Impact of Various Crumb Rubber Modifications on Asphalt Binder and Mixture Properties

Abstract

As the price of asphalt binder continues to rise, state agencies are looking for sustainable ways to reduce the cost of asphalt pavements without compromising performance. One such alternative is the use of crumb rubber, derived from waste tires, in binders of asphalt mixtures. Blending virgin asphalt binder with ambient or cryogenic ground crumb rubbers along with additional modifiers to produce sustainable asphalt mixtures was studied. The modifiers evaluated include E-rubber (free flowing rubber pellets), SBS, sulfur, and Rpolymer (reactive polymer polyolefin blend coated micronized rubber particles). Thermogravimetric analysis was used to determine the natural rubber to synthetic rubber ratio in the ground tire rubbers. Gel permeation chromatography was used to investigate the molecular structure and changes occurring in the asphalt binder on blending with rubber/modifier. Scanning electron microscopy was used to examine the physical nature of the binder blends. All of the binder blends were evaluated using the multiple stress creep recovery test. Mixtures prepared from modified binders were characterized using semicircular bend (SCB) test at intermediate temperature and Hamburg wheel-tracking (LWT) test. Correlation of physical properties of crumb rubber modified asphalt binder with apparent molecular weight of binder components was examined. Asphalt mixtures containing ambient or cryogenic ground crumb rubber additives did not exhibit improved mixture intermediate temperature cracking performance as compared to conventional mixture as measured by SCB test Jc value. Addition of elastomeric high molecular weight polymer additives improved MSCR test results of binder blends when compared to rubber blends with no additional polymer additives. Addition of E-rubber or R-polymer to the asphalt binder improved SCB intermediate temperature test results of the corresponding mixtures. It was noted that the presence of high molecular weight elastomeric species in asphalt binder blends is necessary to obtain acceptable intermediate temperature cracking performance. Presence of crumb rubber in asphalt binder contributed to the increase in percent high molecular weight species that provided an enhanced mixture rut resistance.