Nanotechnology Reviews 2022; 11: 2891–2902
Research Article
Yangsen Cao, Zhuangzhuang Liu*, and Wenjia Song
Performance and overall evaluation of
nano-alumina-modified asphalt mixture
https://doi.org/10.1515/ntrev-2022-0485
received April 3, 2022; accepted September 14, 2022
Abstract: The performance of asphalt mixture affects the
service of pavement. Nano-alumina was employed as
asphalt mixture modification to improve pavement per-
formances. Properties of asphalt mixtures including high-
temperature properties, low-temperature properties, water
stability properties, and fatigue properties were inves-
tigated through rutting tests, dynamic creep tests, low-
temperature bending tests, indirect tensile tests, Marshall
stability tests, freeze-thaw splitting tests, and indirect ten-
sile fatigue tests. Considering the various performance of
nano-alumina-modified asphalt mixture, the optimiza-
tion decision was made based on 21 sets of performance
data, and the optimal dosage of nano-alumina was further
clarified. The results demonstrate that nano-alumina
improved all properties of asphalt mixtures, except for
low-temperature properties. The decision revealed that
the performance of the modified asphalt mixture was the
most balanced when the content of nano-alumina is 9%.
When the optimal dosage of nano-alumina was 9%, the
dynamic stability of the asphalt mixture at 60°C was
increased by 34.2%, the cumulative permanent strain
was reduced by 36.5–49.5%, the water stability perfor-
mance was improved by 8.3–19.5%, and the fatigue
performance was improved by 3.8–7.2%. However, the
low-temperature flexural tensile strain was reduced by
2.1% but still meets the specification requirements. Nano-
alumina can be used to modify asphalt pavement materials
in high-temperature and rainy areas.

* Corresponding author: Zhuangzhuang Liu, Department of Road
Engineering, School of Highway, Chang’an University, Xi’an,
710064, Shaanxi Province, China; Key Laboratory for Special Area
Highway Engineering of Ministry of Education, Chang’an University,
South 2nd Ring Road Middle Section, Xi’an, 710064, Shaanxi
Province, China, e-mail: zzliu@chd.edu.cn
Yangsen Cao: School of Highway, Chang’an University, Xi’an,
710064, Shaanxi Province, China, e-mail: yscao@chd.edu.cn
Wenjia Song: Department of Civil Engineering, Institute of
Technology, Xi’an International University, Xi’an, 710077, Shaanxi
Province, China, e-mail: 1060171809@qq.com
Open Access. © 2022 Yangsen Cao et al., published by De Gruyter.
International License.
Keywords: road engineering, asphalt mixture, nano-
alumina, high-temperature performance, low-tempera-
ture performance, water stability performance, fatigue
performance
1 Introduction
Asphalt concrete pavement and cement concrete pave-
ment are the two main types of pavement [1]. Compared
with cement concrete pavement, asphalt concrete pave-
ment not only has the advantages of low noise, comfor-
table driving, short construction period, and convenient
maintenance but also suffers from problems such as
high-temperature rutting [2,3], low-temperature cracking
[4], and fatigue damage [5]. To address these issues, road
researchers have been devoted to the research of long-life
pavement [6,7] and strive to improve the service per-
formance of asphalt pavement through the selection
of pavement raw materials, material design, structure
design, and construction technology. Among them, the
study of the performance of asphalt pavement materials
has always attracted much attention. After all, material’s
research is the cornerstone. High-performance material
design coupled with good structural design and reason-
able construction can make pavement performance more
excellent and prolong the pavement service time. To
improve the performance of asphalt pavement materials,
researchers usually use modification techniques, such as
polymer modification [8] and nanomaterial modifica-
tion [9].
The polymers involved in polymer modification tech-
nology generally include thermoplastic resins [10–12],
rubber [13–15], as well as thermoplastic rubbers [16,17].
The research on thermoplastic rubber styrene–butadiene–
styrene (SBS) block copolymer may be more extensive.
For instance, Babagoli et al. [17] studied the effect of
SBS on the performance of asphalt, finding that a con-
tent of 3% SBS can increase the creep recovery effect of
asphalt, reduce the sensitivity of asphalt to stress, and
improve the rutting resistance of asphalt. In addition,
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
2892  Yangsen Cao et al.
SBS also improves the fatigue properties of asphalt,
increasing the fatigue life by nearly ten times, especially
at lower strain levels. Although the polymers can signif-
icantly improve the high-temperature rutting resistance,
low-temperature crack resistance, and rheological prop-
erties of asphalt pavement materials, they also have a
number of drawbacks. The polymers and asphalt mate-
rials, for example, have poor compatibility and are
prone to segregation. The high cost of polymers, along
with a complex and uncontrollable modification process,
leads to a significant increase in the cost of pavement
construction [18]. In recent years, with the development
of nanotechnology, researchers have attempted to use
nanomaterials to modify pavement materials and have
achieved some results [19–24].
Yu et al. [25] and Zhang et al. [26] used nano-titanium
oxide and nano-zinc oxide to improve the anti-ultraviolet
aging performance of asphalt materials, respectively. Sun
et al. [27] used nano-silica to improve the high-tempera-
ture stability and water stability of asphalt materials.
Crucho et al. [28] enhanced the bonding ability of aggre-
gate and asphalt by modifying hard asphalt with nano-
bentonite. Ezzat et al. [29] studied the effects of nano-clay
and nano-silica on asphalt performance and pointed out
that with the increase of nano-clay content, the high-
temperature performance of asphalt increased first and
then decreased, and the ideal content being 3%. How-
ever, with the increase of nano-silica content, the high-
temperature performance of asphalt increases steadily.
Therefore, both nanomaterials have the potential to
improve the permanent deformation resistance of asphalt.
With their respective appropriate dosages, nano-clay or
nano-silica-modified asphalt is suitable for areas with
hot climatic conditions. Karahancer [30] evaluated the
effect of nano-cuprous oxide on asphalt and asphalt mix-
ture. It was pointed out that the rutting factor of modified
asphalt was improved after aging. The fatigue factor
and creep stiffness reached the lowest when the content
of nano-cuprous oxide was 1.5%. This shows that nano-
cuprous oxide can improve the high-temperature per-
formance, fatigue performance, and low-temperature
performance of asphalt. Furthermore, with the increase
of nano-cuprous oxide content, the indirect tensile
strength ratio increases, lowing the moisture sensitivity
of asphalt mixtures. Hassan et al. [31] investigated
the effect of nano-organosilane on asphalt and asphalt
mixtures. The nanomaterials generated a hydrophobic
layer on the surface of aggregates, which significantly
improved the water damage resistance of asphalt mix-
tures. Nanomaterials, on the other hand, have little
effect on the rutting performance, fatigue performance,
and elastic modulus of asphalt and asphalt mixtures,
and the low-temperature performance of asphalt remains
unknown. Peyman [32,33] used different asphalt mixtures
with different aggregate types, gradations, and different
types of nano-organosilane to further indicate that nano-
materials can improve the water damage resistance of
asphalt mixtures. In addition, Peyman et al. [34] also
investigated the effect of nano-organosilane on the rut-
ting resistance of 85/100 penetration grade asphalt,
pointing out that nano-organosilane reduced the tem-
perature sensitivity of asphalt while also enhanced the
ability to resist rutting, and suggested that the dosage of
nano-organosilane is 0.1%. In addition to the modifica-
tion technology of single nanomaterials, there is also
modification of composite nanomaterials. Shafabakhsh
and Ani [35] studied the mechanical properties and
rheological properties of nano-titania/silica composite-
modified asphalt, which reduced the stress sensitivity of
asphalt and inhibited the generation and propagation of
tensile cracks and vertical cracks. Later, Shafabakhsh
et al. [36] studied the effect of nano-silica/SBS compo-
site on the fatigue life of asphalt, finding that its fatigue
life is 2–5 times that of SBS polymer-modified asphalt.
Golestani et al. [37] studied the properties of nano-mon-
tmorillonite re-modified SBS-modified asphalt. Nano-
montmorillonite improves the dispersion homogeneity
of SBS in the base asphalt, thus improving the storage
stability of SBS-modified asphalt. In addition, nano-
montmorillonite improves the elastic and viscoelastic
properties of SBS-modified asphalt and improves the
elastic modulus, rutting resistance, tensile strength,
and moisture damage resistance of asphalt mixture
with SBS.
In summary, the existing research mostly focused on
the properties of modified asphalt, whereas only a few
studies focused on some properties of asphalt mixtures.
Exploring the influence of nanomaterials on the perfor-
mance of asphalt mixture has more practical signifi-
cance. However, there are limited reports on the overall
performance of nanomaterial-modified asphalt mixture.
Furthermore, nanomaterials can indeed improve part of
the performance of asphalt pavement materials to a cer-
tain extent; however, the overall service performance of
asphalt pavement materials still needs to be improved
by researching novel modified materials. Nano-alumina
with the characteristics of high hardness, high strength,
heat resistance, and corrosion resistance has been used to
improve the mechanical properties of cement concrete
[38–40]. The properties of nano-alumina, especially heat
resistance, are also required for asphalt pavement mate-
rials, but there is still a blank in the research on its
 Performance and overall evaluation of nano-alumina-modified asphalt mixture  2893

application to modified asphalt mixtures. Given the lack
of existing research, this article intends to explore the
potential of nano-alumina to modify asphalt mixtures
through rutting test, dynamic creep test, low-temperature
bending test, indirect tensile test, water stability test, and
indirect tensile fatigue test. Then, through the overall per-
formance evaluation of the asphalt mixture, the optimal
dosage of nano-alumina was determined.
2 Materials and methods
2.1 Raw materials
Both coarse and fine aggregates are basalt, and the filler
is limestone powder. The aggregate gradation is shown in
Table 1, which meets the technical specification [41]. The
basic indexes of 70# matrix asphalt are shown in Table 2.
The properties of nano-alumina provided by Shijiaz-
huang Beijing Bright Technology Co., Ltd are shown in
Table 2.
at a high speed of 4,000 rpm [19,33,42]. Then, the nano-
alumina with mass fractions of 3, 6, 9, and 12% were
dissolved in an appropriate amount of kerosene solvent,
respectively. Finally, the kerosene dissolved with nano-
alumina is added to the preheated asphalt, and the desired
modified asphalt is prepared by continuing to heat until
the kerosene is completely volatilized. According to the
Marshall test, the optimum asphalt content of asphalt mix-
ture under different nano-alumina contents is shown in
Table 3. The optimal amount of asphalt increases with
the content of nano-alumina, which may be because the
nanomaterials with high specific surface area adsorb a
large amount of free asphalt, hence reducing the overall
amount of free asphalt in the mixture. In the case of the
same aggregate gradation, the total surface area of the
aggregate is almost unchanged, so more asphalt content
may be required [43].
2.3 Basic performance tests of asphalt
mixture

2.3.1 Rutting test

2.2 Preparation of modified asphalt mixture
To disperse the nano-alumina into the asphalt mixture
more uniformly, the wet mixing method with kerosene as
the auxiliary solvent was adopted in this study. First, a
certain amount of matrix asphalt is heated to 150°C.
Referring to the previous studies, the asphalt is sheared
There are many evaluation methods for the high-tem-
perature performance of asphalt mixtures, and the rut-
ting test in “Standard Test Methods of Bitumen and
Bituminous Mixtures for Highway Engineering” (JTG
E20-2011, T0719-2011) is commonly used to evaluate
the ability of asphalt mixture to resist high-temperature
deformation. This test utilized the HLR-2 rutting test

Table 1: Gradation of minerals

AC-13 Sieve size (mm)

16 13.2 9.5 4.75 2.36 1.18 0.6 0.3 0.15 0.075

Passing rate of each sieve/% 100 98 80 53 40 28 20 13 9 7

Table 2: Properties of 70# matrix asphalt and nano-alumina

Asphalt indicator Value Nano-alumina index Value

Penetration at 25°C/0.1 mm 68 Exterior White powder

Softening point/°C 50 Particle size/nm ≤80
Ductility at 10°C/cm 70.3 Density/(g/cm3) 0.9
Rolling thin-film oven test Quality change/% 0.61 Solubility/% 99.0
Penetration ratio/% 72.3 — —
Ductility at 10°C/cm 10.6 — —
2894  Yangsen Cao et al.
Table 3: Optimum asphalt content of asphalt mixture with different
nano-alumina contents
Nano-alumina content (%) 0 3 6 9 12
Optimum asphalt content 4.6 4.8 4.9 5.0 5.2
machine. The size of the specimen was 30 cm3 × 30 cm3
× 5 cm3; the ambient temperature was controlled at 40,
50, and 60°C; and the tire pressure was 0.7 MPa.
2.3.2 Dynamic creep test
Asphalt mixture is a viscoelastic material, and its high-
temperature deformation is the result of creep accumu-
lation under dynamic vehicle loads. There are certain
limitations in evaluating the high-temperature proper-
ties of asphalt mixtures by the rutting test. The loading
method of the dynamic creep test is impact loading,
which can better simulate the high-temperature deforma-
tion performance of asphalt mixture under different traffic
loads and ambient temperatures. To further study the
high-temperature performance of nano-alumina-modified
asphalt mixture, the UTM-30 pavement material servo
hydraulic dynamic test system was used in this test. The
test was carried out according to NCHRP 9–29 “Simple
Performance Tester for Superpave Mix Design.” The size
of the specimen is φ 100 mm3 × 150 mm3. The permanent
deformation of asphalt pavement mainly occurs in the
high-temperature season, so the temperature of this test
is set to 40, 50, and 60°C, respectively. With an axial pres-
sure of 0.7 MPa, the test load is in the form of a half-sine
wave with a loading time of 0.1 s and a rest time of 0.9 s. To
eliminate the influence of the restraint effect at the end of
the test piece on the test findings, a tetrafluoroethylene
film was placed at either end of the test piece during the
test. The test is terminated when the cumulative perma-
nent strain reaches 0.1 or the number of loading times
reaches 10,000.
2.3.3 Low-temperature bending and indirect tensile
tests
The high-temperature and low-temperature performance
of asphalt mixture often need to balance each other. As
a result, while considering the effect of nano-alumina on
the high-temperature performance of asphalt mixture, it
is necessary to consider its effect on the low-temperature
cracking performance of the mixture. The low-temperature
limit strain can reflect the low-temperature cracking
performance of the asphalt mixture, and the smaller the
value, the better the low-temperature performance of the
asphalt mixture. In this article, low-temperature bending
tests and indirect tensile tests were used to evaluate the
low-temperature performance of nano-alumina-modified
asphalt mixture. The low-temperature bending tests and
the indirect tensile tests were performed in accordance
with T0715-2011 and T0716-2011 in “Standard Test
Methods of Bitumen and Bituminous Mixtures for Highway
Engineering” (JTG E20-2011), respectively. In the low-tem-
perature bending tests, the size of the trabecular specimen
is 250 mm3 × 30 mm3 × 35 mm3, the ambient temperature is
−10°C, and the loading rate is 50 mm/min. In the indirect
tensile tests, the specimen is a standard Marshall spe-
cimen, the ambient temperature is −10°C, the Poisson’s
ratio is 0.25, and the loading rate is 1 mm/min.
2.3.4 Water stability test
Asphalt mixtures are easily affected by water damage. On
the one hand, Marshall specimens exhibit low spalling
resistance after being damaged by water. In contrast, as a
result of freezing and thawing, the structural strength of
the specimen decreases. The effects of nano-alumina on
the water stability of asphalt mixtures were analyzed by
immersion Marshall test and freeze-thaw splitting test.
The two tests were conducted according to T0709-2011
and T0729-2000 in “Standard Test Methods of Bitumen
and Bituminous Mixtures for Highway Engineering” (JTG
E20-2011), respectively. The dimensions of the two test
specimens are φ 101.6 mm3 × 63.5 mm3. In the water
immersion Marshall test, the specimen needs to be
immersed in water for 48 h before its stability is evalu-
ated. The residual stability, which is the ratio of the sta-
bility before immersion to that after immersion, is used as
an index. In the freeze-thaw splitting test, there are two
sets of test pieces. The splitting tensile strength of the first
set of specimens was measured after being immersed in
water at 25°C for 2 h. The second set of specimens was first
stored in a −16°C freezer for 16 h, then stored in 60°C water
for 24 h, and then stored in 25°C water for 2 h, and finally
tested for splitting tensile strength. The freeze-thaw split-
ting tensile strength ratio of the second group of speci-
mens to the first group was used as an index.
2.3.5 Indirect tensile fatigue test
Fatigue cracking performance of asphalt mixture can be
evaluated by indirect tensile testing. Therefore, indirect
 Performance and overall evaluation of nano-alumina-modified asphalt mixture
tensile fatigue tests according to NCHRP 9–29 “Simple
Performance Tester for Superpave Mix Design” are used
to compare the influence of various dosages of nano-
alumina on the fatigue performance of asphalt mixture.
The test instrument adopts the universal test system
UTM-30, and the loading frequency is 10 Hz. The size
of the specimen is φ 100 mm3 × 63.5 mm3. The vertical
deformation of the specimen is measured to determine
whether fatigue failure has occurred. The test ends when
a vertical crack occurs in the center of the specimen due
to indirect tension. The fatigue life of the specimen
depends on the stress amplitude, temperature, etc. The
test temperatures of this fatigue test are 5, 15, and 25°C,
respectively, and the stress amplitudes are 0.2 and
0.3 MPa, respectively.
2.4 Optimal dosage decision method
The content of nano-alumina has a certain influence on
the road performance of the asphalt mixture. Moreover,
different road performance corresponds to different optimal
dosages. To balance various properties and give full play to
the effect of nano-alumina on asphalt mixtures, the gray
decision theory [44,45] was used to determine the optimum
amount of nano-alumina to make the overall performance
of the asphalt mixture optimal.
2.4.1 Basic theory of gray decision making
Decision-making is based on the actual situation of
system factors and the predetermined goals of the system
to determine the actions to be taken. The gray decision is
a decision based on incomplete or ambiguous system
information. In the multi-index decision-making pro-
blem, different indicators often have their own optimal
solutions, but for the entire system, there is only one
optimal solution. For this kind of overall evaluation pro-
blem, gray decision-making works well. In the gray
decision-making process, the event to be processed is
called A (A = ai, i = 1,2,…m), and the action to be taken is
called B (B = bj, j = 1,2,…n). The Cartesian product of A
and B is the set of situations S (S = A × B = (ai, bj), ai ∈ A,
bj ∈ B). An arbitrary sij = (ai, bj) is called a situation.
Every situation has an effect, and the quality of the effect
is measured by the goal. For some goals, the larger the
goals, the better the effect, whereas for others, the oppo-
site is true.
 2895
2.4.2 Modeling
The event to be addressed in this study is the best overall
performance of nano-alumina asphalt mixture, and the
dosages of 0, 3, 6, 9, and 12% are five countermeasures,
respectively. The overall performance is calculated from
each index of the asphalt mixture. In order to reflect the
overall performance of asphalt mixture more accurately,
an overall performance evaluation model was established
by making full use of data from the high-temperature per-
formance, low-temperature performance, water stability
performance, and fatigue performance of asphalt mixture.
2.4.2.1 Organizing raw data
Using n variables and m variable levels, construct the
original data matrix X = (xjk | j ≤ m, k ≤ n).
2.4.2.2 Determination of standard mode
The standard mode determination is the bull’s-eye deter-
mination. For any index k, its bull’s-eye can be the max-
imum, minimum, average, or any reasonable value in
the index, represented by x0k. After the bull’s-eye of
each index is determined, the standard mode X0 can be
obtained, where X0 = (x01, x02, …, x0k| k ≤ n).
2.4.2.3 Transformation of the gray measure
For each nano-alumina dosage scheme, the value of each
index data xjk in matrix X after being transformed by the
gray effect measure is taken as the specific effect value rjk
of the situation under the kth index. The specific effect
value rjk constitutes the effect matrix R (R = rjk | j ≤ m, k ≤ n).
min(xjk , x0k )
rjk = . (1)
max(xjk , x0k )
2.4.2.4 Calculation of bull’s-eye distance for each index
After the gray measure transformation, the position of the
bull’s-eye changes from X0 to the ideal optimal value R0,
R0 = (r01,r02,…,r0k| k ≤ n).
The bull’s-eye distance of each indicator is the dis-
tance from each effect value to the new bull’s-eye. The
bull’s-eye distance is Δ, Δ = (Δjk = |rjk-r0k|, j ≤ m, k ≤ n).
2896  Yangsen Cao et al.
2.4.2.5 Gray target decision
The gray target for decision-making is the distance
from each solution to the ideal solution. The decision-
making gray target selected in this article is a spherical
gray target. The spherical gray target is the distance SDj
from the gray effect measurement vector Rj of the
scheme j to the ideal gray effect measurement vector
R0 = [rj1,rj2,…,rjk]. The smaller SDj is, the better option
j is. The calculation of SDj is shown in equation (2).
SDj = ∣Rj − R0∣
= (rj1 − r01)2 + (rj 2 − r02 )2 + ⋯ + (rjk − r0k )2
( j ≤ m , k ≤ n) .
3 Results and discussion
3.1 Test results of basic performance
3.1.1 High-temperature performance
3.1.1.1 High-temperature performance by rutting test
Figure 1 shows the rutting test results of different dosages
of nano-alumina-modified asphalt mixture under a wheel
load of 0.7 MPa. The 60-min rutting depth and dynamic
stability are used to characterize the high-temperature
Figure 1: Rut depth and dynamic stability.
rutting resistance of the asphalt mixture. With the
increase of nano-alumina content, the rutting depth
of 60 min at 40, 50, and 60°C decreased gradually.
The dynamic stability gradually increases with the con-
tent of nano-alumina. This could be owing to the high
specific surface area of nano-alumina, and the addition
of nanoparticles into the asphalt could play the role of
agglomerating the asphalt, improving the viscosity and
adhesion of the asphalt, thereby reducing its sensitivity
to high temperature. This characteristic of nanomater-
ials is also reflected in the literature [46]. Furthermore,
nanomaterials also increase the stiffness of the asphalt
(2) binder and thus improve the deformation resistance of the
asphalt mixture [47]. When the content of nano-alumina is
in the range of 3–12%, the rutting depth of the modified
asphalt mixture at 60°C decreases by 12.7–36.6%, while
dynamic stability increases by 17.1–39.2%. Therefore,
nano-alumina can improve the high-temperature rut-
ting resistance of asphalt mixtures.
3.1.1.2 High-temperature performance by dynamic
creep test
The dynamic creep test results at different temperatures
are shown in Figure 2. The accumulated permanent strain
can reflect the high-temperature deformation perfor-
mance of asphalt mixtures. The strain shown in Figure 2
is the final strain after the specimen is loaded 4,000 times
and the strain tends to be stable. The larger the final strain,
Figure 2: Cumulative permanent strain.
 Performance and overall evaluation of nano-alumina-modified asphalt mixture
the more sensitive the specimen is to the high-temperature
environment. Under the three temperature conditions, the
final strain showed a trend of decreasing first and then
increasing with the content of nano-alumina, which was
slightly different from the rutting test. The reduction of the
cumulative permanent strain reflects that the overall struc-
ture of the nano-modified asphalt mixture becomes stiffer,
which seems to be related to the stiffening of the asphalt.
After that, the cumulative permanent deformation increases
with the increase of nano-alumina content, which may
be attributed to the uneven dispersion of nanomaterials
in some areas, and the local aggregation generates
structural defects. At 60°C, the final strain of asphalt
mixtures can reach the lowest when the content of
nano-alumina is 9%. The final strain at this time is
49.5% lower than that of the specimen without nano-alu-
mina. At 40 and 50°C, the optimum dosage of nano-alu-
mina is 9 and 6%, respectively. The optimum dosage of
nano-alumina varies at different temperatures, but in gen-
eral, the addition of 3–12% of nano-alumina can reduce
the final strain by 2.2–49.5%. The nanomaterial-modified
asphalt could reduce the heat sensitivity of the asphalt
[48], improving the cohesive force of the asphalt mortar
and the mixture, thereby improving the creep performance
and permanent deformation performance of the asphalt
mixture. When the content exceeds a certain content, the
nano-alumina begins to harm the high-temperature per-
formance of the asphalt mixture. According to the litera-
ture [49], the excessive incorporation of nanomaterials
weakens the creep properties of asphalt mixtures.
Figure 3: Ultimate strain at low temperature.
 2897
3.1.2 Low-temperature performance
As shown in Figure 3, the maximum bending tensile
strain decreases with the content of nano-alumina,
demonstrating that the low-temperature performance
of the nano-modified asphalt mixture has reduced.
This could be because the addition of nano-alumina
powder reduces the light components in the matrix
asphalt while increasing its hardness [48]. The higher
the asphalt hardness, the greater the risk of low-tempera-
ture brittle fracture, which eventually results in a decrease
in the low-temperature performance of the asphalt mix-
ture. This phenomenon indicates that the effect of nano-
alumina addition on the asphalt mixture has two sides.
This is consistent with the law that the high-temperature
and low-temperature performance of asphalt mixture
generally do not increase at the same time. Polymer
SBS can improve the high- and low-temperature perfor-
mance of asphalt mixture at the same time, so nano-alu-
mina is inferior to SBS in this aspect. When the dosage is
6%, the maximum flexural-tensile strain decreases the
fastest, and the flexural-tensile strain decreases by 1.6%
at this time. The low-temperature properties of the mod-
ified asphalt mixture reflected by the indirect tensile test
are similar to the low-temperature bending test. When the
content of nano-alumina was 6%, the tensile strain at
failure decreased by 14.1%. The specification [41] requires
that the low-temperature index of ordinary asphalt mix-
tures is not less than 2,000 με, and the modified asphalt
mixture (polymer modification) is not less than 2,500 με.
The low-temperature flexural tensile strain index of nano-
alumina-modified asphalt mixture is between 2,000 and
2,500 με. There is currently no requirement for tensile
failure strain in the specification; therefore, in terms of
low-temperature bending, although the low-temperature
performance of asphalt mixture cannot be improved by
nano-alumina, it can still meet the requirements of low-
temperature crack resistance of asphalt pavement in non-
severe cold areas.
3.1.3 Water stability performance
Figure 4 depicts the results of the water stability test.
In Figure 4(a), the stability of Marshall specimens before
and after immersion increases with the content of nano-
alumina. When the content of nano-alumina was 12%,
the stability of Marshall specimens before and after water
immersion reached 15.9 and 14.4 kN, which were 72.6 and
90.2% higher than those without nano-alumina, respec-
tively. The residual stability increases with the content
2898  Yangsen Cao et al.

Figure 4: Water stability test: (a) Marshall stability test and (b) freeze-thaw split test.

of nano-alumina, and all meet the requirements of the

minimum residual stability of not less than 80% in the
specification. In Figure 4(b), the splitting strength of the
freeze-thawed and unfrozen-thawed mixtures increased
with the content of nano-alumina. The maximum split-
ting strength of frozen-thawed and unfrozen-thawed
Marshall specimens increased by 79.2 and 54.3% com-
pared with the original values. The ratio of freeze-thaw
splitting strength is greater than 75%, which meets
the specification requirements. Nano-alumina has high
lipophilicity, utilizing it as a modifier can convert the
free asphalt in an asphalt mixture into structural asphalt
to a greater extent [50]. The interface between the aggre-
gate and the asphalt is avoided to be peeled off in the
water, thereby improving the water stability to a certain
Figure 5: Fatigue life of asphalt mixture.
extent. The improvement of the moisture sensitivity of
asphalt mixtures by nanomaterials is also reflected in
the indirect tensile strength ratio index in the literature 0.2 MPa, the maximum loading time of the specimen
[49]. without nano-alumina is 78,000 times. However, when
the temperature is 25°C and the stress is 0.3 MPa, the max-
imum loading time of the specimen is only 5,300 times,
3.1.4 Fatigue performance which shows that the temperature and stress have a great
influence on the fatigue life of the asphalt mixture. The
Figure 5 shows the effect of nano-alumina content on the lower ambient temperature and stress level can prolong
fatigue life of asphalt mixture at different temperatures. the fatigue life of asphalt mixtures, but the ambient tem-
Under lower temperature and stress conditions, the perature of the road and the internal stress of the pave-
asphalt mixture can withstand more loading times. This ment structure cannot be changed. Therefore, reducing
is due to the high stiffness and strength of the asphalt the sensitivity of the mixture to temperature and stress is
mixture at lower temperatures. When the temperature a method to improve the life of the asphalt mixture [52],
increases, the rheological properties of the asphalt binder and the application of nano-alumina is based on this.
gradually appear, which reduces the bearing capacity of Under all temperature and stress conditions, the fatigue
the mixture. The decrease in fatigue life with stress level life of asphalt mixtures always increases first and then
conforms to the traditional S–N fatigue equation [51]. decreases with the content of nano-alumina. The allow-
When the ambient temperature is 5°C and the stress is able loading time of the asphalt mixture with 6% nano-
 Performance and overall evaluation of nano-alumina-modified asphalt mixture  2899

alumina was the highest, which was 4.8–45.8% higher
than that of mixtures without nano-alumina. As a result,
the addition of nano-alumina can prolong the fatigue life
of asphalt mixtures, which also shows that nano-alumina
has a certain effect on preventing fatigue cracking perfor-
mance of asphalt mixtures.
3.2 Optimal dosage determination based on
gray target decision
The values of each index factor measured by the test are
shown in Table 4. According to the theory of gray target
model determination, the indexes after gray measure
transformation through equation (1) are shown in Table 5.
The transformation of data from Tables 4 and 5 is essen-
tially the process of data standardization, in which the
data change from dimensional to dimensionless. The rut
depth and cumulative permanent strain shown in Table 4
are economic indicators, and the smaller the value, the
better the performance of the mixture. Dynamic stability,
stability, freeze-thaw splitting strength, fatigue life, low-
temperature bending strain, and tensile failure strain are
benefit-type indicators, and the larger the value, the better
the performance of the mixture. For each index after the
gray effect transformation in Table 5, whether it is an
economic index or a benefit index, the larger the value,
the better the performance of the mixture.
According to Table 5, the gray effect measurement
vector of the ideal optimal nano-alumina dosage scheme
is R0 = (1,…,1)1 × 21. According to equation (2), the bull’s-
eye distance between the gray effect measurement vector
of various nano-alumina dosage schemes and the gray
effect measurement vector of the ideal optimal nano-
alumina dosage scheme can be calculated as shown in
Table 6. The bull’s-center distance calculated with dif-
ferent nano-alumina contents is SD0 ≥ SD3 ≥ SD6 ≥ SD12
≥ SD9. When the content of nano-alumina is 9%, the
bull’s-eye distance is the smallest. According to the
gray target decision theory, when the content of nano-
alumina is 9%, the performance of the asphalt mixture
reaches the optimal balance. Therefore, the recommended
dosage of nano-alumina is 9%.
4 Conclusion
In this article, the influence of nano-alumina as an inor-
ganic modifier on the basic properties of asphalt mixture
was explored through rutting tests, dynamic creep tests,
low-temperature bending tests, indirect tensile tests,
stability tests, freeze-thaw splitting tests, and indirect

Table 4: Raw data of various performances

Content Rutting depth (mm) Dynamic stability/ Cumulative permanent Stability (kN)
(%) (times/mm) strain

40°C 50°C 60°C 60°C 40°C 50°C 60°C Normal Soaked Residual
stability (%)

0 2.4 4.15 6.45 1,580 0.0192 0.037 0.0522 9.24 7.58 82.0
3 2.35 3.96 5.63 1,850 0.0176 0.0345 0.051 10.81 9.11 84.3
6 1.89 3.39 5.13 2,010 0.0153 0.023 0.0397 13.40 11.42 85.2
9 1.73 3.12 4.31 2,120 0.0111 0.0235 0.0263 14.50 12.88 88.8
12 1.7 2.73 4.09 2,200 0.0166 0.0295 0.0367 15.94 14.41 90.4

Content Freeze-thaw splitting Fatigue life-0.2 MPa Fatigue life-0.3 MPa Low-temperature Tensile
(%) strength (MPa) bending strain at
strain (με) failure/
Normal Freeze- Splitting 5°C 15°C 25°C 5°C 15°C 25°C
0.01ε
thawed strength
ratio (%)

0 0.70 0.53 75.7 71,077 36,069 9,562 55,047 22,010 5,015 2,435 3.26
3 0.77 0.61 79.2 75,016 39,087 9,810 56,067 22,509 5,162 2,429 3.19
6 0.92 0.73 79.3 78,017 52,599 10,547 62,089 23,580 5,258 2,395 2.8
9 1.05 0.95 90.5 76,044 37,593 10,098 59,028 23,096 5,203 2,383 2.74
12 1.08 0.95 88.0 74,576 37,026 9,628 56,018 22,592 5,050 2,378 2.65
2900  Yangsen Cao et al.

Table 5: Gray effect measurement of various performance indicators

Content Rutting depth Dynamic Cumulative permanent strain Stability

(%) stability
40°C 50°C 60°C 60°C 40°C 50°C 60°C Normal Soaked Residual
stability

0 0.7083 0.6578 0.6341 0.7182 0.5783 0.6216 0.5048 0.5795 0.5258 0.9074
3 0.7234 0.6894 0.7265 0.8409 0.6303 0.6667 0.5163 0.6782 0.6322 0.9322
6 0.8995 0.8053 0.7973 0.9136 0.7228 1 0.6639 0.8407 0.7925 0.9427
9 0.9827 0.875 0.949 0.9636 1 0.9787 1 0.9099 0.8941 0.9826
12 1 1 1 1 0.6683 0.7797 0.7182 1 1 1

Content Freeze-thaw splitting strength Fatigue life-0.2 MPa Fatigue life-0.3 MPa Low- Tensile strain
(%) temperature at failure
Normal Freeze- Splitting 5°C 15°C 25°C 5°C 15°C 25°C
bending
thawed strength ratio
strain

0 0.6481 0.5579 0.8368 0.911 0.6857 0.9066 0.8866 0.9334 0.9538 1 1

3 0.713 0.6421 0.8756 0.9615 0.7431 0.9301 0.903 0.9546 0.9817 0.9975 0.9785
6 0.8519 0.7684 0.877 1 1 1 1 1 1 0.9836 0.8589
9 0.9722 1 1 0.9747 0.7147 0.9574 0.9507 0.9795 0.9895 0.9786 0.8405
12 1 1 0.9722 0.9559 0.7039 0.9129 0.9022 0.9581 0.9604 0.9766 0.8129

Table 6: Calculation results of bull’s-center distance with different nano-alumina-modified asphalt and the research of mod-
nano-alumina contents ification mechanism at the microlevel still need to be
further carried out.
Nano-alumina 0 3 6 9 12
content (%)
Funding information: This work was supported by the
SD 1.3865 1.1441 0.6848 0.3917 0.6200 Fundamental Research Funds for the Central University,
CHD (300102212701).

tensile fatigue tests. A gray decision-making model was
established to evaluate the overall performance of nano-
alumina-modified asphalt mixture. Experiments show that
nano-alumina can improve the high-temperature per-
formance, water stability, and fatigue performance of
asphalt mixture. In particular, the improvement of high-
temperature performance is remarkable. Nano-alumina
can increase the dynamic stability of the asphalt mixture
at 60°C by up to 34.2% and reduce the accumulated per-
manent strain by up to 49.5%. Nano-alumina has a certain
negative effect on the low-temperature performance of
asphalt mixture, but the low-temperature bending strain
index value still meets the specification requirements.
Different performance indicators correspond to different
optimal dosages. By establishing a decision-making model
with 21 parameters and 5 parameter levels, the effect
of nano-alumina content on the overall performance of
asphalt mixtures was quantified. When the content of
nano-alumina is 9%, the overall performance of asphalt
mixtures reaches the optimum. In this article, the feasi-
bility of nano-alumina-modified asphalt mixture has been
studied macroscopically, but the process optimization of
Author contributions: All authors have accepted the
responsibility for the entire content of this manuscript
and approved its submission.
Conflict of interest: The authors state no conflict of interest.
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