Study on the Relationship between Nano-Morphology Parameters and Properties of Bitumen during the Ageing Process

• Main Authors: Mengyuan Zhang, Xuancang Wang, Wengang Zhang, Longting Ding
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2020-03-01
• Series: Materials
• Subjects: atomic force microscopy; nano-morphology parameters; viscosity of bitumen; bee-like structure; ageing
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1944/13/6/1472

Thermo-oxidative ageing is one of the main factors affecting bitumen performance. At present, the research on bitumen ageing has entered the micro stage. The purpose of this paper was to study the relationship between nano-morphology parameters and properties of bitumen of bitumen during the ageing process. To this end, bitumen with different ageing degrees was prepared in this paper, and Atomic force microscopy samples with different cooling rates were prepared. The relationship between ageing degree of bitumen and nano-morphology parameters was analyzed. A functional relationship model between nano-morphology parameters and properties of bitumen was established. The results show that the percentage of bee-like structure area (<inline-formula> <math display="inline"> <semantics> <mrow> <msub> <mi mathvariant="normal">P</mi> <mrow> <mi>bee</mi> <mo>&#8722;</mo> <mi>like</mi> </mrow> </msub> </mrow> </semantics> </math> </inline-formula>), maximum amplitude (<inline-formula> <math display="inline"> <semantics> <mrow> <msub> <mi mathvariant="normal">H</mi> <mrow> <mi>max</mi> </mrow> </msub> </mrow> </semantics> </math> </inline-formula>) and roughness (<inline-formula> <math display="inline"> <semantics> <mrow> <msub> <mi mathvariant="normal">R</mi> <mi mathvariant="normal">q</mi> </msub> </mrow> </semantics> </math> </inline-formula>) increased with the increase of ageing degree. the percentage of bee-like structure area, the maximum amplitude and the roughness increase with the increase of cooling rate. With the increase of the percentage of bee-like structure area, the maximum amplitude and the roughness, the viscosity of bitumen at 60 &#176;C increases, penetration decreases, and softening point increases. There is a nonlinear relationship between the nano-morphology parameters and properties of bitumen.