Laboratory Study on Ultraviolet Aging Behavior of Asphalt Binder and Mixture

As a type of polymer material, bitumen ages easily under ultraviolet (UV) radiation conditions. However, the effect of UV aging is still not very clear. This paper discusses the behavior of UV aging on asphalt performance of five binders and mixtures by experiment. The results show that binders' physical aging behavior is highly consistent with its rheological properties; the low-temperature flow deforming ability of asphalt degraded remarkably after UV aging. There are close correlations between the mixture's low-temperature deforming ability and the binder's stiffness, and the mixture moisture stability evaluation index (i.e. TSR) and binder's penetration, respectively. In addition, the paper points out that binders' aging behaviors can be well explained with its chemical character: aromatics and resin are the two decisive chemical components of a binder for its anti-ultraviolet aging ability.