Effect of Short Term Aging on Unmodified and Local Crumb Rubber (LCR) Modified Bitumen

Two grades of bitumen, (60/70 and 80/100), were modified by addition of Local Crumb Rubber (LCR) by weight of base bitumen. To investigate the effects of short-term aging on modified and LCR modified bitumen, Rolling Thin Film Oven (RTFO) test was used to simulate the short term aging. Dynamic shear rheometer (DSR) was used to assess the rheological properties of bitumen, both before and after aging. It was observed that at 65 degree Celcius on aging, the phase angle (sigma) of unmodified bitumen decreased by 3 and 4% for 60/70 and 80/100 bitumen respectively; whereas, for 60/70 LCR modified bitumen, the phase angle (sigma) on RTFO aging decreased by 7% for all LCR content (10, 15 and 20%) by weight of base bitumen. However, on RTFO aging (sigma), values for LCR modified 80/100 bitumen varied across different LCR content and could not be generalized. The complex modulus |G*| of LCR modified 60/70 bitumen increased on aging for both modified and unmodified bitumen at 65C, but with the increase in LCR content, the difference between bitumen aged and un-aged values of |G*| was considerably lowered. An interesting finding was for 80/100 bitumen modified with 20% LCR content by weight, which showed a reduction in |G*| values and an increase in (sigma) values on aging. This shows that to some extent, LCR compensates for the stiffening effects of aging.