Thermal characterization of asphalt mixtures by TG/DTG, DTA and FTIR

The quality of a road relies on the good use of the on road surface and its maintenance along the years. The technology used and the corrections contributes to the prevention of early road destructions. Pavement with polmyer and others additives exhibits greater resistance to rutting, thermal cracking, and decreased fatigue damage, stripping and temperature susceptibility. Samples of CAP 40, SBS 440/02, L 1861/04, L 784/05 and L 2000/04 were analyzed by thermogravimetry (TG), derivative thermogravimetry (DTG), differential thermal analysis (DTA) and FTIR. Thermal characterizations showed that the main decomposition stage refers to asphaltenes and samples with additives exhibited a slight increase in thermal stability. The kinetic study, by Kissinger, showed that the sample with the highest stability was the SBS 440/02. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis suggested that these asphalt samples were originated from light oil.