The super absorbent polymer (SAP) has been attracting extensive concerns due to its strong capacity in water absorption and retention. The amorphous hydrogels formed by the post-absorbent SAP have the potential of clogging the micro-cracks in asphalt materials and refraining the rainwater from infiltrating. This provides the possibility of applying SAP in asphalt pavements to seal or fill the cracks and relieve the distresses caused by rainwater infiltration in the underlying layers. Before exploring the cracking sealing mechanism of SAPs in asphalt pavements, a series of experiments were performed to evaluate the feasibility and influences of SAPs in asphalt mastics and asphalt mixtures on their mechanical performances and functionalities. Firstly, the basic properties of SAPs were analyzed, and then the rheological properties of the asphalt mastics using SAP replacing mineral powder (10%, 20%, 30%, and 40% by volume) were explored. The water stability and infiltration reduction effect of the asphalt mixtures incorporated with SAP were evaluated by the Marshall stability test, immersion Marshall stability test, freeze-thaw splitting strength test, Cantabro test, and permeability test. The test results indicated that SAPs could be used in the asphalt mixtures to partially substitute mineral powder with desirable mechanical performances. When less than 10% of the mineral powder was replaced by the SAP, the high-temperature performance and fatigue life of the asphalt mastics could be improved to some extent, but both declined after the content of the SAP was larger than 10%. Due to the hydrogels formed by SAPs after water absorption, the water stability of the asphalt mixtures deteriorated with the increased content of SAPs. Moreover, the results from the permeability tests implied that the SAP hydrogels could fill the seepage channels in the material, thus improving the migration and infiltration resistances of the asphalt mixtures. With the increased contents of SAPs, the permeability coefficients of the asphalt mixtures could be reduced up to 55%. Based on the research findings in this study, when an appropriate amount of SAP was added in the asphalt materials, desirable temperature stability, water stability, and fatigue resistance could be achieved regarding actual requirements from applications. At the same time, the addition of SAPs could effectively refrain the infiltration and migration of rainwater in asphalt pavements, thus potentially mitigating the effect of water erosion on the underlying layers.
Keywords: asphalt materials; functions; performances; superabsorbent polymer; water infiltration.