Modification and Application of the Arrhenius Equation Based on Activated Energy Methods from Various Asphalt Binders

Abstract

The Arrhenius equation is generally adopted for the application of accelerated aging in laboratory tests, and activation energy is one of the important parameters in the equation. In most cases, activation energy was determined by obtaining a series of viscosity data at different temperature, which was a complex process. Therefore, this study aimed to analyze the correlation between activation energy for viscous flow (Eη) and molecular characteristics as well as rheological properties and obtain easily measurable properties that can be used to predict Eη. In this study, nine base asphalt binders were subjected to accelerated aging, and their viscosity, rheological properties, and molecular weight distribution were tested. Small molecule size (SMS) content was the most strongly correlated parameter with Eη for unaged asphalt binder compared with medium molecule size (MMS) content and large molecule size (LMS) content from the result of gray relation analysis. The correlation further weakened after considering aging, which indicated that the change in molecular distribution of asphalt binder may not be the decisive parameter in determining the change in Eη of asphalt binder. Single regression analysis showed a significant correlation between rheological performance parameters and Eη. It was feasible to predict Eη based on the failure temperature and obtain the modified Arrhenius equation. The modified equation could be used to calculate the accelerated aging factor and obtain the aging asphalt and accurate aging status of asphalt binders. By verification, the average error in predicting the Eη of the asphalt binder using the modified equation was less than 5%.