[Abstract]Rolling Thin Film Oven Test (RTFOT) was found to be inadequate for polymer modified asphalt (PMA) since high viscosity PMA will not roll inside the glass bottle during the test. Many suggested that the aging temperature of RTFOT should be promoted for PMA; however the degree of promotion remains to be decided. To investigate the impact of temperature on RTFOT aging and determine a suitable PMA aging temperature, an innovative approach was proposed by comparing aging effect of RTFOT and Modified Rolling Thin Film Oven Test (MRTFOT) at different aging temperatures. Infrared spectroscopy and rheology characteristic were employed to evaluate aging. Carbonyl change suggested that with aging temperature lifted, a drastic increase in carbonyl combined with an equal aging effect between MRTFOT and RTFOT occurred at certain aging temperature, and was inferred to be an indication of PMA obtaining fluidity. PMA rheology master curves exhibited consistent results with carbonyl change. Based on above findings, a commonly used PMA with 4.5% styrene–buta diene–styrene should be aged at 178 C in RTFOT to guarantee fluidity and equal aging effect compared with neat asphalt.
