Wax is an important factor that affects the durability of asphalt binder. In order to understand the molecular weight distribution and branching of wax on the moisture sensitivity of asphalt binder, pure wax-doped asphalt binders are prepared and the performance of model asphalt binders are evaluated by surface free-energy (SFE) and binder bond strength (BBS) tests. In addition, asphaltene is regarded as an additive in this study. The results show that the addition of eicosane, triacontane, squalane and asphaltene can reduce the moisture sensitivity of asphalt, but not necessarily improve its moisture-induced damage resistance. The physical hardening effect of high-wax asphalt and its model asphalt is stronger than that of the corresponding low-wax asphalt and its model asphalt, and its moisture sensitivity is weaker than that of the low-wax asphalt. For all the model asphalts, there is a good correlation between the cohesion work, cohesion POTS (pull-off tensile strength), POTS ratio (the BBS moisture sensitivity index) and ER (the SFE moisture sensitivity index). When using the BBS test to characterize the moisture sensitivity of high-wax asphalt, it is recommended to leave the sample for some time until it is physically hardened and stable.
Keywords: asphaltene; binder bond strength; branching of wax; moisture sensitivity; molecular weight distribution; surface free-energy.