Recent development of ethylene–vinyl acetate modified asphalt

Ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA) has been widely employed in the modification of asphalt binder due to the rigid three-dimensional network structure and special functional groups. In this paper, relevant studies of the EVA modified asphalt were summarized to further promote the development of EVA modified asphalt technology. In general, EVA modified asphalt had excellent high-temperature performance while its low-temperature performance was poor due to its stiff characteristics. It was also found that under large stain conditions, the fatigue performance of EVA modified asphalt was rather poor. However, its fatigue performance was comparable to that of Styrene-Butadiene-Styrene (SBS) modified asphalt under small strain conditions. The structure of EVA modified asphalt made it possible for it to resist degradation while performing great anti-ageing performance. Furthermore, the presence of polar groups provided EVA with excellent storage stability. The change in rheological properties of EVA modified asphalt was due to the three-dimensional network formed by physical cross-linking rather than a chemical reaction. Vinyl acetate (VA) content led to a change in the crystalline domains in the polymer, which in turn influenced the modification effect. Melt flow index (MFI) value was able to change the flow characteristics and thus affected the macro properties. Additionally, to address its performance deficiencies, this paper also discussed how composite modification of waste tire rubber (WTR), SBS, low density polyethylene (LDPE), and nano-clay would help improve the performance of EVA modified asphalt.