Comparison of Ethylene Terpolymer, Styrene Butadiene, and Polyphosphoric Acid Type Modifiers for Asphalt Cement

Abstract

The objective of this study was to compare different modifiers in two asphalt cements, namely Cold Lake 80/100 obtained from the Edmonton, Alberta refinery of Imperial Oil Limited and a PG 58-28 obtained from a now closed refinery in the Montreal, Quebec area. The modifiers investigated were polyphosphoric acid (PPA), styrene-butadiene-styrene (SBS), and reactive ethylene terpolymer (Elvaloy® RET). The comparisons were done based on both unaged and laboratory-aged materials. The investigation covers high temperature grading using a dynamic shear rheometer (DSR), low temperature grading using a bending beam rheometer (BBR), ductile strain tolerance as measured in the double-edge-notched tension (DENT) test and percentage recovered strain using multiple shear creep recovery (MSCR) test. The Superpave® performance grade span was increased for all modifiers with substantial increases in the high temperature rutting parameter G*/sin while the BBR parameters, T(S = 300 MPa) and T(m = 0.3), remained largely unchanged. In the PG 58-28 base asphalt, Elvaloy® modifiers were able to reduce the intermediate Superpave® grade temperature by significant amounts. All polymer modifiers were good at improving the ductile strain tolerance as measured in the DENT test. In contrast, PPA alone reduces the strain tolerance due to the formation of extra asphaltenes and the likely gelation of the asphaltene-rich phase. Nearly all the modified samples passed the MSCR test except those with poor compatibility (i.e. SBS blended with Cold Lake without sulfur, Elvaloy® systems without acid catalyst, and pure PPA modified systems) or no modifier, which did not reach the required elastic recovery at high levels of non-recoverable compliance. In the BBR test done at low temperatures, all modified systems showed similar elastic recovery and viscous (non-recoverable) compliance. However, in the ductile-to-brittle range the Elvaloy® RET-modified binders showed a definite advantage of a few degrees over the unmodified base asphalts. Finally, chemical aging tendencies, as measured by weight gain and carbonyl formation, turned out to be very similar for all the investigated compositions.