Construction and Building Materials 196 (2019) 54–65

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Construction and Building Materials

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Influence of aging on properties of polymer-modified asphalt

Aboelkasim Diab a, Mahmoud Enieb b, Dharamveer Singh c,⇑
a
Aswan University, Department of Civil Engineering, 81542, Egypt
b
Department of Civil Engineering, Assiut University, 71516, Egypt
c
Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, India

h i g h l i g h t s

The carbon component in asphalt binder increased due to aging.

The physical properties of the polymer-modified mixtures were much better than the reference mixture.

The presence of polymeric additives can combat different detrimental effects of aging.

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Although the use of polymeric additives has been widely accepted as a promising strategy to improve
Received 18 February 2018 broad spectrum of pavement deficiencies, aging-induced mechanisms of polymer-modified asphalt bin-
Received in revised form 13 November 2018 ders and mixtures still have critical aspects that should be studied to a comprehensive extent. The pri-
Accepted 13 November 2018
mary objective of this paper is to advance the understanding of aging effect on the properties of
polymer-modified asphalt binders and mixtures. In this study, six different polymeric products were of
specific interest: styrene-butadiene-styrene (SBS), polypropylene (PP), styrene-acrylonitrile (SAN),
Keywords:
high-density polyethylene (HDPE), polycarbonate (PC), and acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS), each
Aging, polymer modification
Asphalt binder
was applied at rates of 2% and 5% (by the wt. of asphalt binder) to prepare polymer-modified binders
Physical properties and mixtures. The prepared binders passed thin film oven test (TFOT), while the mixtures were subjected
Elemental analysis to normal and 16 h production aging. The compositional analysis of asphalt binders was discussed based
Healing on the elemental analysis tests while the penetration, ring and ball, and rotational viscosity tests were
further studied to evaluate the physical properties. The asphalt mixtures were evaluated based on a series
of engineering performance-based properties using indirect tensile strength (ITS), moisture susceptibil-
ity, uniaxial static creep-recovery, resilient modulus, and diametral fatigue tests. The fatigue tests were
conducted without and with rest period so as to provide insight into the healing potential of different
modified mixtures. The results showed that the aging increased the carbon component in all blends;
however mixed results were attained regarding hydrogen, sulphur, and nitrogen. No obvious trends were
ascertained for carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and sulphur due to polymer modification. Aging induced
effects on polymer-modified binders and mixtures are highly dependent on the polymer type and mod-
ification level. Polymer modification had positive influence on ITS, creep strain and recovery ratio, resi-
lient modulus, resistance to moisture damage, and fatigue life. Fatigue tests with rest period proved
that the polymer-modified mixtures have higher tendency to heal compared to the unmodified mixtures,
which resulted in an improvement in the fatigue performance of the mixtures. Except for the fatigue life,
the aging of polymer-modified asphalt mixtures had no detrimental effect on the studied mechanistic
properties.
Ó 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction

The bituminous mixture is a composite consisting of a vis-

coelastic medium (asphalt binder) cementing the coarse and fine
⇑ Corresponding author. aggregates. From cradle to grave, the bituminous pavement is
E-mail addresses: adiab@aswu.edu.eg (A. Diab), m.enieb@aun.edu.eg (M. Enieb), exposed to traffic and environmental impacts that affect the prop-
dvsingh@civil.iitb.ac.in (D. Singh). erties of the constituents and therefore the whole composite with

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2018.11.105
0950-0618/Ó 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 A. Diab et al. / Construction and Building Materials 196 (2019) 54–65
time, among which oxidative aging can be considered one of the
important mechanisms. The mineral aggregate is elastic material,
while the asphalt binder is viscoelastic and the most sensitive con-
stituent by aging. The exposure to thermal changes and diffusion of
the atmospheric oxygen may reach reactive hydrocarbons compo-
nents of asphalt binder thus reaction process can take place, which
in turn change its viscoelastic properties [1]. The induced mecha-
nisms due to oxidative aging can affect not only the asphalt binder,
but would alter the mutual mechanisms between asphalt binder
and mineral aggregate. In other words, the physicochemical asso-
ciated mechanisms with oxidative aging can affect the adhesive
and cohesive bonds within the bituminous mixture; therefore the
aging can affect the overall mechanistic behavior of the asphalt
mixture. Oxidative aging during the production process (short-
term aging) and service life (long-term aging) can ultimately
contribute to pavement failure. The aging results in stiffening of
bituminous materials with time due to volatilization, oxidation,
and other chemical mechanisms [2].
As the asphalt binder is the most influenced constituent by
aging, researchers always seek engineering asphalt binders to meet
certain requirements under different conditions such as aging-
induced damage. Realistically, the intrinsic properties of readily
available asphalt binders are limited, thus researchers commonly
use modified asphalt binders in attempts to produce asphalt mix-
tures that performs satisfactorily under different conditions such
as age hardening. In asphalt industry, there is a natural tendency
to use different additives to improve the performance of the con-
structed pavements under different conditions, hereby, decrease
the maintenance costs and increase the longevity of the pavement
[3,4]. Using polymeric products has increased steadily as an
accepted solution to positively alter the properties of asphalt mix-
tures [5–10]. A number of polymeric products with different che-
mistries have been favored for modification of asphalt mixture;
generally, elastomers and plastomers are two broad categories of
polymer products that commonly used to produce modified mix-
tures. Elastomers (e.g. styrene-butadiene-styrene (SBS)) are char-
acterized by their elastic response or stretching and recovering
their initial shape after removal of applied stress (i.e. enhance
the elastic recovery of an asphalt binder); whereas the plastomers
(e.g. ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA)) can generate a tough, rigid, three
dimensional network in the asphalt binder to resist stresses
[11–14]. The physical properties of the used polymer and the inter-
action or compatibility between polymer and asphalt binder are
the most restrictive factors that control the attained characteristics
by polymer modification [15].
Despite the previous research efforts, polymer-modified asphalt
binders and mixtures have not yet been characterized unambigu-
ously, because of the different chemistries of polymeric products
as well as wide complex nature of asphalt binder, the complex
mechanisms between binder and polymer, and mechanisms
between modified asphalt binder and aggregate [16,17]. Although
the literature is rich of publications proving the capability of poly-
mers to improve different properties of asphalt binders and mix-
tures (e.g.[18–22]), there still some limitations which constrain
the future development of polymer-modified binders and mixtures
in terms of low aging resistance and storage stability [14]. Ruan
et al. [23] investigated the effect of long-term aging on the proper-
ties of polymer-modified asphalt binders. Based on their work,
oxidative aging damaged the polymer network in asphalt binders
further negatively influenced the rheological properties of modi-
fied binders. The modified binders showed desirable rheological
properties compared to the base binder. At the field scale, Reese
and Predoehl [24] reported the improved resistance to aging of
polymer-modified pavements after two-year service in California;
however they indicated that further investigations need to be
55
performed to provide more conclusive results on influence of poly-
mer modification.
Unfortunately there are still some academic debates about the
characteristics of polymer-modified asphalt binder and mixture
under effect of aging [14], thus this study is devoted to supplement
different findings on the effect of aging on properties of asphalt
binders and mixtures modified with different polymeric products.
This study could help to provide insights into the possible charac-
teristics developed with the polymer modification under the effect
of aging at binder and mixture scales.
2. Objectives and scope
The purpose of the current study was to provide a general
understanding on the role of different polymeric products in
asphalt binder and mixture exposed to certain degree of aging.
Six polymer products namely styrene-butadiene-styrene (SBS),
polypropylene (PP), styrene-acrylonitrile (SAN), high-density poly-
ethylene (HDPE), polycarbonate (PC), and acrylonitrile-butadiene-
styrene (ABS), were selected in this research to prepare the modi-
fied binders and mixtures. Physical binder tests including penetra-
tion, softening point, and rotational viscosity were conducted on
unaged and aged binders. These binders were aged using the avail-
able standard method thin-film oven test (TFOT). The elemental
analysis was employed to study the effect of aging on chemical
composition of polymer-modified asphalt binders. The mechanistic
evaluation of normally produced compacted mixtures and those
compacted after the exposure to 16 h aging, was tested based on
different tests including indirect tensile strength (ITS), moisture
susceptibility, uniaxial static creep-recovery, resilient modulus,
and diametral fatigue tests. The fatigue tests were conducted with-
out and with rest period to determine the fatigue lives as well as to
understand the healing potential of polymer-modified mixtures
pre and post extended aging.
3. Hypothesis
This study was initiated with the objective to understand the
effect of aging on polymer-modified binders and mixtures at a cer-
tain degree of aging. It is noteworthy that the asphalt binders were
exposed to short-term aging using TFOT, while the mixtures were
aged under an extended aging of 16 h using traditional oven.
Nonetheless, there is no guarantee that the 16 h extended produc-
tion aging of mixtures will cause long-term aging, thus it was
referred to herein as an extended aging.
4. Materials and preparation of asphalt binders and mixtures
Six commercial polymers with varied characteristics included
the thermoplastic elastomer SBS and five thermoplastics PP, SAN,
HDPE, PC, and ABS, were kindly collected by local supplying com-
panies and used in this study. The polymers were selected to cover
a range of common and uncommon used products in asphalt
industry so as to draw more findings and explore the feasibility
of using different polymers from performance point of view. As
the selected polymers were studied in separate previous studies,
thus the asphalt binder/polymer compatibility could be verified.
The used binders were either base binder or that modified with
2% and 5% of the commercial polymeric additives (SBS, PP, SAN,
HDPE, PC, or ABS). The standard asphalt binder (nominally 60/70
penetration-grade) from Suez refineries was used as the straight-
run binder, typically used in Egypt, was provided by a local con-
tractor. The pertinent properties of the 60/70 base asphalt binder
can be found elsewhere [25].
56 A. Diab et al. / Construction and Building Materials 196 (2019) 54–65
For the preparation of different asphalt binders, a 500 g of base
asphalt binder was heated to 160 °C for one hour prior to the
blending process. To prepare polymer-modified binders, a pre-
specified weight of polymer (by % wt. of base binder) was added
to the heated base binder and left in the oven for 30 min then high
shear mixing was applied for 2 h at 2000 rpm to prepare a homoge-
nous blend. As the preparation process of the modified binders
might induce aging effect, thus to maintain the reproducibility
and repeatability of the tested materials the base binder (without
additive) undergone the same mixing conditions. The available
aging method in the laboratory TFOT (ASTM D 1754) was used to
prepare the aged asphalt binders by putting the asphalt binder
samples in an oven set at a temperature of 163 °C for 5 h. In this
method, the asphalt samples are poured into pans which are
placed on a rotating shelf. This standard method has been used
for a long time to simulate short-term aging that occurs during
production of asphalt mixtures. All the modified binders were
tested right after the preparation to minimize the storage
problems.
Marshall method which is commonly used in Egypt, was uti-
lized to design the hot mix asphalt (HMA) mixtures as per ASTM
D 6926. As the asphalt mixtures are modified with different poly-
meric additives applied at 2% and 5% by the wt. of base asphalt bin-
der, it is desirable to set fixed mixing and compaction
temperatures for all the mixtures so as to compare the attained
results of the prepared samples as varied aging effects might be
induced. Therefore, the highest temperatures of all the modified
asphalt binders 175 °C and 160 °C for mixing and compaction,
respectively, corresponding to rotational viscosities of
0.17 ± 0.02 Pa.s and 0.28 ± 0.03 Pa.s, respectively, tested by DV-II
rotational viscometer, were used to prepare control and all
polymer-modified mixtures. The prepared HMA mixtures compris-
ing crushed limestone as coarse aggregate, siliceous sand as fine
aggregate, limestone dust as mineral filler, and base binder (pen
60/70). The design gradation and specification requirements of
used aggregate are summarized in Table 1. After mixing, as per
AASHTO R 30, the loose mixtures were put in an oven for 2 h set
at the compaction temperature following the normal laboratory
short-term aging (referred to herein as normally aged mixture)
prior to compaction. The preparation of specimens was performed
by applying 75 blows compaction on each side of the HMA speci-
men. The optimum asphalt content was calculated based on the
design requirements as the average of that determined from max-
imum unit weight, maximum stability, and 4% air void content (i.e.
asphalt institute method). After performing the mix design for all
the mixes, the optimum asphalt content of 5.3% was kept the same
for all the unmodified and polymer-modified mixtures, to ensure
that the results are comparable. All the design criteria were
checked for all the mixes to ensure that the prepared mixtures
do not violate the design requirements.
To induce an extended aging of mixtures, researchers have used
many protocols which are discussed elsewhere (e.g. [2,26–29]);
hereby, there is not a unified method to induce the effect of aging
on asphalt mixtures. In this study a specific laboratory aging of
loose mixtures prior to compaction was utilized due to its conve-
nience and reliability. In this method, after mixing, the loose
(uncompacted) asphalt mixture was placed in an oven set at
Table 1
Gradation of aggregate blend and specification requirements.
Sieve size (mm) 1 in. ¾ in. 3/8 in.
(25.4 mm) (19.0 mm) (9.51 mm)
Passing (%) 100 94.9 69.5
Specification limits (%) 100 80–100 60–80
160 °C (laboratory compaction temperature) for 16 h, and then
compaction of samples followed. The asphalt mixtures were placed
in similar pans by maintaining the height of loose sample to expose
the mixture to a homogenous aging. No additional aging was
applied before compaction. The aging of loose asphalt mixtures
has been acknowledged compared to aging the compacted mix-
tures [26]. Generally, this method can induce homogenous aging
in the mixture as the aging of compacted samples is affected by
the air void distribution. Also, this procedure exposes the mixture
to higher oxidation rate compared to the compacted mix. More-
over, the specimen integrity can be maintained, since the aging
of compacted mixture would restructure the constituents forming
the compacted specimen.
Fig. 1 shows a flowchart for the prepared compacted specimens
along with the formulated testing plan of mixtures. A total 300
compacted specimens were prepared which include 3 specimens
for each mixture (13 normally aged and 7 for 16 h aged mixtures)
for each test (dry ITS, wet ITS, uniaxial static creep-recovery, and
fatigue tests), except the resilient modulus test as a non-
destructive test, it was measured before the ITS.
5. Research methods
5.1. Testing of asphalt binders
Three physical tests were performed on the prepared asphalt
binders: (1) the penetration test as per ASTM test method D 5,
(2) softening point (ring and ball) test (ASTM D 36), and (3) rota-
tional viscosity test (AASHTO T 316). Albeit historically old, the
penetration and softening point tests still provide appreciated
results for characterizing binder’s consistency. The DV-II viscome-
ter was used to measure the viscosity test at 135 °C using #27 spin-
dle to evaluate the fluidity of asphalt binder during pumping and
mixing. Three specimens were tested for each material to ensure
the repeatability of the results.
Generally speaking, bitumen (asphalt binder) is a hydrocarbon
matter consisted predominantly of carbon (82%–88%) and hydro-
gen (8%–11%) as well as heteroatoms (nitrogen (0%–1%), sulphur
(0%–6%), oxygen atoms (0%–1.5%), and metals (e.g. vanadium, iron,
nickel, calcium, and magnesium) [30,31]. Common practice is to
characterize the binder from the chemical point of view based on
compositional analysis of carbon (C), hydrogen (H), nitrogen (N),
and sulphur (S) that are normally exist in different bitumen [32].
To quantify the change of these main components C, H, N, and S
due to the effects of polymer modification and oxidative aging, ele-
mental analysis of the asphalt binders was performed. The elemen-
tal analysis tests were carried out at the faculty of science, Cairo
University using the CHNS automatic analyzer. For the elemental
analysis two specimens of each material were tested and the
results were averaged to discuss the study findings. During ele-
mental analysis, a 1 to 3 mg binder sample was encapsulated in
a container. Samples were moved to a furnace in sequence. The
combustion and reduction tubes set at constant temperatures of
1150 °C and 850 °C, respectively, were held in the furnace. The
sample was then loaded into the instrument through the sample
feeder. Purified Helium gas was used as the carrier gas (at a flow
#4 #8 #30 #50 #100 #200
(4.76 mm) (2.38 mm) (0.595 mm) (0.297 mm) (0.149 mm) (0.075 mm)
50 46.5 26.7 16.6 11.2 5
48–65 35–50 19–30 13–23 7–15 3–8
 A. Diab et al. / Construction and Building Materials 196 (2019) 54–65 57

Prepared Asphalt
Mixtures and Tests

SBS-modified SAN-modified PC-modified

mixture mixture mixture

Control PP-modified HDPE-modified ABS-modified

Mixture mixture mixture mixture

2% polymer content 5% polymer content

16 h aging Normally aged 16 h aging Normally aged Normally aged

Static creep- Resilient Fatigue (without and

ITS TSR
recovery modulus with rest period)

Fig. 1. Flowchart explains the work matrix of mixtures and tests.

rate of 200 mL/min and a pressure of 1.2 bar). The sample was
burned with oxygen in the combustion tube to form CO2, H2O,
NOX, and SOX, then undergone reduction process. A thermal con-
ductivity detector was used to detect gases and translate to peaks
of CHNS.
5.2. Testing of asphalt mixtures
5.2.1. Indirect tensile strength (ITS) and moisture susceptibility tests
The ITS was employed to measure the peak tensile stress of the
Marshall-sized specimens. In this test, the compacted specimen
(101.6-mm in diameter by approximately 63.5-mm in height)
was loaded to failure at a rate of 50-mm/min at 25 °C by utilizing
two opposing steel loading strips (ASTM D 6931). The universal
testing machine (UTM) was used to perform such measurement.
The ITS is determined when the value of recorded load starts to
decline (i.e. maximum load Pm ), with the knowledge of specimen’s
dimensions, diameter D, and measured thickness T:
2:Pm
ITS ¼
p:D:T
To evaluate the moisture susceptibility of the studied asphalt
mixtures, the tensile strength ratio (TSR) was determined. The
TSR, the ratio of conditioned tensile strength divided by the dry
tensile strength, evaluates the retained tensile strength of the com-
pacted specimen after passing the conditioning process. In the con-
several studies the uniaxial static creep behavior had been per-
formed following TxDOT’s test method [36]. At testing temperature
of 50 °C, a compressive static load corresponding to 125 kPa was
applied centrally aligned to the thickness of Marshall specimen
using the UTM. The specimens were conditioned for 2 h before
the test is carried out to avoid the temperature gradient within
specimen. The loading-unloading conditions included the applica-
tion of the load for 5000 s then removed suddenly to allow the
specimen to rebound and the axial deformation was recorded as
a function of time for another 5000 s via two strain gauges
mounted vertically on a randomly selected diameter and just
touching the specimen’s top surface. The test procedure is detailed
in the published work [37]. Three specimens of each mixture type
were tested. The real-time strains were recorded to compare the
creep-recovery behavior of normally and 16 h aged polymer-
modified mixtures. In a typical creep-recovery response of a com-
pacted asphalt mixture, the strain is decomposed of a recoverable
part (viscoelastic strain ev e ) and an irrecoverable part (viscoplastic
strain ev p ). At a specified temperature, when a constant stress is
ð1Þ applied to a compacted asphalt mixture for some time then
removed, there is a time-dependent increase and decrease of strain
in the material, Fig. 2. Thus the strain e can then be expressed as
follows [38]:
Strain

ditioning process, two sets including six Marshall specimens of Creep (loading) Recovery (unloading)
each mixture, three of which were conditioned by putting inside
a water bath at 60 °C for 24 h, then dried and tested for the ITS
at 25 °C; while the other set of three specimens is the dry counter-
part from which the ITS was determined. Practically, a minimum
80% ratio is a threshold value to consider the mixture is moisture
resistant.

5.2.2. Uniaxial static creep-recovery test

Creep-recovery can be defined as the time-dependent deforma-
tion of the pavement resulting from trafficking [33,34]. The creep
test mainly captures the deformation resistance of aggregate skele- t Time
ton in the bituminous pavement. The uniaxial compression creep
test had been known as the most frequently used test to character- Fig. 2. Typical response of compacted asphalt mixture under creep-recovery
ize the time-dependent properties of asphalt mixtures [35]. In testing.
58 A. Diab et al. / Construction and Building Materials 196 (2019) 54–65
eðtÞ ¼ eve þ evp
Based on the recorded data, the viscoelastic strain which is the
recoverable part and total creep strain both can be used to assess
the recoverability of an asphaltic mixture. This criterion suggested
herein can be used to differentiate between the ability of different
mixtures to sustain stress and recover after loading. The higher the
recovery ratio er ðtÞ (Eq. (3)) at any time recovery t, the better the
ability of the pavement to restore its original shape after the load
is removed. Also, the lower the creep strain, the better the resis-
tance to deformation.
eve
er ðtÞ ¼
eve þ evp
The values of ev e was recorded at the end of test, while the term
ev e þ ev p corresponds to the strain value at the end of creep step.
5.2.3. Resilient modulus test
The resilient modulus can be simply considered a measure of
the mixture stiffness, and can be defined as the ratio of the applied
repeated stress to the resulting recoverable strain [39]. The test
procedure involves the use of Marshall-sized specimens in the
indirect tension test mode at a temperature of 25 °C. According
to ASTM D 4123, the loading pulse of resilient modulus test is an
offset sine wave involved a 0.1 s loading followed by a 0.9 s rest
period. At this temperature, the load corresponding to 10% of ITS
was applied [40]. Since test is non-destructive, this test was
repeated twice on three specimens of each mixture. The measured
value of each compacted specimen was determined as the average
of two resilient moduli measured by performing the test using two
randomly selected perpendicular diameters of each specimen. Two
opposite strain gauges synchronized with the recorded load were
installed in the horizontal diametral axis of the specimen to record
the deformations. The resilient modulus Mr (Eq. (4)) is calculated
based on the repeated applied load Pr, total resilient deformation
DU, the measured thickness of specimen T, and assumed Poisson’s
ratio m (usually a value of 0.35 for asphaltic materials [41]).
Pr :ðm þ 0:27Þ
Mr ¼
DU:T
5.2.4. Diametral fatigue test (without and with rest period)
Usually the fatigue test is conducted in the laboratory by apply-
ing an uninterrupted repeated load at certain conditions, from
which the fatigue life (number of cycles to failure) can be deter-
mined. However, in the field, the pavement is subjected to loads
with rest periods, i.e. there is an elapsed time between consecutive
axles [42]. In this study it was intended to make use of both
loading programs (i.e. without and with rest period) in order to
understand the healing potential of normally and 16 h aged
polymer-modified mixtures. The fatigue test configuration was
conducted by a method similar to that of Porter and Kennedy
[43] using indirect tensile test. The UTM operating in the
controlled-stress mode was employed to perform the test at a
Time of one cycle = 0.1 s
[a]
Fig. 3. Programs of fatigue loading (without (a) and with rest period (b)).
ð2Þ frequency of 10 Hz and 25 °C. The Marshall-sized specimen was
subjected to a diametral loading corresponding to 10% of the pre-
determined ITS. Application of the sinusoidal loading was trans-
ferred to the specimen through two steel strips curved similarly
to the surface of the test specimen. Two fatigue tests were con-
ducted in this study depending on the loading program applied:

The standardized fatigue test which was performed without
rest period (Fig. 3a).

Fatigue test with interrupted loading; ten times the total time of
hundred sequential cycles was suggested to perform the fatigue
tests with rest period (Fig. 3b). According to the loading fre-
ð3Þ
quency, after every hundred consecutive cycles (total
time = 0.1  100 = 10 s), a 100 s rest period is subjected and this
sequence is repeated until the failure of the specimen.
The fatigue life is measured at the failure of the specimen, i.e. at
which the crack initiation begins [44,45]. The number of cycles to
failure is compared between all the studied mixtures for the sake
of analyses. The test procedure is detailed elsewhere [46,47]. The
healing index (HI) was used to evaluate the healing potential of dif-
ferent mixtures based on the number of cycles to failure from fati-
gue tests performed with and without rest periods, N h and N o
respectively:
Nh
HI ¼ ð5Þ
No
6. Results and discussion
6.1. Results of asphalt binders
In this part the focus is made to provide a discussion of some
basic physical properties as well as the chemical components of
the produced binders due to the effect of polymer modification
pre and post aging. The prepared binders were tested as unaged
and TFO aged and the results are reported in terms of physical tests
ð4Þ (penetration, softening point, and viscosity) and elemental analy-
sis. Figs. 4–6 present the mean values and standard deviation of
the results from the physical tests. To save polymers and from
the believe that the comparison between unaged and aged proper-
ties of binders can be established if only the modified binder that is
tested pre and post aging has same polymer content, 2% and 5% of
each polymer (by weight of binder) were tested pre aging while the
aged asphalt binders were tested for modified binders containing
2% of polymer. The polymer-modified binders have lower penetra-
tion values compared to the unmodified binder. The values of soft-
ening point and viscosity of modified asphalt binders are higher
than those of the unmodified binder. Figs. 4 and 5 clearly show that
the polymer type and content affects the physical properties of the
modified binders. Decrease of penetration and increase of soften-
ing point and viscosity can be noticed from the results due to the
addition of higher content of polymer. The increase in the softening
100 cycles Rest
R period=100
0s 100 cycles
[b]
 A. Diab et al. / Construction and Building Materials 196 (2019) 54–65 59

70
Unaged binder TFO aged binder

60

Penetration [0.1-mm] 50

40

30

20

Fig. 4. Penetration values of different binders (each modified binder is described in the form of polymer type (content)-B, while B refers to binder).

Fig. 5. Softening point values of different binders.

Fig. 6. Dynamic viscosity of different binders (at 135 °C).

point indicates the improvement in high temperature susceptibil- lent rating indicates low penetration and high softening point,
ity. The aging decreases the penetration and increases the soften- and a very poor rating could be governed by high penetration
ing point and viscosity, due to the induced hardness to the and low softening point. The aging affects the fluidity of the asphalt
binder. With regard to penetration and softening point, an excel- binders; as a result of the aging process, the ratio of asphaltenes
60 A. Diab et al. / Construction and Building Materials 196 (2019) 54–65

and maltenes is altered, which increases stiffness and therefore the
viscosity of the binder [48]. It is normal for polymer-modified bin-
ders to become more viscous, i.e. high viscosity, compared to the
base binder due to presence of polymer network which increases
the exerted shear stress while blending. The Superpave design
method obligates that the binder viscosity be a maximum of
3 Pa.s at 135 °C. All the measured viscosities pass this specification.
The asphalt binder can be defined as a complex mixture of
hydrocarbons containing a large number of components. Theoret-
ically, the unmodified binder can be considered as a heterogeneous
matter including hydrocarbons and heteroatoms (small percent-
ages of oxygen, sulfur, and nitrogen) [49,50]; not to mention the
complex mechanisms that would arise from the presence of speci-
fic additives in the asphalt medium as well as aging. The polymeric
additive is not always treated as an inert inclusion into the asphalt
binder but can interact with the surrounding medium, therefore
would affect the chemistry and hence the structure of the asphalt
binder [13,51]. In this sense, this part discusses the chemistry of
polymer-modified asphalt binder based on the results obtained
from the compositional analysis. To understand the chemical
changes in asphalt binders due to presence of polymeric additives
and effect of aging, C, H, N, and S components were measured. The
ratios of C, H, N, and S in the asphalt binder samples were quanti-
fied using the elemental analysis and the typical results of different
studied binders are summarized in Table 2. For all tested binders, a
slight increase in the carbon component was noticed due to age
hardening. This conclusion is shared with Greenfield et al. [52].
The components (C, H, N, and S) of the asphalt binder seem not
affected by the polymer type or content, and no definite trend
could be ascertained.
6.2. Results of asphalt mixtures
6.2.1. Indirect tensile strength (ITS) and moisture susceptibility tests
The average dry and conditioned ITSs with their error bars as
well as TSR values of the normally and 16 h aged mixtures are pre-
sented in Fig. 7a–c. In general, the stiffness of polymer-modified
mixtures is higher than that for the control mixture. The increased
ITS of modified mixtures may be attributed to the stiffer binders or
improved adhesive and/or cohesive strengths due to the presence
of polymeric network. Mixed results of dry and wet ITSs were
attained due to polymer modification. Although few polymeric
products did not show noticeable increase in the ITS compared to
the control mixture, no detrimental effect was registered due to
polymer modification. The increase of polymer content has posi-
tive influence on the measured ITS of all the polymer-modified
mixtures. Interestingly, the aging increased the dry and condi-
tioned ITSs of the control and polymer-modified mixtures. The
increase of ITS due to aging is in agreement with findings from
other researches (e.g. [53]). However, the increase in the ITSs of
polymer-modified mixtures is much higher than the control mix-
ture. The polymeric products have different performance aspects
depending on their type and content, thus according to the desired
performance requirements the polymeric product should be care-
fully selected. The TSR values of the averages fall within specifica-
tion requirement for all the mixtures, i.e. not less than 80% (the
threshold specified by the AASHTO T 283). A high TSR is an indica-
tive of less moisture damage of polymer-modified mixtures com-
pared with the unmodified counterpart. This conclusion is in line
with findings from other researches (e.g. [18,54]). The polymer-
modified mixtures are expected to perform better in terms of mois-
ture susceptibility than the unmodified mixtures.
6.2.2. Uniaxial static creep-recovery test
The time-dependent deformation of asphalt mixtures is a para-
mount characteristic, can be characterized by the strain depen-
dency at constant stress level with the aid of creep tests. This
part discusses the ability of polymer-modified mixtures to resist
creep strain as well as the recovery ratio of strain at the end of
recovery step. A single loading/unloading cycle creep-recovery test
was performed on the normally and 16 h aged mixtures so as to
record the end of cycle strain and maximum strain of creep stage.
The results of creep strain and the recovery ratio are plotted in
Fig. 8a and b. The results are substantially affected by the polymer
type and its content. In this test, higher creep stiffness, i.e. lower
strain, is desired to better describe a rut-resistant mixture. As
shown, the polymer-modified mixtures had the lowest creep strain
compared to the control mixture, indicating better resistance to
the permanent deformation as expected under traffic loads. The
strains of normally aged mixture are a little higher than the mix-
tures after an extended aging. The recovery and therefore the resis-
tance to rutting could be enhanced if higher content of polymer is
applied to the mixture. In general the polymeric products tend to
decrease the creep strain and increase the recovery strain. The
aging decreased the creep strain and increased the recoverability
of the mixtures. This can be attributed to that the mixture after
aging has higher stiffness hereby possesses more elastic character-
istics. When the material has a tendency to recover this means the
ability to regain its original shape, which is desirable under
trafficking.
6.2.3. Resilient modulus test
The resilient modulus as a measure of the mixtures elasticity
had been known as an important strength property of asphalt mix-
tures to help introduce relative quality of different mixes [55]. A
set of three compacted specimens was tested for each mixture

Table 2
Compositional analysis of asphalt binders.

Material % wt. of polymer Unaged TFO aged

C [m%] H [m%] N [m%] S [m%] C [m%] H [m%] N [m%] S [m%]
Base binder 0% 84.16 10.85 0.51 4.43 84.75 10.20 0.50 3.42
SBS-modified binder 2% 84.45 10.86 0.52 4.12 85.11 10.93 0.50 3.41
5% 84.69 10.91 0.51 3.78 – – – –
PP-modified binder 2% 83.95 10.92 0.51 4.22 84.26 10.90 0.51 4.31
5% 84.10 10.96 0.53 4.21 – – – –
SAN-modified binder 2% 84.41 10.92 0.50 4.04 84.79 10.71 0.49 3.98
5% 84.17 10.64 0.50 4.25 – – – –
HDPE-modified binder 2% 84.43 10.77 0.52 4.20 84.72 10.99 0.51 3.72
5% 83.67 10.65 0.49 3.92 – – – –
PC-modified binder 2% 84.21 10.76 0.50 4.29 84.45 10.98 0.50 4.05
5% 83.88 10.68 0.50 4.11 – – – –
ABS-modified binder 2% 83.71 10.94 0.48 3.94 84.15 10.94 0.50 4.23
5% 83.97 10.41 0.47 3.76 – – – –
 A. Diab et al. / Construction and Building Materials 196 (2019) 54–65 61

2000 Normally aged mixture 16 h aged mixture

1600

ITS (kPa) 1200

800

400

[a]

Normally aged mixture 16 h aged mixture

1600

1200
ITS (kPa)

800

400

[b]

100 Normally aged mixture 16 h aged mixture

80
TSR (%)

60

40

20

[c]
Fig. 7. (a) Dry ITSs and (b) conditioned ITSs and (c) TSRs of normally and 16 h aged polymer-modified mixtures (the modified mixtures are described as polymer type
(content)-M, while M refers to mixture).

and average results are presented in Fig. 9 for the normally and
16 h aged mixtures. The polymeric products provide a range of
resilient moduli depending on type and content. The resilient mod-
uli of the mixtures prepared with the polymer-modified binders
are higher than those prepared with the base binder, showing
the increase in mixture stiffness. The results of resilient modulus
tests show that the polymer-modified mixtures in general have
noticeable resiliency compared with the reference mixture, imply-
ing a change in the cohesive and/or adhesive strength of the mix-
ture due to the polymer modification. Unaged mixture modified
62 A. Diab et al. / Construction and Building Materials 196 (2019) 54–65

0.5
Total creep strain Recovery ratio

Total creep strain and recovery ratio

0.45

0.4

0.35
0.3

0.25

0.2

0.15

0.1
0.05

[a]

0.9 Total creep strain Recovery ratio

Total creep strain and recovery ratio

0.8

0.7

0.6

0.5

0.4

0.3

0.2

0.1

[b]
Fig. 8. Creep-recovery strains and recovery ratio for normally aged (a) and 16 h aged (b) polymer-modified asphalt mixtures.

Normally aged mixture 16 h aged mixture

8000

7000
Resilient modulus [MPa]

6000

5000

4000

3000

2000

1000

Fig. 9. Resilient moduli of normally and 16 h aged polymer-modified mixtures.

 A. Diab et al. / Construction and Building Materials 196 (2019) 54–65 63

2000
Normally aged mixture 16 h aged mixture

1800

Fatigue Life
1600

1400

1200

1000

[a]

2600 Normally aged mixture 16 h aged mixture

2200
Fatigue Life

1800

1400

1000

[b]

1.3
Normally aged mixture 16 h aged mixture

1.2
HI

1.1

[c]
Fig. 10. Fatigue lives of mixtures without rest period (a) and with rest period (b) and HI (c) of polymer-modified asphalt mixtures.

with 5% of plastomeric polymer HDPE showed higher resiliency pared with all the aged modified mixtures. The content affects
among the studied unaged modified mixtures. However, the aged the value as well, as the contents increases the modulus slightly
SBS-modified mixture exhibited higher resilient modulus com- increases. It had been indicated that a greater resilient moduli is
64 A. Diab et al. / Construction and Building Materials 196 (2019) 54–65
an indicative of better rutting resistance, as the mixture should
exhibit more resiliency under trafficking. The aging increases the
stiffness of mixture, therefore the mixture behaves close to an elas-
tic material having better recoverability, thus increases the resili-
ent modulus. In different study, Oluwasola et al. [56] concluded
that the aging increased the resilient moduli of asphalt mixtures
prepared with different unmodified binders.
6.2.4. Fatigue test (without and with rest period)
Fig. 10a–c show the results of fatigue tests performed without
and with rest period along with the calculated HI. The fatigue life
was extended significantly with the addition of the polymers to
the asphalt concrete mixture. Different polymeric products have
varied effects on the fatigue life of their mixtures. Increased fatigue
life is desirable for resistance of load-associated cracking, which
implies extended lifespan under dynamic loading of vehicles. The
aging decreased the fatigue life of the unmodified and polymer-
modified mixtures. The aging has detrimental effect on fatigue life,
obviously due to the embrittlement of the binder. The elastomeric
product SBS performed satisfactorily against load-associated crack-
ing therefore it can be a candidate in bituminous pavements to
extend design life. Investigating the effect of rest period on fatigue
life helps add more information about the healing potential of dif-
ferent modified mixtures pre and post extended aging. The poly-
mers could increase the healing potential of mixtures under
fatigue testing as can be proved by the calculated HI. Due to the
presence of elapsed time between the repeated loading cycles,
the polymer-modified mixtures had higher tendency to healing
compared to the control mixture. The HI of modified mixture
excels that of control mixture before and after extended aging.
The mixture that exhibits greater HI should show better healing
capability and extended fatigue life.
7. Summary and conclusions
Although the application of polymer modification has been
known as an attractive strategy to enhance the properties of bitu-
minous pavements, critical aspects associated with mechanisms of
polymers in asphalt due to aging remain to be answered. The
objective of the current study is to present comprehensive experi-
mental results of asphalt mixtures modified with different poly-
meric products including SBS, HDPE, PP, ABS, SAN, and PC and
exposed to certain degree of aging. The binders were TFO short-
term aged, while the mixtures were exposed to an extended aging
of 16 h at the compaction temperature. A suite of laboratory tests
were carried out on asphalt binders including penetration, soften-
ing point, and viscosity to assess the physical properties of binders,
while the elemental analysis was carried out on the binders to
assess the effect of aging as well as polymer modification on the
basic component of the binders (C, H, N, and S). To evaluate the
mechanistic properties of the asphalt mixtures, ITS, moisture sus-
ceptibility, uniaxial static creep-recovery, resilient modulus, and
fatigue tests were conducted. The healing efficiency of the mix-
tures was evaluated by performing the fatigue tests without and
with rest period. Based on the discussed results, the main findings
from this study can be summarized as follows:

The results obtained from the three utilized physical tests (pen-
etration, softening point, and viscosity) pre and post TFO aging
convey similar finding regarding the effect of oxidative aging;
when the binder gets aged, the binder stiffens thus penetration
decreases, and softening point and viscosity increase. The poly-
mer type, content and aging, influence the physical properties
of the asphalt binders quite markedly. The carbon component
in asphalt binder increased due to aging, regardless polymer
modification, while mixed results of H, N, and S components
were attained. No obvious changes in the detected components
were registered due to the effects of polymer type and content.

The used polymers largely affected the mechanical properties of
asphalt mixtures, but the results are distinctively polymer type
and application rate dependent. The results of mechanistic eval-
uation of unmodified and polymer-modified mixtures showed
that the tensile strengths, recovery ratio, resilient moduli, fati-
gue life, and healing potential of the modified mixtures were
much better than the reference mixture. The polymer modifica-
tion also can be a good strategy to mitigate moisture suscepti-
bility of the asphalt concrete mixtures.

The aging increased the ITS, and resilient modulus of the mix-
tures. Aged polymer-modified mixtures also showed better
resistance to creep strain and improved recovery ratio. Despite
the aging had detrimental effect on fatigue life of mixtures, the
presence of polymeric additives could combat this issue. The
calculated HIs showed the higher potential of modified mix-
tures to heal more than the unmodified mixture even after
extended aging. Although the mechanistic properties of
polymer-modified mixtures showed mixed results, the SBS-
modified mixture showed better fatigue life pre and post
extended aging.
8. Directions for future research
The asphalt undergoes different aging processes during con-
struction and life time. However, due to the large matrix of current
work, this study is based on aging modified asphalt binders and
mixtures at a certain degree of aging and extending the aging pro-
cess could produce additional results. Low temperature cracking
could be a good extension of the current work in order to study
the polymer-modified binders and mixtures under a wide range
of conditions. Moreover, future studies can perform such method-
ology on different base binders in order to examine the depen-
dency of the results on the binder type.
Declarations of interest
None.
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