Fatigue performance evaluation of bitumen mastics reinforced with polyolefins through a dissipated energy approach

Polymers are known to improve the fatigue resistance of sphalt mastics. However, undesirable results can be obtained if the polymer is not successfully integrated into the bitumen binder. The goal of this work is to evaluate the effect of the addition of three selected polyolefins on their mastic’s fatigue performance. Low and high density polyethylenes (LDPE and HDPE) and polypropylene (PP) were chosen and used at the concentration of 4 wt.%. A dissipated energy approach was used in order to analyze the fatigue resistance, at 25 ºC, of the three composites studied. Dynamic time sweeps at and above the linear viscoelastic threshold were carried out. Based on that, the results demonstrated a better improvement when the LDPE was considered. For that binder, fluorescence optical microscopy observations at 25 ºC provided morphological evidence of a more homogeneous bitumen-polymer distribution which could be behind the improved fatigue behavior.