Study the effect of zycotherm on functional properties of WMA prepared with siliceous and limestone aggregates

Nowadays, WMA technology is known as an efficient way to reduce the cost of production of asphalt, fuel consumption and environmental pollution. In contrast to its numerous advantages, stripping phenomenon comes as a disadvantage for the industry. One of the ways to improve the resistance of asphalt concrete and adhesion between bitumen and aggregates, is to use chemical and organic additives. Zycotherm as a nano-chemical additive, plays a bilateral part: as an anti-stripping agent and as an additive for the production of WMA. To better understand the phenomenon of stripping as a result of weak adhesion, several mechanisms have been used to describe the adhesion between the components of asphalt mixtures. Since adhesion between two different phases depends on mechanical and chemical reactions, cohesion the theory of free surface energy, the mechanisms controlling adhesion failure between the components of asphalt mixture are complicated. The main objective of this laboratory study is to evaluate the effect of aggregate type on functional properties of WMA modified with nano-chemical additive named zycotherm as a warm mix and anti-strip agent in terms of water susceptibility tests according to the newest national and international codes such as modified Lottman test and boiling water test. To do this, IDT test was also carried out. Image processing of boiling water test and analyzing the results of water susceptibility tests betoken that zycotherm has a poor performance as a warm mix agent on both limestone and silica materials but has a remarkable effect on improving resistance to moisture damage of silica materials.