Effect of CENEX polymer on the performance of bituminous concrete and dense bituminous macadam of pavement

Abstract

This paper focuses on the effect of centrifuged latex (CENEX) polymer on the performance of bituminous concrete (BC) and dense bituminous macadam (DBM) of pavement. In this study, VG30 binder is modified with CENEX polymer at different percentages such as 0%, 2%, 4%, 6% and 8% by the weight of the binder. Using storage stability test it is found that optimum content of CENEX polymer is 6%. Mixes using CENEX modified binder require slightly lesser optimum binder content (OBC) than the plain mixes. Retained marshal stability (RMS) test, tensile strength ratio (TSR) test, resilient modulus ratio (RMR) test, boiling water test (BWT), four-point bending beam test (FPBT) and wheel tracking test (WTT) are conducted on these mixes. The results show that the incorporation of CENEX polymer improves the moisture damage resistance, fatigue life and rut resistance. Furthermore, life-cycle cost analysis reveals that CENEX modified mixes are more economical compared to plain mixes over long-run, even though the initial cost of modified and unmodified mixes are almost the same. As a whole, better performance is obtained by using CENEX modified mixes resulting in higher pavement service life.