IJRET: International Journal of Research in Engineering and Technology eISSN: 2319-1163 | pISSN: 2321-7308

COMPARISON OF PHYSICAL AND RHEOLOGICAL PROPERTIES OF

PLAIN AND CRUMB RUBBER MODIFIED BITUMEN

Ramprasad.D.S1, Umesha.T.S2, Dinesh.S.V3, Dattatreya.J.K4

1
Post Graduate Student, 2Associate Professor, 3Professor and Head, 4Research Professor,
Dept of Civil Engg, Siddaganga Institute of Technology, Tumkur
ramprasad6329@gmail.com, t_s_umesha@yahoo.co.in, dineshsv2004@yahoo.com, jk.dattatreya@gmail.com

Abstract
Bitumen is predominantly used to construct pavements for roads, highways, and airports. Due to the viscoelasticity nature of bitumen,
it plays a predominant role in the performance of the pavements where temperature and rate of load application have a great
influence. In India, the specifications for bituminous binders rely on different empirical tests which have almost no significance on
their performance characteristics are reported. In this paper, the physical and rheological properties of bituminous binders commonly
used in India, at high and intermediate field temperatures are reported in terms of their performance characteristics. Considering
several factors that affect the behavior of bituminous binders, the effects of variations in temperature, rate of loading and amount of
loading are considered. The changes in the properties of commonly used grades of (60-70) bitumen both unmodified and modified
with crumb rubber have been reported. The Marshall properties and indirect tensile strength ratio are compared for the specimens
prepared at optimum binder content (OBC) for bituminous concrete (BC) grading-2. Crumb rubber modified bitumen shows higher
Marshall Stability, reduced flow, higher ITS ratio and improved rheological properties in terms of rutting.

Keywords: CRMB – crumb rubber modified bitumen, ITS- Indirect tensile strength, TFOT – Thin Film Oven test, DSR-
Dynamic shear rheometer MSCR- multiple shear creep recovery.
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1. INTRODUCTION binder (Aderson et al., 1994). Bituminous materials exhibit

viscoelastic response and the performance of flexible
Bituminous roads are the major part of network in India. The pavements depends on the rate of loading and temperatures.
high intensity of traffic in terms of commercial vehicles and The performance of bituminous binders can be measured by
the over loading of trucks have been responsible for early means of rheological parameters because the test can be done
development of distress symptoms like undulations, rutting, under wide range of temperatures and frequency (Goodrich .,
cracking and potholing of pavement. The factors, which are of 1998)
serious concern, are the varying climatic conditions prevalent
in India and the inadequate quality control during the
2. EXPERIMENTAL PROGRAMME
construction of the roads. A flexible pavement structure is a
sensitive system whose conditions change progressively as a 2.1 Materials
result of the effects of traffic and the natural environment, rate
of loading and number of repetition of loads. Due to increased Two grades of modified bitumen (CRMB 55 and CRMB 60)
loads and high temperature differential which are typical for and one grade of plain bitumen (60/70) supplied by HINCOL
Indian condition the conventional bitumen fails to give longer were used in the present investigation. Aggregates of size less
life for pavements. Addition of modifiers into conventional than 19 mm were obtained from local quarry were used.
bitumen results in the improvement of performance Standard laboratory tests like penetration, ductility, softening
characteristics of bituminous mixes used in road construction. point test were conducted for bitumen and Marshall stability
The principle modes of failure of bituminous courses are and indirect tensile strength tests were conducted on the mixes
fatigue and rutting which are influenced by temperature. prepared with both plain and crumb rubber modified bitumen.
Bitumen being a viscoelastic material, factors such as All rheological tests were conducted using dynamic shear
temperature, rate of loading and number of repetition of loads rheometer for plain and modified binders (both short term
have a significant effect on the performance. Ageing of aged and unaged). All the test results are interpreted in terms
bitumen is a very complex process leading to hardening of of MORTH and IRC recommendations.
bitumen. One of the major factor that cause pavements to
crack and disintegrate is ageing phenomenon of bituminous

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IJRET: International Journal of Research in Engineering and Technology eISSN: 2319-1163 | pISSN: 2321-7308

2.2 Preparation of Test Specimen. Binder samples were placed in thin film oven apparatus for 5
hours at a constant temperature of 163o C. This test simulates
2.2.1 Preparation of Marshall Test Specimens the hardening conditions as would be expected during hot
Marshall Test specimens were prepared by adding 4 %, 4.5 %, mixing operations.
5 %, 5.5 %, 6 %, and 6.5 % of Bitumen. The specimen is
compacted by giving 75 blows on both top and bottom side by 3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
keeping the temperature in the range of 110 0 C – 140 0 C. The Investigations are carried out on bituminous concrete (BC
compacted specimens were removed from moulds after 24 grading 2) mix with different types of binders viz,
hours. The specimens were conditioned by keeping them in conventional bitumen (60/70), CRMB 55 and CRMB 60 to
thermostatically controlled water bath maintained at 60º C for evaluate the mechanical properties such as Marshall stability,
30 minutes before testing. Indirect Tensile Strength (ITS) and rheological properties of
both aged and unaged binder samples. The observations made
2.2.2 Preparation of Test Specimens for Rheological on the results are presented and discussed in the following
Tests. paragraphs.

A disk of binder with diameter equal to the ossilating plate of 3.1 Physical Properties
the DSR is needed for testing. About 10-20 g of binder at solid
cosistancy is taken and placed in between the parallel plates of The basic tests such as softening point, penetration and elastic
DSR.The thickness of the bitumen binder sandwiched between recovery conducted on plain bitumen are presented in Fig 1.
the spindle and the fixed plate must be carefully controlled by After subjecting the binder sample to thin film oven test which
removing the excess material using knife. The proper simulates the short term ageing, the residue is tested for
specimen thickness (1 mm) is achieved by adjusting the gap various physical properties such as softening point,
between spindle and fixed plate using micrometer wheel. penetration and elastic recovery. The results obtained are
shown in Fig 2.
2.2.3 Thin film oven test (TFOT)
Thin film oven test was conducted for plain and modified
binders for determining the properties after short term ageing.

80
90
80 70
70 plain 60/70 60 plain 60/70
1/10 mm/ o C / %

60 CRMB 55 50 CRMB 55
1/10 mm/ o C / %

50
40 CRMB 60 40 CRMB 60
30 30
20 20
10
0 10
penetration softening Elastic 0
point recovery penetration softening point Elastic recovery

Fig 1: Properties of binder before short term ageing Fig 2: Properties of binder after short term ageing

It is observed from Fig 1 that the crumb rubber modified penetration. This resistance to short term ageing is pronounced
bitumen shows lower penetration, higher softening point and by reduced evaporation of volatiles in CRMB. The addition of
higher elastic recovery when compared to plain bitumen. From crumb rubber results in hardening of bitumen, the grains of
Fig 1 and 2 it is observed that crumb rubber shows better rubber absorbs some of the oily constituents in the bitumen.
resistance to ageing compared to plain bitumen as evident These grains swollen to about five times the volume are
from lower mass loss (0.2 % against 4.4 % not reported dispersed in the bitumen, which is then harder than, that of the
here),small increase in softening point and small decrease in same type as original (Van rooigen., 1941 ,White oak., 1990)

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Table 1 shows the Marshall properties in terms of various 60 respectively. Though the optimum binder content for
binders considered in the present study. It is observed from the CRMB is slightly higher than that of plain bitumen it shows
Table 1 that Marshall oproperties confirms to the MORTH higher strength in terms of increased Marshall stability and
recommendations. CRMB 55 and CRMB 60 have higher decreased flow value. The stability and flow value indicates
stability and lower flow value compared to the plain bitumen. increased life and service condition and thereby will result in
Optimum binder content was obtained corresponding to reduced life cycle cost.
median of air voids percentage (4.5 %) the OBC for three
different binder is 5,5.1,5.2 for plain, CRMB 55 and CRMB

Table 1: Marshall Properties of the mixes for OBC of different binders

OBC
Stability Flow
Binder type Gmb %VMA % VFB
(kN) (mm)

Plain 60/70 2.373 16.080 72 13.6 3.8 5

CRMB 55 2.339 16.105 71 15.8 3.3 5.1

CRMB 60 2.335 16.450 73 14.6 2.8 5.2

MORTH
- Min 14 65-75 Min 9 kN 2-4 5-7
specification

Figure 3 shows the Results of indirect tensile strength ratio 3.2 Rheological Test Results
(ITS ratio), it is observed that there is a marginal increase in
indirect tensile strength ratio for CRMB. The increase in Figure 4 shows the variation of Complex Modulus with
indirect tensile strength ratio results in higher resistance to the temperature, in general the complex modulus of plain bitumen
damage associated with moisture. is less when compared to CRMB 55 and CRMB 60. Among
this CRMB 55 shows higher complex modulus with
temperature. It is clearly observed from the Fig 4 that the plain
90 89.28 bitumen fails (value of complex modulus less than 1 k Pa) at
89 temperature 64 0 C, but CRMB 55 and CRMB 60 are stable.
87.95 But whereas CRMB 55 and CRMB 60 fails at 70 0 C this
88 clearly indicates that CRMB grades are less susceptible to
ITS RATIO %

temperature changes when compared to plain bitumen.

87
85.92 7
86
6
85
5
Complex modulus

84
4 60/70
plain 60/70 CRMB 55 CRMB 60
3 CRMB 55
2 CRMB 60
Fig3: Variation of Tensile Strength Ratio
(kPa)

1 1 Kpa
Addition of crumb rubber resulted in increased indirect tensile 0 minim
strength ratio. Crumb rubber modified mixtures were found to um
52 58 64 70
be less susceptible to moisture damage compared to normal Temperature (º C)
mixtures as indicated by higher retained Marshall Stability,
higher tensile strength ratio and improved stripping Fig 4: Variation of Complex Modulus with
characteristics (S. K. Palit.et.al., 2004) temperature

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Figure 5 shows the results of frequency sweep test, It is

Percentage recovery (%)

90
observed that, the general trend is that the complex shear 80
modulus (G*) increases with the testing frequency. CRMB 55 70
after ageing has higher complex modulus when compared to
60
other binders. This indicates CRMB 55 possess greater
50 60/70
strength.
40
30 CRMB 55
18000 20 CRMB 60
16000 plain un aged 10
14000 0
12000
Complex modulus (k Pa)

plain aged 100 3200

10000
stress applied (Pa)
8000
CRMB 55
6000 Fig 6: Variation of percentage recovery with applied stress
4000
2000 CRMB 55 CONCLUSIONS
0 aged
The addition of crumb rubber to the bitumen results in
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14CRMB 60 the improvements in the basic properties like softening
Frequency (Hz) point, penetration and elastic recovery.
The resistance to ageing of CRMB is more when
compared to the plain bitumen because, evaporation of
volatiles in case of CRMB is less.
Fig 5: Complex modulus v/s Frequency The increase in indirect tensile strength ratio is
observed for the mixes prepared using CRMB.This
When the crumb rubber is added to the bitumen it cause the results in higher resistance to the damage associated
absorption of aromatic oils thereby softening and swelling of with moisture.
the rubber particles.. In conclusion, the addition of crumb The modified bitumen has higher complex modulus
rubber as modifier to the base bitumen produces stiff and than plain bitumen which means that it is more stable.
tough bitumen. (Oliver et. al., 1982) This means that using crumb rubber with plain bitumen
increases the binder elasticity at high temperatures and
The TFOT materials were obviously much stiffer than the improves the flexibility at low temperatures thereby
unaged samples over the entire range of frequencies which lessening both rutting and fatigue cracking.
indicates that once the binder is aged the stiffness changes From MSCR tests, it is observed that, plain bitumen
greatly with the frequency of loading. Hence it is concluded shows higher non recoverable compliance when
that as the binder is aged it becomes stiffer and more elastic. compared to modified bitumen. Higher the non
Ageing has significant influence on bitumen rheology by recoverable compliance can possibly increase the
increasing complex modulus (Mohammed et. al., 2008). magnitude of rutting in the actual service.
Figure 6 shows the results of multiple shear creep recovery
REFERENCES
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added to base bitumen, the elastomer absorbs the maltene Bitumen properties related to the performance of
content thereby increasing the asphaltene content. This is why Bitumen concrete mixes”, Journal of the Association of
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[4] J.M Van rooigen., (1941) “ The system Bitumenic
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IJRET: International Journal of Research in Engineering and Technology eISSN: 2319-1163 | pISSN: 2321-7308

[5] S. K. Palit, K. Sudhakar Reddy and B. B. Pandey.,

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[9] Ministry of Road Transport and Highways
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