TITLE:
Improvement of Asphalt Properties Using Polymethyl Methacrylate
AUTHORS:
Reda A. Haggam, Ismail M. Ibrahim, Mohamed El-Shafie Abdelatif, Abd El Latief M. Abd Elrhman, Sanaa A. El-Kholy
KEYWORDS:
Asphalt Binder, Rutting, PMMA, TFOT, Ageing
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Organic Polymer Materials,
Vol.4 No.2,
April
25,
2014
ABSTRACT: Increasing traffic loading and volumes on roads have led to the use of
polymer modified binders to improve the performance of bitumen in terms of
strength, durability, and resistance to rutting. This research studies the
effect of adding poly methyl methacrylate (PMMA) with different molecular
weights on asphalt properties. PMMA polymer was prepared via solution
polymerization of MMA using dibenzoyl peroxide (DBPO) as initiator. By
controlling the time of reaction, two different molecular weights were
obtained: PMMA1 and PMMA2 with Mw 21.000 and 30.000, respectively. The
morphological studies of polymer modified binder were discussed. Physical
properties of PMMA modified asphalt including penetration value, softening
point, and kinematic viscosity at 135°C and 150°C were examined. The aging
properties of polymer modified asphalts were examined using thin film oven test
(TFOT). A hot storage stability test was carried out for polymer modified
binder. Indirect tensile strength (ITS) test and durability performance of
modified asphalts were evaluated using Marshall Test. Resilient modulus (RM)
test was evaluated using Universal Testing Machine. Results showed that the
inclusion of PMMA polymer in asphalt binder has significantly improved its
properties. The achieved improvement was found to be dependent on polymer
molecular weight. Moreover, the results explained that the compatibility
between PMMA and asphalt binder is improved upon further aging especially with
low molecular weight polymer (PMMA).