Malluru Swathi, Islam Sk Md Imdadul, Saidi Ahmed, Baditha Anil Kumar, Chiu Gordon, Mehta Yusuf
Center for Research and Education in Advanced Transportation Engineering Systems (CREATES), Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ 08028, USA.
Phenegra Corporation, Summit, NJ 07901, USA.
Materials (Basel). 2025 May 15;18(10):2312. doi: 10.3390/ma18102312.
Increasing traffic loads, extreme climatic conditions, and environmental regulations highlight the need to re-evaluate the use of existing asphalt binders in pavement construction. This paper examines the limitations of conventional and modified asphalt binders by incorporating a comprehensive literature review that focuses on performance, environmental impact, and economic issues. Studies show that binder grade selection, mixing and compaction temperatures, and ageing affect pavement performance and may reduce pavement service life by 10% to 30%. Although modifiers such as polymers and nanomaterials can improve rutting and moisture damage resistance by up to 50%, they have limited effects on fatigue and thermal cracking resistance. Moreover, these modifiers can affect the asphalt mixture production process due to source variability, leading to complex mixing methods, increased cost, and higher emissions. Additionally, high-temperature asphalt mixture production increases air pollution by 250%, causing health risks. Furthermore, asphalt binder and mixture production account for over 50% of the total pavement costs, and the rising asphalt binder prices place a burden on highway budgets. This review highlights the critical research gaps including source variability, testing and mixing methods, and environmental impact of modifiers and provides a future roadmap for developing cost-effective and sustainable alternatives and their practical implementation.
交通荷载增加、极端气候条件以及环境法规凸显了重新评估现有沥青结合料在路面施工中应用的必要性。本文通过纳入一项全面的文献综述来审视传统和改性沥青结合料的局限性，该综述聚焦于性能、环境影响和经济问题。研究表明，结合料等级选择、拌和与压实温度以及老化会影响路面性能，并可能使路面使用寿命缩短10%至30%。尽管聚合物和纳米材料等改性剂可将抗车辙和抗水损害性能提高多达50%，但它们对抗疲劳和抗热裂性能的影响有限。此外，由于来源变异性，这些改性剂会影响沥青混合料的生产过程，导致拌和方法复杂、成本增加以及排放升高。此外，高温沥青混合料生产会使空气污染增加250%，带来健康风险。再者，沥青结合料和混合料生产占路面总成本的50%以上，而沥青结合料价格上涨给公路预算带来负担。本综述突出了包括来源变异性、测试和拌和方法以及改性剂的环境影响等关键研究空白，并为开发具有成本效益和可持续性的替代方案及其实际应用提供了未来路线图。
