Speaker
Description
Abstract. Moisture-induced durability distresses are the key barriers of rubberised asphalt that impede its further application. It is of vital importance to understand the adhesion properties between rubberised binders and aggregates. This study aims to investigate the effects of rubber type, aggregate type and water presence on the interfacial adhesion and debonding properties of the bitumen-aggregate system through molecular dynamics simulation. Results show that the bitumen-aggregate adhesion and debonding behaviours strongly depend on the chemistry and mineralogical properties of the aggregates. Alkali aggregates (e.g., albite and calcite) have stronger bonding with bitumen than acid aggregates (e.g., quartz). By comparison, rubber modification has limited effects on the adhesion properties. The presence of water reduces the adhesion of bitumen-aggregate system. The deterioration degree in adhesion depends on the bitumen-aggregate combinations. The findings in this study can potentially be used for guiding the selections of rubberised bitumen with different aggregates to optimise the mixture performance.
