Bituminous Binders

Needed Characterization of

Modified Binders
in India
S. Anjan Kumar, Department of Civil Engineering, and
A.Veeraragavan, Professor of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai.
The thermo mechanical properties of bituminous binder have a major effect on its subsequent in-service
performance. The rheology of conventional binders is relatively simple and behavior can be predicted through the
use of traditional tests such as penetration, softening point and viscosity testing at various temperatures. On the
other hand the rheology of modified binders is highly complex and, although the results from traditional tests may
indicate a significant improvement in properties, the in-service performance of these binders is not easily
categorized. This paper presents detailed investigations on the physical properties of modified binders in
comparison with conventional binder using current Indian specifications. Firstly, it gives a brief description on
modification of bitumen its advantages and limitations. It also looks into the present specifications that are
followed in India and the need for improved specifications for performance based binder characterization, which
may provide fundamental explanations with respect to in-service performance.

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Introduction
The bituminous binder functions as
a
waterproof,
thermoplastic
adhesive. In other words, it acts as
the glue that holds the mineral
aggregates together to act as a
structural layer. In its most common
form, bituminous binder is simply
the residue from petroleum refining.
To achieve the necessary properties
for paving purposes, binder must
be produced from a carefully
chosen crude oil blend, and
processed to an appropriate grade.
Increasing axle loads, climatic
variations and traffic growth has
posed challenge to paving industry
to look into the demands made on
the bitumen pavement construction.
In this regard, as early as in 1980s
modification to base bitumen was
done by addition of certain additives
like polymers, natural rubber, crumb
rubber, plastics etc., to enhance
the mechanical behavior of bitumen
by physical modification. Also
chemical
modifications
was
attempted
in
the
form
of
polyethylene, poly-phosphoric acid,
etc. The use of modified bitumen
can serve a number of purposes. It
can target a specific improvement
in the bitumen, such as permanent
deformation (rutting) or low
temperature cracking. Benefits that
may be derived from binder
modification include:
Improved consistency
Reduced temperature susceptibility
Improved stiffness and cohesion
Improved flexibility, resilience and

244

toughness
Improved binder aggregate
adhesion
Improved resistance to in-service
aging
However, there needs to be a
way to evaluate whether the
performance of the modified
bitumen is cost effective.

Study Objective and

Scope
The objective of this study can be
listed as follow:
characterization of the modified
and conventional binders through
an
elaborative
laboratory
investigations
In this investigation, four types
of modified binders and a
conventional binder were studied.
Modified binders like styrenebutadiene-styrene polymer modified
binder (PMB) of two grades viz.,
PMB-40 and PMB-70, Crumb Rubber
Modified Binder (CRMB) of two
grades viz., CRMB-55 and CRMB60, natural rubber modified binder
(NRMB), waste plastic modified
binder (WPMB) and conventional
binder (60/70 grade) were studied.
From these investigations, the
properties affecting the in-service
performance in comparison with the
specifications developed by other
countries was assessed.

Background
There is a marked difference
between the maximum and
minimum temperatures in the

country, so a flexible pavement

should be capable of resisting to
the extreme temperature variations
and to prevent pavement distress.
In this regard, a binder modification
is an effective tool to reduce the
temperature susceptibility and
improve the strength. Hence an
ideal
modifier
should
have
enhanced cohesion and very low
temperature
susceptibility
throughout the ranges of the
temperature to which it will be
subjected in service. Its resistance
to permanent deformation and
fatigue characteristics should be
high. It should have at least the
same adhesion qualities as
conventional binders and material
should be such that the whole
composition of the mix should be
homogenous.

Modified Binders
Used In Road
Applications
Table
1
shows
a
generic
classification system that was used
to define and classify modifiers, as
well as other additives in
bituminous mixes (IRC: SP: 532002).

Polymer
A polymer is a very large molecule
comprising hundreds or thousands
of atoms formed by the successive
linking of one or two, or occasionally
more, types of small molecule into
chain or network structures (4). To
achieve the goal of improving
binder properties, a selected
polymer should create a secondary
network or new balance system
within binders by molecular
interactions
or
by
reacting
chemically with the binder. The
formation of a functional modified
binder system is based on the fine
dispersion of polymer in binder for
which the chemical composition of
binders is important. The degree of
modification depends on the
polymer property, polymer content
and nature of the binder.

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Bituminous Binders
properties by admixture of polymers
to the binder have been reported in
recent publications (20 & 22).

Temperature
Susceptibility

Rubber Crumbs
Rubber used for these products is
derived from pneumatic tyres that
have
been
processed
by
mechanical means and should be
substantially free from ground fabric,
steel and other contaminants,
including
moisture.
When
introduced to the hot binder the
rubber swells through absorption
of the aromatic fractions of the
binder. As a result of the high
blending temperature some of the
rubber dissolves in the binder and
some is de-vulcanized (14).

Properties and Field

Performance of
Modified Binders
In order to relate binder properties
to pavement performance, it is
necessary to know the fundamental
relationships between binder
properties and mix properties. To
minimize the deterioration of a
flexible pavement due to influence
of traffic and climate, the bituminous
layers should be stiff enough at
elevated service temperature to
avoid permanent deformation
(rutting), show good load-associated
fatigue resistance, possess good
stripping resistance (low water
susceptibility), and have good
flexibility at low temperature

246

(resistance to low temperature

cracking. All of these performancerelated properties of the mix are
influenced to some extent by binder
properties (5, 6, 10, 12 & 15).

Aging
Aging is induced by chemical and/
or physical changes and is usually
accompanied by hardening of the
binder. In road applications, binder
is exposed to aging at three different
stages: (i) storage, (ii) mixing,
transport and laying, as well as (iii)
during service life. Aging is a very
complex process in neat binders
and the complexity increases when
modifiers are added. The aging
properties of neat binders are
normally
characterized
by
measuring rheological properties
such as viscosity and softening point
before and after artificial aging in
the laboratory. This procedure is
not sufficient in the case of modified
binder since thermolytic degradation
of the modifier may occur during
aging and the fragments formed
may contribute to a lowering of the
consistency. Therefore, when
assessing the aging properties of
modified
binder,
further
characteristics, such as elastic
recovery and chemical composition
have to be evaluated (1 & 16) .
Indications of improved aging

In cold climates, cracking in

pavements may be an extensive
problem. Low temperature cracking
is caused by thermally induced
tensile stresses when these exceed
the tensile strength of the pavement
material. The main factor influencing
the degree of cracking at low
temperature is found in the binder
properties. Several papers have
indicated that the addition of
polymers to binders may increase
resistance to low temperature
cracking (13 & 17 to 20). However,
validation of laboratory methods by
field performance tests is necessary
before a more definite opinion on
the matter can be given.

Specifications Based
on Performance(3)
In most countries, current binder
specifications are viscosity or
penetration graded and typically
based on measurements of
viscosity, penetration, ductility and
softening
point.
These
measurements are not sufficient to
describe properly the linear
viscoelastic and failure properties
of binder that are needed to relate
binder properties to mixture
properties. These specifications and
test methods are not performance
related, because they, lack
adequate
low-temperature
measurements, do not include
fundamental binder properties
which
may
be
related
to
fundamental mixture properties or
to pavement performance, are not
appropriate
for
measuring
consistency at the upper service
temperatures, and do not consider
long-term in-service aging. In most
cases, specification used or
proposed for modified binders are
derivatives of the specifications of

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neat binders and are supplemented

with tests such as tensile strength
and elastic recovery. This is also
the reason for developing new
specifications within the Strategic
Highway
Research
Program
(SHRP), seen in Table 2. In SHRP,
new powerful tools for the
evaluation of bituminous binders
have been developed. The SHRP
binder specifications are said to be
performance related. In this
specification,
new
testing
instruments, such as the bending
beam rheometer and the direct
tension tester, are employed. The
instruments are used to measure
more fundamental properties such
as the inverse of loss compliance,
storage modulus, stiffness and

248

strain at failure. The parameters

determined have been proposed
collectively as being related to the
rutting, fatigue and thermal cracking
behavior of binders (2). Short term
aging is simulated using the rolling
thin film oven test (RTFOT) and
long term aging using the pressure
aging vessel (PAV). It is important
to emphasize that proposed SHRP
specifications are intended for both
neat and modified binders, and
allow selection of a binder based
on the climate in which it is
expected to perform.

Experiments
The main laboratory experiment
programme
envisages
the
quantitative analysis in assessment

of rheological and empirical

properties of both neat and modified
binder. This chapter presents
properties of neat and modified
binders. Experiments are conducted
under unaged and TFOT (thin film
oven test) aged conditions.

Materials
The materials selected for the
present investigations are:
60/70: Conventional neat binder
PMB-40: SBS modified binder
PMB-70: SBS modified binder
CRMB-55: Crumb rubber modified
binder
CRMB-60: Crumb rubber modified
binder
NRMB-70: Natural rubber
modified binder

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WPMB-40: Waste
plastic
modified
binder
All samples were
subjected to a number
of
characterization
evaluations according to
IS: 73-2006, IS: 154622004 and IRC: SP: 532002
in
Asphalt
Laboratory, IIT Madras
by the methods outlined
in
the
above
specifications.

Results
The test results are
shown in the Tables 3 to 9.
It is seen from the results both
conventional and modified binders
to
satisfy
the
specification
requirements. Only in case of
WPMB, it failed to satisfy the
elastic recovery criteria on both
unaged and TFOT aged
conditions. Elastic behavior
indicates that the binder
recovers most or all of its initial
shape when the load that
caused deformation is removed.
The elastic recovery of a binder
is commonly used to measure
the fatigue resistance of a
binder or its ability to absorb
large
stresses
without
necessarily
cracking
or
deforming. From this, it may be
observed that use of waste
plastics as modifier forms a

250

rigid phase or network, imparting

no elastic recovery properties to the
base binder but induces a high
stiffness. Loss in weight is also
higher than the specified limits in
case of WPMB, which may attribute

that use of waste

(recycled/ non-virgin)
plastic as a modifier to
the
base
binder
gradually changes over
time due to heat,
oxidation, ultra violet
radiation and loss of
volatile components.
Viscosity measurements
of unaged PMBs were
higher than the specified
which may due to
higher concentration of
polymer itself. Both
elastic recovery and
viscosity of NRMB was
lesser than the CRMBs. This may
be due to use of stiffer base binder
in case of CRMBs.

Discussions and
Conclusions
The aim of this paper is to
provide a summary of
information found in the current
literature regarding test
methods, specifications and
performance of modified
binders. The main purpose of
material
testing
is
to
characterize the material in
question, in such a way that
the characteristics measured
can be used to predict
behavior in practice. For tests
on binders to be valid, the
tests must be sensitive to
properties of the bituminous

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pavements, such as resistance to

rutting, load associated fatigue and
low temperature cracking. In
general, when assessing the quality
of modified binders, traditional
methods developed for testing neat

252

binder, are used.

These specifications
are in general based
on empirical test
methods, such as
p e n e t r a t i o n ,
softening
point,
ductility and viscosity
measurements, the
p e r f o r m a n c e
relations of which
are
not
always
obvious. There are
several reasons why
empirical methods,
nevertheless, are
used. Above all,
these test methods
have been used for a
very long time, and
present knowledge
on binders is for the
most part based on
results
obtained
using these methods.
To
describe
the
properties of modified
binders in an overall
situation, the modified
binder specifications
should be supple
mented by other test
parameters, such as
dynamic mechanical
analysis
and
compatibility.
There are three
critical
working
ranges
for
bituminous binders:
a range of high
temperature
and
long loading times
during which the
binders may flow,
entailing a risk of
rutting of the mixes,
a range of low
temperature
and
long loading times during which
the mixes are liable to crack under
the effects of thermal stress and a
range of low temperature and short
loading times during which the
binder is brittle and may give rise

to mechanical cracking. The tests

used
currently
for
binder
specifications yield little information
on the behavior of binders in these
critical
ranges.
Fortunately,
advances in rheometers have made
it possible to perform dynamic tests
at a wide range of temperatures
and frequencies, from which
various rheological parameters (e.g.,
complex modulus and phase angle)
in different conditions can be
obtained. However, recent research
(1, 2, 10 & 15)
has indicated that dynamic
parameters are useful for predicting
performance-related properties.
Aging occurs during the
production of the bituminous mix
and during its service life as
pavement layer. The circumstances
during different aging stages vary
considerably. Standardized aging
test methods simulate the aging
that occurs during the production of
the pavement. To simulate long
term aging in service, the PAV test
has been developed in SHRP. The
test is performed after RTFOT or
TFOT aging.
The chemistry of binder is very
complex and is even more complex
after the admixture of modifier. No
specifications including require
ments on the chemical composition
of binder or modified binder have
been found in the literature. It is
doubtful whether this type of
requirement should be included at
all in specifications, at least not for
plain binder. When characterizing
the aging properties of modified
binders, some chemical tests could
be suitable for specification
purposes.

Conclusion
In conclusion, using the traditionally
tests used to characterize the binder,
it is very difficult to analyze and
predict its in-service performance
due to the complexity of the various
modified binders as a function of
base binder and the type as well
as the content of the modifier.
Hopefully, the dynamic mechanical

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Bituminous Binders
of
the
modified
bitumen
is
cost
effective in its service
period.

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