Influence of Rubber Powder Movement on Properties of Asphalt Rubber from the Mesoscopic View

The research on asphalt performance mainly focused on the macro performance and micro mechanism. Mesoscopic analysis was introduced to study the effect of rubber powder movement on asphalt rubber properties. After the preparation parameters and the preparation process of asphalt rubber were determined, the modification mechanism and rheological properties were analyzed which revealed the compatible stability mechanism. Then, the analysis model of asphalt rubber was established to focus on simulating the effect of rubber powder and the spatial movement on its mechanical properties. The experimental results show that rubber powder can make the asphalt rubber bear more uniform stress distribution and enhance the ability to resist deformation. Meanwhile, the rotational motion and final distribution of rubber powder have an obvious impact on the mechanical properties of asphalt rubber. In the selected feature points, the average stress of rubber powder at 0° space angle is only 34.1% of that at 90° space angle. When the rubber powders are all in parallel in the ideal state, it enhances the mechanical properties the most. This study supplements the “mesoscopic” scale between macro and micro research. The relationship between micro mechanism and macro properties of asphalt rubber will be established from the mesoscopic perspective. It is also an effort to realize the effective correlation from micro, mesoscopic to macro in asphalt.