Rheological characteristics of alternative modified binders

•Two base binders and fourteen modified binders produced with seven alternative additives were studied.•Rheological characteristics of binders at high and low temperature at three aging states were discussed.•Both binder source and additive type have influence on the rheological properties.•Recovery percentage has a good correlation with the phase angle of the alternative binders at RTFO state. The rheological characteristics of two base binders and fourteen modified binders produced with seven additives at three aging states were studied. The test results included viscosity, failure temperature, rutting resistance factor, phase angle, complex modulus, percentage recovery value, fatigue factor, stiffness and m-value. It can be concluded that a proper concentration of alternative additive could be used to effectively achieve PG 76-22 binders. In addition, the binders modified with two of three new polymers showed weak resistances to low temperatures. Furthermore, the recovery percentages of alternative binders were relatively correlated to their phase angles at the short aging states. Meanwhile, this study also indicated that both binder source and alternative type determined the rheological characteristics of their modified binders.