Moisture Sensitivity Evaluation of Modified hot mix asphalt with Zycotherm and Evonic

The pavement quality has a great impact on safety of road and convenience of driving and makes it essential to evaluate the asphalt performance to control its common failure such as moisture sensitivity. Although the amount of bitumen in asphalt mixtures is not high, it has a significant impact on mixture performance. So, when the performance of modified bitumen improved by additives, it would result in better performance of asphalt mixture. Evaluation of moisture sensitivity in modified asphalt mixture by adding Zycotherm and Evonic as bitumen modifiers has been studied in this research. Limestone graded number 4, bitumen with 60-70 penetration grade and two nanomaterial additives called Zycotherm and Evonic in two different percentage (0.1 and 0.3 weight percentage of bitumen) have been used to make the asphalt mixture samples in this study. In order to evaluate the effects of these two nanomaterials on moisture sensitivity of asphalt mixture, the indirect tensile strength test (modified Lotman test) and Texas boiling test has been performed. In addition, Marshal stability test, resilient modulus test and dynamic creep test have been done on both modified and unmodified asphalt mixture samples. A comparison between the test’s results of modified and unmodified mixtures shows a better sustainability of asphalt against moisture by using Zycotherm and Evonic as bitumen modifiers. The suitable portion of each nanomaterial additives are 0.1 percentage for Zycotherm and 0.3 percentage for Evonic. Moreover, the results show that the Zycotherm is more effective on improvement of moisture sensivity and performance of asphalt mixture.