High-Temperature Rheological Properties of Crumb Rubber Composite Modified Asphalt

Abstract

As a kind of environmentally friendly material, crumb rubber modified asphalt is widely used in highway engineering to accelerate the consumption of end-life tires. The objective of this study is to investigate the high-temperature rheological properties of crumb rubber composite modified (CRCM) asphalt. In this study, the same content of crumb rubber and different content of composite additives were added to prepare the CRCM asphalt, including CRCM-SBS, CRCM- Sasobit/BRF, and CRCM-RARX. The viscosity, phase angle, rutting factor, critical temperature, storage modulus, non-recoverable creep compliance, percent recovery, stress sensitivity, and the functional groups of all testing specimens were obtained by the rotational viscometer, dynamic shear rheometer, multiple stress creep recovery, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy tests to evaluate the high-temperature rheological properties of asphalt. In general, the results were favorable for enhancing the high-temperature performance and reducing the stress sensitivity of asphalt. It showed that the incorporation of crumb rubber and additives increased the viscosity of asphalt under different testing conditions. Additionally, the addition of crumb rubber and additives in the base asphalt could be used to increase elastic components and improve the permanent deformation resistance, and the performances are closely related to the types of additives. Thus, considering the high-temperature performance, the asphalt modified by crumb rubber and RARX additive was recommended to apply to asphalt pavement.