Evaluation on high-temperature adhesion performance of hot-applied sealant for asphalt pavement

In order to investigate the high-temperature performances of the asphalt pavement hot-applied sealant, as well as to reduce failures of the sealant pullout, the softening point test and the flow test (two existing methods for evaluating high-temperature performances) were conducted. It was found that both tests could not accurately reflect the adhesion performances of the sealant at high temperatures. For this purpose, the adhesion test for PSAT (pressure sensitive adhesive tape) has been taken as a reference to develop a device that is suitable for evaluating the adhesion performances, by modifying relevant test parameters according to the road conditions at high temperatures. Thirteen common sealants were tested in the modified adhesion test, softening point test and flow test. The experimental results show that no significant correlation (p>0.05) exists between the adhesion value, softening point, adhesion value and flow value; while a significant correlation (p<0.05) exists between the softening point and flow value. The modified adhesion test is efficient in distinguishing the high-temperature adhesion performances of different sealants, and can be used as a standard method for evaluating such performances.