commercial wax increased the GL of asphalt binder, and the
GL experienced a sharp increase when the conditioning time was
extended to 48 h, especially for Sample B with 3% wax.
General Thermal Analysis Test Results
From the cooling scans of asphalt binders (Fig. 4), prominent exo-
therm peaks appeared in the curves and within the temperature
range of −60°C to −40°C. These peaks are unlikely to be related
to the wax crystallization, as from a systematic literature review,
most of the waxes experienced cold crystallization at approxi-
mately þ30°C in the cooling cycle (Lu et al. 2005). According
to the analysis done by Soenen et al. (2013), these peaks are caused
by loss of contact between the tested asphalt sample and the cor-
responding aluminum sample pan, due to differences in contraction
of the two materials. This also hampers the use of the cooling pro-
cess to determine the T g temperature. Moreover, no noticeable step-
wise transitions were observed from the cooling scans, which
means that no glass transition phenomenon occurred or it was dif-
ficult to observe by using the current test conditions. Another pos-
sible reason that led to a different observation of glass transition
between the cooling and heating scan is that, because of the time
dependency phenomenon of crystallization or molecular associa-
tion, at different cooling rates, generally different molecular struc-
tures exist before the glass transition range is reached (Kriz 2009).
Heating scans from different types of asphalt binders (Fig. 5)
show that there are two stages in the two base asphalt binders.
Moreover, by adding 3% of commercial wax, the overall curve
shape remains unchanged except for the temperature between
70°C and 110°C. Cooling and subsequent heating scans of pure
commercial wax are shown in Fig. 6, which indicates that two en-
dotherm peaks overlap. The endotherm peaks observed in heating
are due to the melting and dissolution of crystallites into the asphalt
matrix or hydrocarbon matrix. The overlapping of peaks may con-
tribute to the blend compositions of microcrystalline wax. The
magnitude of endotherm peak was quantized by the area under
the baseline of normalized total heat flow. The bounds of integra-
tion were determined by extrapolating the end baseline and using
the point of intersection at the onset temperature. From endotherm
peak integration between 40°C and 125°C, the determined dissolu-
tion enthalpy is 219.16 J=g, which is a little higher than what was
reported previously as 200 J=g (Planche et al. 1998). One possible
explanation is that the enthalpy of 200 J=g represents the dissolu-
tion enthalpy of n-alkanes (macrocrystalline wax). However, the
commercial wax is just one kind of isoparaffin or microcrystalline
J. Mater. Civ. Eng.
 0.02 Amplitude=0.02

Oscillatingtemperature ( )
0.015
0.01
0.005
0
-0.005
-0.01
-0.015
-0.02
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
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(a) Time (min)

0.5 Amplitude=0.47
0.4
Oscillatingtemperature ( )

0.3
0.2
0.1
0
-0.1
-0.2
-0.3
-0.4
-0.5
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
(b) Time (min)

2.5 Amplitude=2
2
)

1.5
Oscillatingtemperature (

1
0.5
0
-0.5
-1
-1.5
-2
-2.5
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
(c) Time (min)

Fig. 2. Effect of modulating amplitude on the stability of heat flow signal: (a) amplitude = 0.02°C; (b) amplitude = 0.47°C; and
(c) amplitude = 2°C.

0.08
Normalized total heat flow (W/g)

8
24h 48h 72h
0.06
6
Grade Loss (°C)

4 0.04
A
2 B
0.02
B+3%wax
0
A B B+1%wax B+2%wax B+3%wax 0
Types of asphalt binders -80 -60 -40 -20 0
Temperature (°C)
Fig. 3. Grade losses of different kinds of asphalt binders with pro-
longed conditioning time. Fig. 4. Cooling scans of different kinds of asphalt binders.

© ASCE 04018402-4 J. Mater. Civ. Eng.

J. Mater. Civ. Eng., 2019, 31(3): 04018402

 -0.03 8

Endotherm peak enthalpy (J/g)

Normalized total heat flow (W/g)
A
-0.04
B
-0.05 B+3%wax 6
-0.06
y = 182x + 0.08
R2 = 0.98677
-0.07
4
-0.08

-0.09
2
-0.1
-90 -50 -10 30 70 110 150
Temperature (°C)
0
0% 1% 2% 3% 4%
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Fig. 5. Heating scans of different kinds of asphalt binders.

Commercial wax content (%)

Fig. 7. Endotherm peak enthalpy changed with commercial wax

wax (Edwards and Isacsson 2005). Another reason is that the mea- content during the heating cycle.
sured enthalpy of the sample also depends on the thermal history,
such as the cooling and heating rate. By comparing the endotherm
peak areas of the sample B þ 3%wax and pure wax between the a 10-mg sample to perform the DSC test and is less affected by
integration bounds from 40°C to 125°C, the relative crystallized human operation.
fraction can be determined as 2.2%. This value is also lower than
the expected 3% wax content. The difference between the crystal-
line fraction and the wax dosage can be explained by not all of the Influence of Isothermal Storage Time on the Glass
commercial wax additive being crystallizable once dispersed in Transition
the asphalt, because of impedance or polar associations preventing In general, the reversible signal (i.e., reversible heat flow or revers-
the ordering into crystals. More laboratory tests will be performed ible heat capacity) reflects the kinetic (i.e., nonequilibrium) proc-
to validate this assumption. To determine whether there is any re- esses of the tested sample. Therefore, it is suitable to study the glass
lationship between endotherm peak enthalpy during the heating transition evolution during different isothermal storage times. The
cycle and commercial wax content, Sample B was tested with the reversible heat capacity usually experiences a sharp inflection when
different commercial wax contents mentioned previously. The re- it passes through the glass transition. Thus, the maximum local
sults are shown in Fig. 7. It is evident that a strong relationship value of the first-order derivative of reversible heat capacity versus
exists between endotherm peak enthalpy and commercial wax con- temperature can be regarded as glass transition. Because of the dis-
tent; the correlation coefficient reached as high as 0.986 in this continuous properties (data scattering) of reversible heat capacity
study. (This conclusion is not comprehensive, as Sample B was curve, the derivative of reversible heat capacity versus temperature
almost free of natural wax.) Without a doubt, the original natural curve is not smooth. Therefore, specific thresholds were chosen to
wax in the sample will affect the endotherm peak enthalpy; how- adjust the initially generated curve using TA TRIOS software.
ever, it is expected that a similar equation can be obtained with The dependency of the derivative of reversible heat capacity versus
other asphalt binder types and with different crude oil sources, temperature on isothermal storage time for Samples A and B is pre-
which require further validation. This type of empirical relationship sented in Figs. 8 and 9, respectively. These two samples are chosen
has its own merits, as adding more commercial wax will increase for comparison, as they have an apparent different reversible aging
the grade loss of asphalt binder and may significantly increase trend that can be distinguished from the previous Ex-BBR results.
the possibility of asphalt pavement being cracked. Therefore, the Curves for different cold-conditioning times (10 min, 1 h, and 8 h)
urgent matter is limiting its dosage in asphalt binder according were shifted vertically for clarity. Several exciting changes can be
to the requirements of a specific environment region. A thermal observed when the isothermal conditioning time was extended.
analysis–based method is preferred when quantifying the com- First, the data of Sample A indicate that the peak corresponding to
mercial wax in asphalt binder and when determining whether the
samples are within the allowed limits, as it requires no more than
isothermal conditioning 10min
0.01
isothermal conditioning 1h
(J/(g. 2 ))
2))

0.1 isothermal conditioning 8h

Normalized total heat flow (W/g)

Deriv. Rev Cp (J/(g.

0
-0.1
-0.2
-0.3
Cooling cycle
-0.4
Heating cycle
-0.5 -80 -50 -20 10 40 70 100
-0.6 Temperature ( )
-90 -50 -10 30 70 110 150
Temperature (°C) Fig. 8. Derivative of reversible heat capacity versus temperature for
Sample A. Curves for different cold-conditioning times (10 min,
Fig. 6. Cooling and subsequent heating scans of pure commercial wax. 1 h, and 8 h) are shifted vertically for clarity.

© ASCE 04018402-5 J. Mater. Civ. Eng.

J. Mater. Civ. Eng., 2019, 31(3): 04018402

 0.015 isothermal conditioning 10min
0.01
(J/(g. 2 )) isothermal conditioning 1h
2))
0.01 isothermal conditioning 8h
Deriv. Rev Cp (J/(g. 0.005
0 Bahia, H., and D. A. Anderson. 1991. “Isothermal low-temperature physi-
-0.005
-0.01
-80 -50 -20 10 40
Temperature ( )
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Fig. 9. Derivative of reversible heat capacity versus temperature for
Sample B. Curves for different cold-conditioning times (10 min,
1 h, and 8 h) are shifted vertically for clarity.
the maximum value is shifted horizontally to a higher temperature
with increasing isothermal conditioning time from 15 min to 8 h,
and glass transition temperature (T g ) raised with the extension of
conditioning time for Sample A. In addition, an obvious second
peak occurred at approximately 0°C, suggesting that two separate
amorphous domains can be observed in the tested asphalt matrix. In
other words, phase separation occurred for Sample A with pro-
longed cold-storage conditioning time. Incomplete deconvolution
of the reversible and nonreversible heat flow and cold crystalliza-
tion may also be considered as two possible factors that could lead
to the split of the peak (Kriz et al. 2008). Second, the curve of
derivative of reversible heat capacity versus temperature for Sample
B presents a single maximum value except for the sharp oscillation
of the initial edge data. This sharp oscillation may be caused by the
unstable heat flow signal when the temperature experienced a sud-
den change, and the lack of extra small peaks suggests that fully
compatible amorphous phases exist in Sample B (Song et al. 1998).
Conclusions
Considering the results presented in this paper, the following con-
clusions can be drawn:
1. For asphalt binders with the same regular PG, their GL in LTPG
experienced a significant difference when the conditioning time
was prolonged in this study. The conventional binder PG meth-
od failed to identify asphalt materials with a high trend of re-
versible aging;
2. Adding a certain amount of commercial wax could increase the
HTPG of the asphalt sample, while not significantly decreasing
the regular LTPG. Moreover, using commercial wax as warm
mix additive could increase the degree of reversible aging
(physical hardening) in asphalt binder;
3. The thermal analysis–based method is preferred to quantify the
commercial wax in asphalt binder and to determine whether
samples are within the allowed limits. However, asphalt binders
with different crude oil sources need further validation; and
4. For asphalt samples with a higher degree of reversible aging
(physical hardening), the glass transition temperature (Tg) in-
creased, and two separate amorphous domains formed with
the added conditioning time.
Acknowledgments
This study was supported by the National Natural Science Founda-
tion of China under Grant No. 51778541.
© ASCE
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