Mechanism of reinforced interfacial adhesion between steel slag and highly devulcanized waste rubber modified asphalt and its influence on the volume stability in steel slag asphalt mixture

The volume expansion risk of steel slag is a predominant challenge hindering its usage as an alternative aggregate in road pavements. In this study, the interfacial adhesion properties of base asphalt-basalt, base asphalt-steel slag, rubber modified asphalt (RMA) -basalt and RMA-steel slag were compared employing both experiment and molecular dynamics simulation. The volume stability and road performance of the asphalt mixture was also explored. The results showed that the residue rate of the RMA asphalt mixed with steel slag aggregates showed an increase from 87.5 % to 95.7 % compared to base asphalt after 100 degrees C boiling water test. The interfacial adhesion between steel slag and asphalt surpasses that of basalt and asphalt, with the use of rubber modified asphalt further enhancing the adhesion with steel slag aggregates, as investigated through quantitative evaluation of interface adhesive work. The enhanced interaction between steel slag and RMA was primarily due to the integration of acidic functional groups from rubber chain with the alkaline active constituents (f-CaO) of steel slag aggregates, as confirmed by molecular dynamics simulations and accurate density functional theory calculations. Furthermore, the volume stability and road performance of the steel slag stone mastic asphalt were also greatly improved compared with basalt asphalt mixture. The dynamic average stability of RMA steel slag mixture was 9218 cycles/mm and the expansion rate of steel slag asphalt mixture under did not exceed 1.2 % after 216 hours water immersion. Therefore, this study provides an alternative aggregate for road pavement and a sustainable recycling strategy for the steel slag waste.