Introduction:

The use of modified asphalts with polymers in the construction of roads is a frequent practice at an international level but still limited in Ecuador. However, due to the short durability of our asphalt pavements, mainly caused by premature fatigue cracks or blocks, the potential of these products should be considered.

Objective:

Evaluate the behavior of the asphalt coming from the Esmeraldas Refinery when it is mixed with three commercial polymers, by means of the tests required for the classification of viscosity and by Superpave performance grades, including a rheological analysis using master curves and Black diagrams.

Materials and methods:

The polymers used were: SBS, Elvaloy and rubber tires, dosed to meet certain quality requirements determined by experimental methods, according to ASTM regulations.

Results:

As main results the high degree of temperature increased to 76 by modifying the PG 6428 asphalt with the different polymers, maintaining the low degree on those modified with Elvaloy and rubber in -28, while for the SBS it increased to -22. Regarding to intermediate temperatures, the critical temperature to fatigue didn't have much variation when the different modifiers were applied. This situation was corroborated with Black diagrams.

Conclusions:

Trying to solve the poor cracking performance of the Ecuadorian asphalt by mixing it with the polymers studied would not be the most effective solution, although the improvement of the performance to plastic deformations is notorious.

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