Laboratory Investigation of Carbon Black/Bio-Oil Composite Modified Asphalt

As environmentally friendly materials, carbon black and bio-oil can be used as modifiers to effectively enhance the poor high-temperature and low-temperature performance of base asphalt and its mixture. Different carbon black and bio-oil contents and shear time were selected as the test influencing factors in this work. Based on the Box–Behnken design (BBD), carbon black/bio-oil composite modified asphalt was prepared to perform the softening point, penetration, multiple stress creep and recovery (MSCR), and bending beam rheometer (BBR) tests. The response surface method (RSM) was used to analyze the test results. In addition, the base asphalt mixtures and the optimal performance carbon black/bio-oil composite modified asphalt mixtures were formed for rutting and low-temperature splitting tests. The results show that incorporating carbon black can enhance the asphalt’s high-temperature performance by the test results of irrecoverable creep compliance (J(nr)) and strain recovery rate (R). By contrast, the stiffness modulus (S) and creep rate (M) test results show that bio-oil can enhance the asphalt’s low-temperature performance. The quadratic function models between the performance indicators of carbon black/bio-oil composite modified asphalt and the test influencing factors were established based on the RSM. The optimal performance modified asphalt mixture’s carbon black and bio-oil content was 15.05% and 9.631%, and the shear time was 62.667 min. It was revealed that the high-temperature stability and low-temperature crack resistance of the carbon black/bio-oil composite modified asphalt mixture were better than that of the base asphalt mixture because of its higher dynamic stability (DS) and toughness. Therefore, carbon black/bio-oil composite modified asphalt mixture can be used as a new type of choice for road construction materials, which is in line with green development.