Lowering the temperature of the road surface is one efficient way to alleviate the urban heat island effect. Therefore water-retaining asphalt mixture was produced by adding super absorbent polymer (SAP) containing cement mortar to the porous asphalt mixture. In this study, the water absorption capacity, mechanical strength and fluidity of the cured water-retaining mortar were investigated to determine the optimum SAP dosage in water-retaining mortar. Furthermore, the microstructure of the hardened water-retaining mortar was studied using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to determine the morphology and distribution of SAP in the final product, which may help to understand the influence of SAP on water retention performance and decipher its underlying mechanism. Compared to the raw porous asphalt mixture, the water-retaining asphalt mixture showed good moisture susceptibility (retained stability (RS) ≥ 88.2%, tensile strength ratio (TSR) ≥ 81.8%), good rutting resistance (9336-10,552 times/mm) and low temperature crack resistance (3383-3621 MPa), as well as significant cooling effects (10-12 °C). The results illustrate that the prepared SAP water-retaining asphalt mixture has good potential in reducing dust and enhancing road performance.
Keywords: SAP mortar; microstructure; porous asphalt mixture; water-retaining.