Assessing Rheological Performance of Innovative Sealant Materials Using Traditional Superpave Binder Equipment

Pavement preservation is vital for maintaining road conditions. Traditional sealant treatments that are used to repair pavement distresses often lack durability and bond strength, prompting the development of innovative treatments. These treatments, which repair both flexible and rigid pavement cracks, swimming pool joints, and ship hole joints are made with composite modifications, making their rheological properties difficult to understand. This study assessed the rheological behavior of these innovative sealant materials and to provides formulation guidelines. Two categories of materials were used: binder only (four treatments) and mastic materials(two treatments). A dynamic shear rheometer (DSR) and bending beam rheometer (BBR) were used to measure performance in terms of high-temperature rutting, intermediate-temperature cracking, and low-temperature thermal cracking. Among binder-only materials, polysulfide joint sealant exhibited superior performance in high-temperature rutting and intermediate-temperature cracking due to the presence of 5%–15% epoxy resin, which provides elasticity and flexibility. Conversely, trowel-applied asphalt emulsion exhibited lower resistance to rutting due to its 10%–15% clay content. Tar and minerals had lower performance in terms of intermediate-temperature cracking because of the stiffness provided by pyrene and quartz content. For mastic materials, polymer-modified asphalt patch demonstrated better low-temperature cracking performance than cement patch, because of its hydrotreated heavy naphthenic (HHN) content, ensuring flexibility and higher cracking resistance. These results demonstrate that traditional Superpave binder equipment can reliably characterize the performance of innovative sealants, providing a solid basis for standardized evaluation in pavement preservation.