J. Liu et al.
Construction and Building Materials 305 (2021) 124784
Fig. 6. Three-dimensional response surface diagram of stiffness modulus and creep rate.
3.2.2. Multiple stress creep recovery (MSCR) test
The high-temperature rutting phenomenon of asphalt pavement is
mainly caused by the accumulation of unrecoverable strain. Non-
recoverable creep compliance is a crucial index for studying the high-
temperature performance of asphalt. The smaller the unrecoverable
strain, the stronger the high-temperature performance. The smaller the
non-recoverable creep compliance of asphalt, the greater the high-
temperature properties of asphalt. According to the Superpave specifi­
cation, the rutting index should be greater than 2.2 kPa, after the asphalt
has undergone short-term aging. Referring to this requirement, 58℃
was selected as the standard temperature of the MSCR test. Through the
MSCR test, the non-recoverable creep compliance of asphalt under the
stress levels of 0.1 kPa and 3.2 kPa is obtained. The experimental results
are fitted through regression analysis to obtain a second-order poly­
nomial equation model. The results are shown in Eqs. (6) and (7),
Jnr0.1 = 2.78 - 0.32X1 + 1.12X2 - 3.08X3 - 0.76X1 X2
(6)
+ 0.37X1 X3 - 2.76X2 X3 - 1.10X12 + 2.07X22 + 1.43X32
Jnr3.2 = 3.35 + 1.84X1 + 4.26X2 - 7.05X3 + 0.61X1 X2
(7)
- 1.29X1 X3 - 5.98X2 X3 + 0.73X12 + 4.19X22 + 3.73X32
Fig. 5 is a three-dimensional response surface graph related to the
non-recoverable creep compliance based on the test data. When the
content of polyurethane and vegetable oil is constant, as the amounts of
castor oil raises, the non-recoverable creep compliance of asphalt de­
creases first and then increases. The reason may be that castor oil reacts
with polyurethane, which improves the high-temperature performance
of asphalt and reduces the non-recoverable creep compliance of asphalt.
When the amount of castor oil reached a certain level, the chemical
reaction between castor oil and polyurethane was incomplete. Rest
castor oil also can modify asphalt so that the non-recoverable creep
compliance of asphalt increased. When the content of polyurethane and
castor oil is fixed, with the content of vegetable oil increasing, the non-
recoverable creep compliance of asphalt first raises and then reduces.
When the content of castor oil and vegetable oil is fixed, with the
polyurethane content increasing, the non-recoverable creep compliance
of asphalt decreases significantly. This verifies the results of the asphalt
rutting index test to a certain extent.
The chemical reaction between castor oil and polyurethane makes
asphalt reduce the non-recoverable creep compliance of asphalt. And as
the amounts of castor oil increases, Polyurethane is slowly consumed.
When castor oil reaches a certain amount, polyurethane is consumed