Construction and Building Materials 79 (2015) 56–64

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Construction and Building Materials

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Rheology evaluations of WMA binders using ultraviolet and PAV aging

procedures
Feipeng Xiao a,⇑, Serji N. Amirkhanian b, Moses Karakouzian c, Mehdi Khalili c
a
Key Laboratory of Road and Traffic Engineering of the Ministry of Education, Tongji University, Shanghai 201804, China
b
State Key Laboratory of Silicate Materials for Architectures, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, China
c
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering & Construction, University of Nevada at Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV 89154, USA

h i g h l i g h t s

 Asphalt binder can be oxidized under thermal and/or ultraviolet radiation conditions.
 Rheology of WMA binders after long term UV or PAV aging procedures was studied.
 UV and PAV aging behaviors are significantly affected by the binder source and grade.
 WMA additives generally have no influences on rheology of UV and PAV aged binders.
 UV aging procedure is effective in investigating rheological properties of WMA binders.

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Oxidation of an asphalt binder affects the long term performance of an asphalt pavement, especially
Received 19 September 2014 under thermal and/or ultraviolet (UV) radiation conditions. The objective of this study is to investigate
Received in revised form 30 December 2014 the rheological behaviors of various WMA binders after long term UV aging and conventional PAV aging
Accepted 5 January 2015
procedures. The following rheological properties were tested and evaluated in this study: complex shear
Available online 21 January 2015
modulus, phase angle, elastic modulus, viscous modulus at an intermediate service temperature, and
deflection, stiffness, and m-value at a low temperature. The experimental design included four asphalt
Keywords:
binder sources (two grades); four WMA additives and control. Two aging methods of UV and PAV aging
Warm-mix asphalt
Ultraviolet aging
were utilized and a total of 40 binders were tested and evaluated. The test results indicated that UV and
PAV aging PAV aging procedures are significantly affected by asphalt binder source and grade. In addition, WMA
Complex shear modulus additives generally have no influences on rheological properties of UV and PAV aged binders. Moreover,
Phase angle the differences in deflection, creep stiffness, and m-values of UV and PAV aged binders are generally not
Deflection affected by their grade, source and WMA additives. Therefore, UV aging procedure used in this study may
Creep stiffness be an effective method in investigating rheological characteristics of WMA binder after a long term aging
m-Value process.
Ó 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction pavement, but it is produced at lower plant temperatures than

Some new technologies have been developed in recent years
making the asphalt industry more environmentally sustainable.
One of those technologies has been the utilization of warm asphalt
technologies as a means to reduce the mixing and compaction
temperatures of asphalt mixes and decrease the energy consump-
tion and carbon emission of asphalt paving. Numerous research
results state that warm-mix asphalt (WMA) is much like hot-mix
asphalt (HMA) and, in some cases, even provides a better asphalt
⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: fpxiao@tongji.edu.cn (F. Xiao).
conventional HMA [1–3]. Currently, there are more than 50 WMA
technologies all over the world. In principle, three WMA technol-
ogy categories are available in the United States for the production
of asphalt mixtures at relatively low temperatures including
organic additives, chemical additives, and foaming processes
[2,4,5].
Some commonly used warm mix asphalt additives, such as Cec-
abase RT, Evotherm, Rediset, and Sasobit, as well as water foaming
technology, could be used to effectively produce asphalt mixtures,
help reduce the mixing and compaction temperatures in the labo-
ratory and an asphalt plant [6]. Many research results indicate that

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2015.01.046
0950-0618/Ó 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 F. Xiao et al. / Construction and Building Materials 79 (2015) 56–64
Table 1
Properties of base binders.
Binder type
A B
PG 76-22 (Venezuela)
Unaged Viscosity (Pa s) at 135 °C 1.735
Failed temp. (°C) 81.15
G⁄/sin d (Pa) at 76 °C 1613.1
RTFO aged G⁄/sin d (Pa) 3625.2 (76 °C)
RTFO + PAV aged G⁄sin d (kPa) at 25 °C 2807
stiffness (MPa) 129.5
m-Value at 12 °C 0.258
Notes: RTFO: rolling thin film oven; PAV: pressure aging vessel, #: test at 64 °C.
the WMA mixtures had similar or better rheological and perfor-
mance properties compared to conventional HMA mixtures [6–10].
Binder oxidation and its impact on pavement performance have
been addressed by numerous laboratory studies of binder oxida-
tion chemistry, reaction kinetics, and hardening. This oxidation
has a negative impact on mixture and thus affects pavement fati-
gue [11]. As binders oxidize, they form more polar compounds that
tend to associate with each other and increase the amount of
asphaltenes. These asphaltenes behave, rheology, like solids in
asphalts and contribute greatly to increased binder stiffness and
viscosity [11]. Xiao et al. [12] indicated that the increase of aging
duration causes an increase in creep stiffness at a low test temper-
ature. In addition, the m-values of aged binders slightly decrease as
the aging duration increase, regardless of the binder type or test
condition.
The pressure aging vessel (PAV), used for many years in asphalt
research, was modified by SHRP and a procedure was developed to
simulate in-service aging. It provides simulated long term aged
asphalt binder for physical property testing. Asphalt binder is
exposed to heat and pressure to simulate in-service aging over a
7–10 year period.
Pavement in-service experiences exposure to ultraviolet (UV)
radiation as an aging factor is not simulated with PAV. Under ther-
mal and/or UV radiation conditions, the pavement structure, espe-
cially, the interconnected air voids, affects the oxidation of asphalt
binder due to the heat transferring from top layer to base layer.
Other research articles reported that UV aging and thermal aging
of an asphalt binder of a pavement are quite different due to the
various oxidation levels, but the current asphalt performance eval-
uation system gives limited consideration to UV aging [13]. In
addition, some researchers found that UV radiation aging has
effects on the performance of both the binder and an asphalt mix-
ture, especially low-temperature ductility and resistance to crack-
ing [14]. An asphalt binder has generally different sensitivities to
thermal and UV radiation. In addition, evaluation methods based
on thermally aged asphalt does not truly reflect the influences of
UV aging, and there are some limitations on the substitution of
UV by thermal aging [13–16].
Various asphalts are found to exhibit different aging properties
when subjected to different aging processes [17]. When subjected
to the extended rolling thin film oven (RTFO) and PAV tests, asphalt
binders from different sources show differentiable degrees of vol-
atile loss due to the light oil ratios. The UV chamber was found
to be effective only in aging the surfaces of the binder samples.
The ultraviolet aged asphalt compositions on penetration, soften-
ing point and ductility tests are same as thermal aged asphalt ones
[13]. Ultraviolet aging and thermal aging give asphalt different
influences, rheological property changes greatly after UV aging
[14–16]. UV aging of an asphalt binder mainly occurs in the early
stage of aging and a longer UV aging time resulted in a stiffer aged
57
C D
PG 76-22 (mixed) PG 64-22 (Venezuela) PG 64-22 (mixed)
1.51 0.64 0.45
80.15 68.5 65.8
1467.7 1922.5# 1233.1#
3322.3 (76 °C) 4357.8 (64 °C) 3703.1 (64 °C)
4095 3254 4438
198 152 178.5
0.285 0.332 0.306
asphalt binder. Xiao et al. [18] found that UV aged mixtures gener-
ally had greater dissipated energy than thermally aged mixtures
regardless of binder type, aggregate source and air void. The UV
aging procedure generally had more effect on the fracture resis-
tance of asphalt mixtures than the regular thermal aging procedure
[18].
The viscous component of asphalt is increased and the viscous
response is prolonged by the UV absorber which plays as a softener
and endues asphalt with more favorable low-temperature perfor-
mance, such as the improved low-temperature fatigue resistance
[14]. Asphalt sulfide with suitable sulfur content can improve
low-temperature performance and anti-aging performance of
asphalt to some extent [19,20]. Colored asphalt with red dye
showed better resistance to ultraviolet light compared to other
asphalt binders [22].
Research articles on WMA technologies indicate that reducing
the aging temperature reduces the aging index and increases the
m-values, but has no significant effects on G⁄/sin d, G⁄sin d and
stiffness of the binders [23–24]. Also, the addition of warm asphalt
additives significantly increases the G⁄/sin d values and lowers the
m-values of the binders [23]. Additional recycled asphalt pavement
(RAP) or recycled roofing shingle (RAS) can improve the rut resis-
tance of WMA mixture but weaken the fatigue life of these WMA
mixtures [6,23,24]. In addition, some studied reported that as the
WMA mixtures are thermally aged, the moisture resistance of the
mixtures can be obviously improved [26,26]. The WMA binders
having similar or better rheological properties at high performance
temperature before or after a thermal aging process or UV aging
process were reported by some researchers recently [6,13,18].
The main impacts between two aging procedures are the different
mechanisms of a combination of ultraviolet light with thermal and
pure thermal function on the oxidation changes of C@C stretch and
C–O stretch [15,17,18]. However, the UV aging characteristics of
WMA binders at intermediate and low temperatures have not been
investigated in great detail.
The objective of this study was to investigate the influences of
long-term UV aging and PAV thermal aging procedures on rheolog-
ical characteristics of WMA binders at intermediate and low tem-
peratures. These two types of aged samples were tested to
determine fatigue and cracking resistance of binders. In addition,
complex shear modulus, elastic and viscous moduli, deflection,
stiffness, and m-value tests were performed to explore the rheolog-
ical behaviors of various UV and PAV aged WMA binders in this
study.
2. Experimental procedures
Two polymerized PG 76-22 (A and B) and two base binders PG 64-22 (C and D)
from two different sources were employed to mix with warm mix additives to pro-
duce WMA binders as per the recommendations from the suppliers. The tested
58 F. Xiao et al. / Construction and Building Materials 79 (2015) 56–64

In this study, a couple of parameters developed by SHRP system had been uti-
lized to describe the rheology of the aged binder. Some parameters, such as G⁄
(complex modulus), d (phase angle), G0 (elastic modulus), and G00 (viscous modulus)
are used for defining the rheological properties of the asphalt binder.
The beam bending rheometer (BBR) testing was used to evaluate the properties
of the aged binder at a low temperature according to AASHTO T313. The measured
deflection, creep stiffness and m-value were used to describe the aged levels of the
various aged WMA binders in this study and were commonly used to explore the
low temperature cracking of warm mix asphalt [28]. Each binder was measured
in accordance with Superpave specifications (i.e., PG 76-22 and PG 64-22 binders
were tested at 12 °C). Two specimens of each binder type were used to test the
deflection, stiffness, and m-value under a constant load at a constant temperature
in this study.

3. Results and discussions

Statistical analysis using t-test was utilized to analyze the dif-

ferences between physical properties of asphalt binders aged by
conventional PAV and proposed method of UV. Table 2 summarizes
the analysis for different binder types, WMA additives and inter-
mediate and low testing temperatures.

3.1. Complex shear modulus

Fig. 1. Flowchart of experimental design.
basic rheological properties of these four binders are presented in Table 1. Polymer-
ized binders A and B generally have higher viscosity values and failure tempera-
tures than base binders C and D because polymerized binders A and B were
modified by 3% SBS. Four commonly used non-foaming warm mix additives: Cec-
abase RT, Evotherm, Rediset, and Sasobit (referred to as Ce, Ev, Re, and Sa, respec-
tively) were used in this study. First two WMA additives are chemical-based
products as the surfactant recommended by the manufactures, while Rediset and
Sasobit are wax-based products to reduce the viscosity of the modified binders.
The detailed information was presented in another article [6]. Control samples with
no additives were referred to as Co. The used amounts of WMA additives recom-
mended by the supplies were 0.5% for Ce and Ev and 1.5% for Re and Sa by weight
of asphalt binder. The experimental design used in this study is presented in Fig. 1.
To prepare for the PAV, RTFO-aged binder was heated until fluid and stirred to
ensure homogeneity. A pan of 50-g asphalt binder was placed in PAV for 20 h at the
temperature of 110 °C and 100 °C for PG 76-22 binder and PG 64-22 binder, respec-
tively, as per AASHTO R 28. A total of 20 pans from various WMA binders were PAV
aged in this study.
As preparing for UV aging binder, a small pan with 50 g of WMA additive mod-
ified binder was made, which is commonly used for PAV aging process. These pans
were put to in a UV aging box, as shown in a previously published article [13,18]. A
detailed the materials preparation and UV aging process were reported in other
article [18].
The intermediate temperature rheological properties of each binder were mea-
sured using a dynamic shear rheometer (DSR) according to AASHTO T315. In this
study, 2 mm gap and 8 mm diameter plate for all binders were used to obtain
DSR value at the intermediate temperature. Each PAV and UV aged binders were
measured in terms of the complex shear modulus (G⁄) and phase angle (d) values
at 25 °C (for PG 64-22), and 31 °C (for PG 76-22) in accordance with Superpave
specifications.
The complex shear modulus, G⁄, is the ratio of total shear stress
to total shear strain as defined in Superpave system. The G⁄ value of
asphalt binder and mixture is a fundamental property of the mate-
rial. In general, asphalt binder and mixture with higher complex
shear modulus value at a given service temperature will exhibit
lower permanent deformation value than similar binder and mix-
ture tested at the same temperature that have lower complex
shear modulus value. Due to the viscous–elastic property of
asphalt binder at various temperatures, these long term aged
WMA binders were tested at temperature of 25 °C (PG 64-22) or
31 °C (PG 76-22) as per the recommendations by the Superpave
specifications. Two replicates were tested for each specimen.
As shown in Fig. 2, it can be observed that all UV aged PG 76-22
(A and B) binders have the G⁄ values close to 1000 kPa, but the G⁄
values of these PAV aged binders are three to four times higher,
regardless of WMA type. Obviously, it can be concluded that PAV
aging procedure can increase the G⁄ values of binders A and B more
effectively compared to UV aging procedure. In addition, statistical
analysis results shown in Table 2 indicate that there are significant
differences in G⁄ values between PAV aged and UV aged PG 76-22
binders.
The G⁄ values of PG 64-22 binders (C and D) shown in Fig. 2
illustrate that, apart from binders A and B, UV aged binders gener-
ally have similar G⁄ values with PAV aged binders except for bind-
ers containing Rediset and Sasobit. The statistical results in Table 2
shows that no significant differences can be found between UV

Table 2
Statistical analysis between UV and PAV aged WMA binders.

a < 0.05 Intermediate temperature Low temperature

G⁄ Phase angle G00 G0 Deflection Stiffness m-Value
Binder type
A–A Y Y Y Y N N N
B–B Y Y Y Y Y N N
C–C N N N N Y Y Y
D–D N N N N Y N N
WMA type
Co–Co N N N N N N Y
Ce–Ce Y N N N N N N
Ev–Ev N N N N Y Y N
Re–Re N N N N N N N
Sa–Sa N N N N N N N

Note: Co: control, Ce: Cecabase RT, Ev: Evotherm, Re: Rediset, Sa: Sasobit, G00 = G⁄sin d, G0 = G⁄cos d, Y: P-value < a = 0.05 (significant difference), N: P-value > a = 0.05 (no
significant difference).
 F. Xiao et al. / Construction and Building Materials 79 (2015) 56–64 59

5000 5000
UV PAV UV PAV
4000 4000

3000 3000

G* (kPa)
G* (kPa)
2000 2000

1000 1000

0 0
Co Ce Ev Re Sa Co Ce Ev Re Sa Co Ce Ev Re Sa Co Ce Ev Re Sa
A (PG76-22) B (PG76-22) C (PG64-22) D (PG64-22)
Binder type Binder type

(a) (b)

Fig. 2. Complex modulus values of UV and PAV aged WMA binders, (a) PG 76-22 binder, (b) PG 64-22 binder.

60 60
UV PAV UV PAV
Phase angle (degree)

Phase angle (degree)

50 50

40 40
Co Ce Ev Re Sa Co Ce Ev Re Sa Co Ce Ev Re Sa Co Ce Ev Re Sa
A (PG76-22) B (PG76-22) C (PG64-22) D (PG64-22)
Binder type Binder type

(a) (b)

Fig. 3. Phase angle values of UV and PAV aged WMA binders, (a) PG 76-22 binder, (b) PG 64-22 binder.

5000 5000
UV PAV UV PAV
4000 4000

3000 3000
(kPa)

(kPa)

2000 2000
G*sin

G*sin

1000 1000

0 0
Co Ce Ev Re Sa Co Ce Ev Re Sa Co Ce Ev Re Sa Co Ce Ev Re Sa
A (PG76-22) B (PG76-22) C (PG64-22) D (PG64-22)
Binder type Binder type

(a) (b)

Fig. 4. G⁄sin d values of UV and PAV aged WMA binders, (a) PG 76-22 binder, (b) PG 64-22 binder.

aged and PAV aged binders irrespective of WMA type. Conse-
quently, it can be noticed that properties of UV aged and PAV aged
samples are dependent upon asphalt binder type, as indicated from
the resulted obtained from the G⁄ values of PG 76-22 and PG 64-22
binders.
In addition, as shown in Fig. 2, compared to control binders, the
addition of WMA additive does not noticeably change the G⁄ values
of PAV and UV aged binders. In other words, control aged binders
generally have similar G⁄ values with WMA aged binders regard-
less of binder source, grade and aging method. Statistical results
in Table 2 illustrate that, for same WMA binder, no significantly
different G⁄ values can be found between UV and PAV aged binders.
Therefore, it can be concluded that WMA additive generally has no
influence on the G⁄ value of asphalt binder between UV and PAV
aging procedures.
3.2. Phase angle
Phase angle (d) is defined as the time lag between maximum
strain and stress of an asphalt pavement under cyclic traffic load-
ing and is highly dependent on the temperature and frequency of
loading. d is an indicator of viscosity and elasticity characteristics
60 F. Xiao et al. / Construction and Building Materials 79 (2015) 56–64

5000 5000
UV PAV UV PAV
4000 4000

3000 3000

(kPa)
(kPa)
2000 2000
G*con

G*con
1000 1000

0 0
Co Ce Ev Re Sa Co Ce Ev Re Sa Co Ce Ev Re Sa Co Ce Ev Re Sa
A (PG76-22) B (PG76-22) A (PG76-22) B (PG76-22)
Binder type Binder type

(a) (b)

Fig. 5. G⁄cos d values of UV and PAV aged WMA binders, (a) PG 76-22 binder, (b) PG 64-22 binder

1.0 1.0
UV PAV UV PAV
0.8 0.8
Deflection (mm)

Deflection (mm)
0.6 0.6

0.4 0.4

0.2 0.2

0.0 0.0
Co Ce Ev Re Sa Co Ce Ev Re Sa Co Ce Ev Re Sa Co Ce Ev Re Sa
A (PG76-22) B (PG76-22) C (PG64-22) D (PG64-22)
Binder type Binder type

(a) (b)

Fig. 6. Deflection values of UV and PAV aged WMA binders, (a) PG 76-22 binder, (b) PG 64-22 binder.

Table 3
of an asphalt binder in Superpave system. Under normal pavement UV aging index (UV/PAV) of WMA binders at low service temperature.

temperatures and traffic loadings, asphalt binders act with the WMA type Deflection Stiffness m-Value
characteristics of both viscous liquids and elastic solids. A (PG76-22) Co 1.09 0.85 1.54
Regarding to the influence of binder source and grade, as shown Ce 0.99 0.99 1.05
in Fig. 3, phase angles of UV aged binders (A and B) are remarkably Ev 1.04 0.96 1.02
greater than those of PAV aged binders regardless of WMA type. Re 1.17 0.90 1.01
Sa 1.11 0.91 1.12
Thus, PAV aged PG 76-22 binders show elastic solid and are prone
to easily self-recover during the traffic loading. In addition, all B (PG76-22) Co 1.34 0.74 1.16
Ce 1.01 1.01 1.00
binders from source A generally have different phase angles com- Ev 1.11 0.91 1.05
pared with those binders from source B. Moreover, statistical Re 1.06 1.02 1.00
results presented in Table 2 indicate that, for aged PG 76-22 bind- Sa 1.17 0.89 0.98
ers, there are significant differences in phase angles between UV C (PG64-22) Co 1.12 0.90 1.10
and PAV aged binders. However, in most cases, the UV aged PG Ce 1.17 0.85 1.08
64-22 binders (C and D) have similar phase angles compared to Ev 1.25 0.79 1.06
Re 1.12 0.89 1.11
the PAV aged PG 64-22 binders. In addition, all binders from source
Sa 1.12 0.90 1.11
D have lower phase angles than those binders from source C and
D (PG64-22) Co 1.23 0.82 1.02
thus show elastic solid irrespective of aging approach.
Ce 1.16 0.88 1.05
In terms of WMA additive effect, control binders generally have Ev 1.10 0.89 1.09
approximately the same phase angles compared with WMA bind- Re 1.12 0.90 1.04
ers except for Sasobit binders where slightly lower phase angles Sa 1.04 0.97 1.03
were observed regardless of aging method. Moreover, in Table 2, Note: Co: control; Ce: Cecabase; Ev: Evotherm; Re: Rediset; Sa: Sasobit.
it can be observed that there is no significantly different phase
angle values between any UV and PAV aged binders in terms of
WMA additive type. Therefore, the addition of WMA additive does 3.3. G⁄sin d (fatigue factor) and G⁄cos d
not significantly affect the phase angles of asphalt binder during
UV and PAV aging procedures. It can be concluded that the phase The light oil of a typical asphalt binder is lost during the service
angles of UV and PAV aged residue are generally based on binder life of a pavement, and thus asphalt binder is prone to oxidation.
source and grade rather than the addition of WMA additive. The aged asphalt binder generally shows elastic solid property. If
 F. Xiao et al. / Construction and Building Materials 79 (2015) 56–64 61

the bond between aged asphalt binder and aggregate cannot resist
the repeated traffic loading, this will easily result in fatigue dam-
age of an asphalt pavement. In general, asphalt concretes are more
susceptible to fatigue at an intermediate service temperature. G⁄-
sin d (fatigue factor) can be used to explain the fatigue cracking
resistance of an asphalt pavement.
As shown in Fig. 4, in comparison with the G⁄sin d values of UV
aged PG 76-22 binders, PAV aged PG 76-22 binders generally have
two or three times of G⁄sin d values. In other words, UV aged bind-
ers A and B have a higher resistance to the fatigue damage in the
field. In addition, aged binders from source A generally show lower
G⁄sin d values compared to aged binders from source B. Moreover,
Fig. 4 shows that the G⁄sin d values of UV aged binders C and D (PG
64-22), in most cases, are approximately the same as those values
of PAV aged binders. Therefore, similar to the complex shear mod-
ulus, G⁄sin d value of UV and PAV aged asphalt binder is dependent
upon the asphalt binder source and grade, as well as aging method.
As show in Fig. 4, it can be noted that, in most cases, control PAV
and UV aged binders have similar G⁄sin d values compared to other
PAV and UV aged WMA binders regardless of asphalt binder source
and grade. Additionally, it can be found that aged Sasabit binders
generally have slightly higher G⁄sin d values and thus are prone
to fatigue induce damage for the binders tested in this study.
The G⁄sin d values were statistically analyzed at the 5% level of
significance (0.05 probability of a Type I error) with respect to the
effects of the UV and PAV aging in terms of warm mix additive, bin-
der source and grade. Statistical analysis results shown in Table 2
indicate that there are significantly different G⁄sin d values

1.5 76-Co 76-Ce 76-Ev 1.5 76-Co 76-Ce 76-Ev

76-Re 76-Sa
76-Re 76-Sa
1.2 1.2
Deflection (mm)

Deflection (mm)
0.9 0.9

0.6 0.6

0.3 Test temp. : -12 C 0.3 Test temp. : -12 C

Loading force: 980 mN Loading force: 980 mN
0 0
0 100 200 300 0 100 200 300
Loading time (second) Loading time (second)

(a) (b)
1.5 76-Co 76-Ce 76-Ev 1.5 76-Co 76-Ce 76-Ev
76-Re 76-Sa 76-Re 76-Sa
1.2 1.2
Deflection (mm)

Deflection (mm)

0.9 0.9

0.6 0.6

0.3 Test temp. : -12 C 0.3 Test temp. : -12 C

Loading force: 980 mN Loading force: 980 mN
0 0
0 100 200 300 0 100 200 300
Loading time (second) Loading time (second)

(c) (d)
1.5 1.5 64-Co 64-Ce 64-Ev
64-Co 64-Ce 64-Ev
64-Re 64-Sa
64-Re 64-Sa 1.2
1.2
Deflection (mm)
Deflection (mm)

0.9 0.9

0.6 0.6
Test temp. : -12 C
0.3 Test temp. : -12 C 0.3
Loading force: 980 mN
Loading force: 980 mN
0 0
0 100 200 300 0 100 200 300
Loading time (second) Loading time (second)

(e) (f)
1.5 64-Co 64-Ce 64-Ev 1.5 64-Co 64-Ce 64-Ev
64-Re 64-Sa 64-Re 64-Sa
1.2 1.2
Deflection (mm)

Deflection (mm)

0.9 0.9

0.6 0.6

0.3 Test temp. : -12 C 0.3 Test temp. : -12 C

Loading force: 980 mN Loading force: 980 mN
0 0
0 100 200 300 0 100 200 300
Loading time (second) Loading time (second)

(g) (h)
Fig. 7. Deflection values versus loading time of UV and PAV aged WMA binders, (a), (c), (e), and (g) UV aged binders A–D; (b), (d), (f), and (h) PAV aged binders A–D.
62 F. Xiao et al. / Construction and Building Materials 79 (2015) 56–64
between UV aged binders and PAV aged binders from sources A
and B but no significantly different G⁄sin d values could be found
for these UV and PAV aged binder from sources C and D. Addition-
ally, statistical analysis in terms of WMA additive type as shown in
Table 2 indicated that there are no significant differences in G⁄sin d
values between UV and PAV aged binders while containing the
same WMA additive. As a result, it might be concluded that asphalt
binder (source and grade) plays an important role in determining
the G⁄sin d values after UV and PAV aging procedures. One major
reason could be the chemical composition of the asphalt binder.
G⁄cos d (elastic modulus) represents the elastic storage of
energy since the strain is recoverable in an elastic solid and sub-
stance’s tendency to be deformed elastically (i.e., non-perma-
nently). As such, a stiffer material will have a higher elastic
modulus. As shown in Fig. 5, it can be noted that G⁄cos d values
of UV and PAV aged binders have similar trends to complex shear
modulus and G⁄sin d values. Statistical analysis results shown in
Table 2 also conclude similar findings. Consequently, the results
indicate that the source of an asphalt binders a key factor in deter-
mining the G⁄cos d values of UV and PAV aged binders and WMA
additive generally has a slight influence on recoverable elastic
property of UV and PAV aged binders at an intermediate service
temperature even though PAV aged binders A and B exhibit higher
elastic property.
3.4. Deflection, stiffness, and m-value at low temperatures
In order to obtain the rheological properties of PAV residue at a
low temperature, the specimens were tested using BBR in accor-
dance with the AASHTO T313. The tested temperature for each bin-
der is subjected to the specification defined by the Superpave
specification (i.e., PG 76-22 and PG 64-22 binders were tested at
12 °C). A 980 mN load is applied to the beam of asphalt binder
for a total of 240 s. The deflection was measured with the deflec-
tion transducer. The graphs of deflection could be generated for
observation. In addition, the creep stiffness, calculated based on
the applied load, beam deflection and dimension, can be obtained
after a mere 60 s loading of less than or equal to 300 MPa. The m-
value represents the rate of change in the creep stiffness versus
loading time and it should be greater than or equal to 0.300 at 60 s.
The deflection graphs of all UV and PAV aged asphalt binders at
60 s are shown in Fig. 6. It can be noted that the UV aged binders
generally have slightly higher deflections compared to the PAV
aged binders regardless of asphalt binder source, grade, and
WMA type. As shown in Table 3, UV aged indices of the deflections
from four binders, in most cases, are greater than 1.00. Therefore, it
seems that the UV aged binders show better cracking resistance
250
UV PAV
200
Stiffness (MPa)
Stiffness (MPa)
150
100
50
0 0
Co Ce Ev Re Sa Co Ce Ev Re Sa
A (PG76-22) B (PG76-22)
Binder type
(a)
Fig. 8. Stiffness values of UV and PAV aged WMA binders, (a) PG 76-22 binder, (b) PG 64-22 binder.
than the PAV aged binders due to their ability of producing greater
deflections under a constant load at a low service temperature.
In addition, the deflections of aged binders from source A are
generally higher than those of aged binders from source B. With
respect to the effect of asphalt binder, statistical results shown in
Table 2 illustrate that significantly different deflections could be
found between UV and PAV aged binder from sources B, C and D.
Moreover, in Fig. 6, the aged WMA binders generally have similar
deflections with the aged control binders. In Table 2, it can be
found that, in most cases, there are no significantly different
deflections between UV and PAV aged binders containing the same
WMA additive. Consequently, the addition of a WMA additive gen-
erally has no impact on the deflection of the aged binders at the
loading point of 60-s considering different aging methods irrespec-
tive of asphalt binder source and grade. In addition, in Fig. 7, it can
be observed that, as the loading time increases to 240 s at a con-
stant load of 980 mN, the noticeable differences in the deflections
of various aged WMA binders from same source could be noticed
due to the viscous–elastic nature of the asphalt binder.
An equal creep stiffness after only a 60-s loading is used for a
desired creep stiffness of 2 h loading at the minimum pavement
design temperature as using the concept of time-temperature
superposition. AASHTO M 320 requires that the creep stiffness at
the specified grade temperature is less than or equal to 300 MPa
at 60 s.
The creep stiffness values of various aged binders at 60 s are
shown in Fig. 5, it can be found that, all PAV aged binders generally
have slightly greater stiffness values than UV aged binders regard-
less of asphalt binder source and grade, and all stiffness values are
less than 300 MPa. In addition, Table 3 shows that UV aging indices
of creep stiffness from four binders are, in general, lower than 1.0.
Statistical results in Table 2 indicate that, for binders from A, B, and
D, there are no significant differences in creep stiffness values
between UV aged binders and PAV aged binders.
With respect to the influence of WMA additive, Fig. 8 shows
that, in most cases, aged Sasboit binders have slightly greater creep
stiffness values than aged Rediset binders followed by aged Evo-
therm binders, Cecebase binders, and Control binders in that order.
However, at the 5% level of significance, Table 2 illustrates that
there are no statistically different creep stiffness values between
UV and PAV aged binders containing same WMA additive.
In addition, as shown in Fig. 9, it can be noted that, at a 240-s
loading time, UV aged binders have similar values and trends com-
pared to PAV aged binders regardless of asphalt binder source and
grade. Moreover, various aged WMA binders from same source and
grade generally have the same creep stiffness values.
The m-value, the slope of the log stiffness versus log time curve
at any time, represents the rate of change in creep stiffness versus
250
UV PAV
200
150
100
50
Co Ce Ev Re Sa Co Ce Ev Re Sa
C (PG64-22) D (PG64-22)
Binder type
(b)
 F. Xiao et al. / Construction and Building Materials 79 (2015) 56–64 63

700 700
600 Co 600 Co
500 Ce 500 Ce

Stiffness (MPa)

Stiffness (MPa)
400 Ev 400 Ev
300 Re 300 Re
200 Sa 200 Sa
100 100
0 0
0 50 100 150 200 250 0 50 100 150 200 250
Loading time (second) Loading time (second)
(a) (b)
700 700
600 Co 600 Co
500 Ce 500 Ce
Stiffness (MPa)

Stiffness (MPa)
400 Ev 400 Ev
300 Re 300 Re
200 Sa 200 Sa
100 100
0 0
0 50 100 150 200 250 0 50 100 150 200 250
Loading time (second) Loading time (second)
(c) (d)
700 700
600 Co 600 Co
500 Ce 500 Ce
Stiffness (MPa)

Stiffness (MPa)

400 Ev 400 Ev
300 Re 300 Re
200 Sa 200 Sa
100 100
0 0
0 50 100 150 200 250 0 50 100 150 200 250
Loading time (second) Loading time (second)
(e) (f)
700 700
600 Co 600 Co
500 Ce 500 Ce
Stiffness (MPa)

Stiffness (MPa)

400 Ev 400 Ev
300 Re 300 Re
200 Sa 200 Sa
100 100
0 0
0 50 100 150 200 250 0 50 100 150 200 250
Loading time (second) Loading time (second)
(g) (h)
Fig. 9. Stiffness values versus loading time of UV and PAV aged WMA binders, (a), (c), (e), and (g) UV aged binders A–D; (b), (d), (f), and (h) PAV aged binders A–D.

time. The results presented in Fig. 10 are the m-value at 60 s, where
it can be seen that UV aged binders generally have slightly higher
m-values than PAV aged binders. As shown in Table 3, UV aging
indices of m-values of all binders are greater than 1.0 except for
Sasobit binder from source B. In most cases, m-values of aged bind-
ers were greater than 0.3.
Statistical analysis shown in Table 2 indicates that, for binder
sources A, B, and D, there are no significant differences in m-values
between UV and PAV aged binders. Additionally, with respect to
the effect of WMA additive, it can be seen that there are no signif-
icant differences in m-values between UV and PAV aged binders
containing the same WMA additive. Generally, it seems that the
64 F. Xiao et al. / Construction and Building Materials 79 (2015) 56–64
0.5
UV PAV
0.4
m-value
m-value
0.3
0.2
0.1
0 0
Co Ce Ev Re Sa Co Ce Ev Re Sa
A (PG76-22) B (PG76-22)
Binder type
(a)
Fig. 10. m-Values of UV and PAV aged WMA binder, (a) PG 76-22 binder, (b) PG 64-22 binder.
differences in m-values of UV and PAV aged binders are not
affected by their source, grade, and WMA additive.
4. Findings and conclusions
The following conclusions can be drawn based on the test
results from four binders and four non-foaming warm mix asphalt
additives and control in terms of UV and PAV long term aging pro-
cedures through a series of rheological tests at intermediate and
low temperatures:
 UV and PAV aging procedures were significantly affected by the
asphalt binder source and grade, considering the G⁄ and phase
angle values obtained from testing PG 76-22 and PG 64-22
binders. Additionally, WMA additive generally had no influence
on the G⁄ and phase angle values of asphalt binder after UV and
PAV aging procedures.
 G⁄sin d and G⁄cos d values of UV and PAV aged asphalt binder
were dependent upon the asphalt binder grade and source.
Additional WMA additive generally had slight influence on G⁄-
sin d and G⁄cos d values of UV and PAV aged binders in this
study.
 UV aged binders showed better cracking resistance than the
PAV aged binders due to higher deflection, low stiffness, and
higher m-values at testing point of 60 s.
 The differences in deflection, creep stiffness, and m-values of UV
and PAV aged binders were generally dependent upon the
source, grade, and WMA additive.
 UV aging procedure used in this study might be an effective
method and supplement in investigating rheological character-
istics of WMA binder in terms of a long term aging process.
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