Rheological properties and chemical characterisation of reacted and activated rubber modified asphalt binder
Siyu Chen, Dongdong Ge, Fangyuan Gong, Zhanping You, Aboelkasim Diab, Mingxiao Ye
Abstract
The objective of this study was to investigate the rheological and chemical properties of crumb rubber modified asphalt binder. Reacted and activated rubber (RAR) with different rubber contents were used to modify the asphalt binder, including 15%, 25%, 30%, 35% and 40% by mass of RAR modified asphalt binder. In general, the test results were favourable in rutting resistance performance, fatigue cracking resistance and low-temperature cracking resistance. The addition of RAR led to an improvement of elastic properties and a decrease in viscous features of the binders. The RAR behaved as an anti-cracking additive to increase the service life of asphalt pavements. At a strain level of 5.0%, the binder fatigue life of 15% RAR, 25% RAR, 30% RAR, 35% RAR, 40% RAR and 12% Terminal Blend were 13, 24, 30, 43, 45 and 18 times higher than that of the control binder, respectively. The absorbance growth height increased with increasing amounts of RAR additives in the Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy spectra. A linear correlation was found between the RAR content of the binder and the area under the band at 3642 cm−1 and the ratio of the bands at 3642 and 1376 cm−1.