Investigation of Viscoelastic Properties of Polymer-Modified Asphalt at Low Temperature Based on Gray Relational Analysis

Abstract

As the investigation indexes of low-temperature viscoelastic properties of polymer-modified asphalt (PMA) are unclear at present, in this paper, the creep stiffness (S), creep rate (m), low-temperature continuous classification temperature (TC), ΔTC, m/S, relaxation time ((Formula presented.)), and dissipation energy ratio ((Formula presented.)) were taken as a comparison sequence. The maximum flexural tensile strain (εB) of porous asphalt mixture (PAM) in a low-temperature bending test was selected as a reference sequence. Gray relational analysis was used to investigate the PMA’s low-temperature viscoelastic properties based on a bending beam rheometer (BBR). The results show certain contradictions in investigating the low-temperature properties of PMA when only considering the low-temperature deformation capacity or the stress relaxation capacity. The modulus and relaxation capacity should be considered when selecting the investigation indexes of the low-temperature viscoelastic properties of PMA. When rheological method is used to evaluate the low-temperature of polymer modified asphalt, TC and m/S are preferred. When only S or m is contradictory, m should be preferred. ΔTC can determine whether the low-temperature performance of PMA is dominated by S or m. The result can better guide the construction of asphalt pavement in areas with low temperatures. Asphalt can be selected quickly and accurately to avoid the waste of resources.