Morphological and rheological investigation of emulsified asphalt/polymer composite based on gray-level co-occurrence matrix

Emulsified asphalt/polymer is one of the most applied composite materials in pavement industry, which is also defined as emulsified polymer modified asphalt (PMA). PMA exhibits the transition behavior of multi-physical states with corresponding viscoelastic characteristics, and studies had focused on the application performances of PMA. However, few had paid proper attention to the morphological compatibility of PMA, which dominated its viscoelastic transition and failure probability directly. This paper aims to establish a gray-level co-occurrence matrix (GLCM) model with morphology theory to quantitatively describe the morphological compatibility of PMA, combined with fluorescent microscope. Furthermore, waterborne polymers with self-crosslinking characteristics are introduced to modify emulsified asphalt, including acrylate, epoxy resin, polyurethane and liquid rubber. The rheological characteristics of PMA are comprehensively evaluated through performance grade, steady shear viscosity, and master curve tests. Finally, a statistical analysis is conducted to establish the relationship between morphological compatibility and rheological characteristics of PMA. The approach introduced in this study could be a promising method to investigate the multi-physical transition behaviors and morphological compatibility of emulsified asphalt/polymer composite material.