The development of polyurethane modified bitumen emulsions for cold mix applications

Bitumen emulsions stand for an alternative paving practice to the traditional hot-mix asphalts. In addition, modified bitumen emulsions show a better performance than unmodified ones. This work studies the feasibility of obtaining polyurethane modified bitumen emulsions, in which an isocyanate-funct...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Carrera Páez, Virginia, Cuadri Vega, Antonio Abad, García Morales, Moisés, Partal López, Pedro
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2015
País:España
Institución:Universidad de Huelva (UHU)
Repositorio:Arias Montano. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Huelva
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:ariasmontano.uhu.es:10272/12102
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10272/12102
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Bitumen
Emulsion
Foam
Isocyanate
Polyurethane
Product design
Descripción
Sumario:Bitumen emulsions stand for an alternative paving practice to the traditional hot-mix asphalts. In addition, modified bitumen emulsions show a better performance than unmodified ones. This work studies the feasibility of obtaining polyurethane modified bitumen emulsions, in which an isocyanate-functionalized polyol constitutes the bitumen modifier (in varying concentration from 1 to 4 wt.%). Storage stability and high in-service performance are evaluated by means of evolution of droplet size distribution (DSD) and rheology tests, respectively. Regarding the emulsion stability, the key factor seems to be the bitumen modifier concentration used to prepare the modified emulsions. Thus, for a selected 50 wt.% bitumen fraction, there is a limit concentration (between 1 and 2 wt.%) above which the emulsion becomes unstable under storage. Hence, this result limits the modifier content that can be used in the emulsion and the final level of modification achieved if compared to the original non-modified emulsion. On the other hand, the rheological characterization conducted on the emulsion residues at 60ºC has shown an improved resistance to deformation. In terms of applicability, polyurethane modified bitumens allows for the obtaining of modified emulsions which can be prepared at much lower temperatures than those derived from other polymers.