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Chemo-rheological Investigation on Waste Rubber-Modified Bitumen Response to Various Blending Factors

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Abstract

In a continuous effort to promote the environmental sustainability of the road construction sector while increasing the durability of road pavements, a growing number of studies have focused on recycled materials to be used as polymer modification for asphalt. Australia is also following the ‘sustainability’ trend by reusing end-of-life tyres (EOLTs) in the form of crumb rubber (CR) for road applications. Blending conditions are influential in determining the final properties of waste rubber-modified bitumen and are explored in this study to promote the recycling of EOLTs further. Two shear mixing rates (700 rpm and 3500 rpm) and three mixing durations (30, 60 and 90 min) were selected at 7.5% (low concentration), 15% (medium concentration), and 22.5% (high concentration) of CR. Blends were prepared by mixing CR in C320 bitumen while keeping the temperature constant at 177 ± 10 °C. Physio-chemical, thermal, and rheological tests were conducted to characterize the optimal blending conditions. Although the current CR bitumen specifications are predominantly based on viscosity and bitumen–rubber interaction time, the present study highlights the impact of blending conditions on blends to be adopted for different purposes (i.e., 7.5% low-content CR for local roads with less traffic vs. 22.5% CR for medium–high-trafficked roads). It has been observed that mixing duration and applied shear rate significantly influence the rheological properties and are closely correlated. A mixing duration of 60 min is effective to swell rubber particles, although further increasing the mixing time breaks the polymeric chains and deteriorates the rheological properties. Increasing the shear mixer speed to 3500 rpm reduces the total time required to fully swell the CR particles by approx. 30 min. The shear rate can produce a relatively stiffer blend at higher mixing speeds, which was observed through the increase in the complex shear modulus and fatigue parameter values; this was further assessed through Fourier Transform InfraRed analysis and aging indices.

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Funding

The authors would like to acknowledge the support given by Tyre Stewardship Australia under the scholarship “Crumb rubber asphalt binder characterization and specifications for road pavement applications”.

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  1. Civil and Infrastructure Engineering, RMIT University, Melbourne, VIC, 3000, Australia

    Muhammad Jamal & Filippo Giustozzi

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  1. Muhammad Jamal
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Contributions

MJ and FG: Conceptualization; MJ and FG: Methodology; MJ: Investigation and testing; MJ and FG: Data analysis; MJ: Writing—original draft; MJ, FG: Writing—review and editing, FG: Project administration, funding and supervision.

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Correspondence to Filippo Giustozzi.

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Jamal, M., Giustozzi, F. Chemo-rheological Investigation on Waste Rubber-Modified Bitumen Response to Various Blending Factors. Int. J. Pavement Res. Technol. 15, 395–414 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42947-021-00045-x

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