Evaluation of polymer modification in asphalt mixtures through digital image correlation and performance space diagrams

Asphalt polymer modification typically yields improved mixture performance. Little research has been conducted to determine how SBS polymer affects mixture performance in interaction plots. Furthermore, research to date has not used digital image correlation to measure the fracture process zone (FPZ) size and its compression with crack propagation. Mixtures containing five distinct asphalt binders were tested at high and low temperatures. Findings demonstrated that the PG 70-28 mixture shifted optimally in terms of high and low temperature properties. It was also found that polymer addition led to increased FPZ size and a lesser degree of FPZ compression with crack propagation.