Curing behavior and mechanical properties of an eco-friendly cold-mixed epoxy asphalt

Cold-mixed epoxy asphalt (CEA) is an eco-friendly material for steel bridge deck pavements. The effects of the asphalt on the curing behavior and mechanical properties of the CEA were studied. The pot life, curing characteristics, and curing kinetics of CEA blends were investigated by rotational viscosity testing, dynamic shear rheological analysis, and fluorescence microscopy. The results showed that the CEA pot life increased with asphalt content, and the curing apparent activation energy \( E_{k} \) of CEA-0.4 was more than two times higher than that of the epoxy resin. The curing reaction between the epoxy resin and curing agent was hindered by the asphalt. According to the FTIR and DSC results, the curing degree of the CEAs decreased with asphalt content. The elongation at break of the CEAs increased, while the tensile and adhesion strength decreased with asphalt content.