Laboratory evaluation on the high temperature rheological properties of rubber asphalt: A preliminary study

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

10-1-2012

Abstract

Crumb rubber is the recycled rubber particle obtained from mechanical shearing or grinding scrap tires into small particle sizes less than 6.3 mm (or approximately 1/4). The rheological properties of asphalt binder have an important effect on the field performance of asphalt mixtures and the long-term serviceability of asphalt pavement. The objective of this research is to evaluate the high temperature rheological performance of rubber asphalt binder based on the complex shear modulus ({pipe}G *{pipe}) and the phase angle (δ) values using the dynamic shear rheometer. Five rubber asphalt dosages at 0, 10, 15, 20, and 25% by weight of asphalt (Superpave PG 64-22), respectively, were used to modify asphalt binder; and three rubber particle meshes, 20#, 30#, and 40#, were utilized in this research. The {pipe}G *{pipe} at various temperatures and frequencies were tested on each sample, including original and short-term aging binder using the rolling thin-film over. The master curves of {pipe}G *{pipe}/sin(δ) for each type of rubber asphalt was generated to investigate its rheological properties over a broad range of temperatures and frequencies. Based on the testing results, it was found that the addition of crumb rubber significantly increases the {pipe}G *{pipe} of asphalt binder, which is desirable to potentially improve the anti-rutting performance of asphalt mixtures. It was also found that the addition of 10% mesh crumb rubbers bumps up the high temperature grade of asphalt, from PG64 to PG76 in this case. The master curve using the {pipe}G *{pipe}/sin(δ) of rubber asphalt shows a substantial improvement in rutting resistant at each testing temperature and loading frequency. However, it was noteworthy that the rutting resistance enhancement of crumb rubber was affected by the percentage of rubber used, the rubber particle size and its aging condition.

Publication Title

Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering

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