The Application of Grey System Theory to Correlate Chemical Composition and Surface Free Energy of Asphalt Binders

Abstract

Grey correlation analyses were carried out to determine which chemical components and chemical elements of asphalt binders are most related to surface free energy (SFE) measurements of asphalt binders. The total, dispersive, and polar SFE values were calculated for 23 Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP) asphalt binders based on contact angle measurements by the sessile drop method and the chemical composition data of the 23 binders was obtained from previously published information. During the Grey correlation analysis, it was found that polar aromatics content has the largest effect on the total SFE and dispersion component of SFE, whereas saturates made the largest contribution to the polar component of SFE. Carbon (C) and hydrogen (H) made the largest contribution to the total, dispersion, and polar SFE; vanadium (V) content has the smallest effect on the total surface free energy, including its dispersion and polar parts.