Stripping Resistance of Asphalt Mixtures with Recycled Polymer Waste

Dr. Kasthurirangan Gopalakrishnan is a Research Asst.
Professor in the civil engineering dept. at Iowa State Univ.
with over ten years of experience in the area of transportation
infrastructure systems. He received his Ph.D. from the Univ. of
Illinois at Urbana and M.S. from LSU. He has published over 50
peer-reviewed journal articles.

Moisture-induced damage in asphalt pavements as a
result of stripping is a complex and serious problem
in many parts of the world. Polymer additives are
commonly added to asphalt to decrease temperature
susceptibility but they have also shown to improve
adhesion and cohesion and resistance to moisture-
induced damage. This allied with the increasing
difficulty in disposing polymer waste products and
shifting of focus towards sustainability, has led to
the recycling of polymers in asphalt to improve
asphalt cement properties. Ethylene Propylene Diene
Monomer (EPDM) is a polymer waste in Louisiana.
Earlier studies have shown that chemically treated
EPDM could be used as a viable modifier in asphalt
cement and, when incorporated in asphalt concrete,
the mixes showed enhanced stiffness and creep
properties. This book primarily discusses the
moisture susceptibility behavior of conventional and
EPDM modified asphalt concrete mixes through a
comprehensive laboratory test program involving
different commercial antistripping additives.