VISCOSITY OF BITUMEN-CRUMB RUBBER BLEND (NEW PAVING MATERIAL)

The feasibility of blending scrap tire rubber with Asphalt Ridge and Circle Cliffs (Utah, USA) tar sand bitumens was studied. Viscosity of the blended mixtures was analyzed as a function of composition, and coprocessing variables including processing temperature and time. Coprocessing of tar sand bitumens with crumb rubber at elevated temperatures has been shown to increase the viscosity of the bitumens with the exception of the bitumen-rubber sample prepared at 380°C. Optimum viscosity behavior was exhibited for an oil-extended bitumen blended with crumb rubber at 200°C for 0.5 hours. The viscosity of the bitumen-rubber blend prepared under these conditions met ASTM specifications of a viscosity-graded AC-30 asphalt binder. Viscosity increase was most noticeable at low temperature, providing the benefit of high viscosity at pavement temperatures experienced during summer months without concession of processability at pavement construction temperatures. A difference in viscosity was observed between bitumen modified with whole-tire crumb and tread-rubber crumb, due to the compositional differences that exist between the two materials.