CONSTRUCTION AND QUALITY CONTROL OF

FLEXIBLE AND RIGID PAVEMENTS

Laboratory Tests on Modified Bitumen

National Rural Infrastructure National Institute of

Development Agency Technology

Ministry of Rural Development Warangal, Hyderabad

 Lecture-11

Laboratory Tests on Modified Bitumen

 MODIFIED BITUMEN

• Majority of highways in India are constructed as bituminous pavements

• Early development of distresses such as rutting, cracking, bleeding, shoving, and

potholes due to:
High traffic density
Overloading
Variations in daily and seasonal pavement temperatures

• Bituminous pavements constructed using conventional paving bitumen is not able to

sustain the present traffic requirements
 Modified Bitumen

• Properties of bitumen and bituminous mixes can be enhanced with incorporation of polymers

• Polymer modifies the properties of bitumen, called as modifiers!

• Bitumen premixed with modifiers is called Polymer Modified Bitumen (PMB)

• Use of PMB in wearing or binder courses improves the pavement life

• PMB usage improves pavement performance and is cost-effective (based on life- cycle cost analysis)
 MODIFIED BITUMEN

Polymers classifications:

• Thermosets:
Polymers that become irreversibly hard on heating or by addition of special chemicals
polymers that cross-link irreversibly during the curing process (chemical change), forming chemical bonds

• Thermoplastics:
polymers that can be softened and melted by the application of heat
Softens and hardens reversibly on heating and cooling without a change in the chemical structure
 MODIFIED BITUMEN
Major polymers used to modify bitumen for pavement applications:

• Plastomeric Thermoplastic Polymers

Long-chain molecules, sometimes with branches
High initial strength and cracks at high strains
Do not rebound after deforming force is removed
Resists rutting

• Elastomeric Thermoplastic Polymers

Long-chain molecules bound to each other through cross-links
High failure strain
Resists fatigue cracking and rutting
 MODIFIED BITUMEN
Major polymers used to modify bitumen for pavement applications:
• Plastomeric Thermoplastic Polymers
Polyethylene (PE)
Ethylene-Vinyl Acetate (EVA)
Ethylene-Methyl Acrylate (EMA)
Ethylene-Butyl Acrylate (EBA)
Ethylene Ter Polymer (ETP)
• Elastomeric Thermoplastic Polymers
Styrene-Butadiene-Styrene (SBS)
Styrene-Isoprene-Styrene (SIS)
Styrene-Butadiene (SB)
Styrene Butadiene Rubber (SBR)
 MODIFIED BITUMEN

• IRC:SP:53-2010: “Guidelines on Use of Modified Bitumen in Road Construction”, Second Revision, Indian
Roads Congress, New Delhi
• Modified bitumen comprises a base binder (VG bitumen) to which a modifier (natural rubber, crumb rubber,
synthetic rubber, synthetic polymer, or blend of these) is added to achieve a high performance binder with
improved properties, particularly at extreme temperatures
oPMB(P): Plastomeric thermoplastic based
oPMB(E): Elastomeric thermoplastic based
oNRMB: Natural rubber and SBR latex based, and
oCRMB: Crumb rubber/treated crumb rubber based
• Further divided into three or two grades (??) based on penetration value or softening point value, as relevant
 GRADING OF BITUMEN

• Penetration grading
• Viscosity grading
• Performance grading
 PERFORMANCE GRADING

• To identify bituminous binders that provide acceptable performance

• Performance: 15 to 20 years of service life under given traffic and climatic
conditions with minimal maintenance

• Performance is quantified in terms of resistance to:

Rutting Fatigue cracking Low temperature cracking

 PERFORMANCE GRADING

• Need to have specifications to identify bituminous binders that provide acceptable performance
against rutting, fatigue cracking, and low temperature cracking

• Characterization of bituminous binders is essential for performance based specifications

• Response of bituminous binders to loading depends on:

Stiffness of the binder (extent of aging)
Pavement temperature (test temperature)
Speed of vehicles (rate of loading)
 AGING OF BITUMINOUS BINDERS

• Through loss of volatiles and oxidation

• Bitumen undergoes aging during:

 Construction
 Early age of pavement (initial two years)
 8 to 10 years of pavement life

• Aging during construction and initial service: short-term aging (RTFO)

• Aging over pavement life: long-term aging (RTFO+PAV)
 RTFO AGING OF BITUMINOUS BINDERS
• Rolling Thin Film Oven (RTFO) is used to simulate short-term aging in the laboratory

• Test temperature: 163°C

• Test duration: 85 minutes

 Pressure Aging Vessel (PAV) OF BITUMINOUS BINDERS
• Pressure Aging Vessel (PAV) and Vacuum Degassing Oven (VDO) are used to
simulate long-term aging in the laboratory

• Input: RTFO aged bitumen

• Air pressure: 2070 kPa (2.1 MPa)

• Test temperature: 90°C, 100°C, 110°C

(depends on climatic conditions)

• Test duration: 20 hours

 AGING OF BITUMINOUS BINDERS
• Three different binders based on three aging conditions:

Unaged bitumen

RTFO aged bitumen

PAV aged bitumen

• Rutting occurs at early age of pavement (RTFO)

• Fatigue cracking and low temperature cracking occurs at later age of pavement (RTFO+PAV)
 BITUMEN RESPONSE TO TEMPERATURE AND RATE OF LOADING

• In earlier grading systems, bitumen was characterized through penetration

and viscosity tests

• Penetration and viscosity tests characterize bitumen only at one temperature

and one rate of loading

• Recall limitations of penetration grading and viscosity grading!

• Dynamic Shear Rheometer (DSR) can be used to capture the response of

bitumen to temperature and rate of loading
GRADING OF MODIFIED BITUMEN
• IRC:SP:53-2010: “Guidelines on Use of Modified Bitumen in Road Construction”, Second
Revision, Indian Roads Congress, New Delhi
• Modified bitumen comprises a base binder (VG bitumen) to which a modifier (natural rubber,
crumb rubber, synthetic rubber, synthetic polymer, or blend of these) is added to achieve a high
performance binder with improved properties, particularly at extreme temperatures
oPMB(P): Plastomeric thermoplastic based
oPMB(E): Elastomeric thermoplastic based
oNRMB: Natural rubber and SBR latex based, and
oCRMB: Crumb rubber/treated crumb rubber based
• Further divided into three grades based on penetration value or softening point value, as
relevant
 GRADING OF MODIFIED BITUMEN

• Classification of rubber and polymer based bitumen modifiers (IRC:SP:53: 2010):

GRADING OF MODIFIED BITUMEN IRC:SP:53-2010 Modified Bitumen
GRADING OF MODIFIED BITUMEN
GRADING OF MODIFIED BITUMEN FRASS BREAKING POINT TEST

• Frass Breaking Point (IS:9381-1979

[2019]): temperature at which bitumen
becomes brittle, indicated by the
appearance of cracks when a thin film of
bitumen is cooled
• Place 0.40 0.01 mL on a plaque and
heat it till the plaque is uniformly
coated
• Allow 1 to 4 h before testing
• Fill gaps between tube E and G with 21

acetone
• Place plaque between clips of bending
apparatus
• Add solid CO2 to acetone at a rate
such that temperature falls at
1 C/min.
• Bend plaque once every min. at 1 rev/s
• Record temperature at which one or
more cracks appear on bending as
breaking point
GRADING OF MODIFIED BITUMEN ELASTIC RECOVERY TEST

• Elongate the specimen to 10 cm at a rate of 5  0.25 cm/min at 15

C temperature
• Cut specimen into two halves at mid point
• Percentage recovery is measured after 1 h
• Elastic recovery
= [(10-X)/10]*100

Source: http:/ / www.priasphalt.com/testingandspecifications.aspx?id=730

GRADING OF MODIFIED BITUMEN TORSIONAL RECOVERY TEST

• Rotate aluminum bolt embedded in modified binder to

180 and measure recovery over 30 s period
• 180 twist applied over 10 s period
• Test performed in an air conditioned laboratory at 25 
3C
• Torsional recovery, % = [(recovery angle in
degree)*100]/180
• Torsional recovery value shall not be less than half of the
elastic recovery value at 15C
 GRADING OF MODIFIED BITUMEN SEPARATION TEST

• Evaluated by comparing the ring and ball softening point of the top and bottom portion samples taken from a
conditioned, polymer or rubber modified bitumen passing through 600 m in a sealed aluminum tubes of 25.4 mm
diameter placed in a vertical position at 163  5 C in an oven for a period of 48 hours

• Kept in a freezer at 6.7  5 C in a vertical position for 4 hours to solidify the sample

• Tube cut into three equal parts and middle portion is discarded

• Heat the upper and lower portions of the tube and determine softening point on the binder

• Separation difference of modified bitumen between top and bottom tubes should not be greater than 3 C
 GRADING OF MODIFIED BITUMEN COMPLEX MODULUS TEST

• Complex modulus determined from Dynamic Shear Rheometer (DSR)

• G*/sin determined from oscillatory amplitude sweep test at 10 rad/s
 GRADING OF MODIFIED BITUMEN COMPLEX MODULUS TEST

• Rutting in bituminous mixtures occurs at high pavement temperatures

• Fatigue cracking in bituminous mixtures occurs at intermediate pavement
temperatures
• Low temperature cracking in bituminous mixtures occurs at low pavement
temperatures
• Historical air temperature data can be used to estimate pavement
temperatures over service life of the pavement
• For PG 64-22, the intermediate temperature = [(64-22)/2]+4C = 25C
• Intermediate test temperature should be slightly higher based on field
observations
GRADING OF MODIFIED BITUMEN

• Performance grading is reported using two numbers:

PG 64-22

Min. pavement
Performance temperature
Source:
Grade https://www.pavementinteractive.org/wp-
content/uploads/2008/10/Pg_grades_with_modifiers.gif
Average 7-day max.

pavement temperature
• Binder modification required for temperature difference exceeding 90C (max.-min.)
 GRADING OF MODIFIED BITUMEN

• IS:15462-2004: “Polymer and Rubber Modified Bitumen Specification”,

Bureau of Indian Standards, New Delhi

• Revised in 2019 and bifurcated into these two codes:

• IS:15462-2019: “Polymer Modified Bitumen (PMB) – Specification” [First

Revision]

• IS:17079-2019: “Rubber Modified Bitumen (RMB) – Specification”

 GRADING OF MODIFIED BITUMEN

IS:15462-2019:
• 2004 version was not adequate to reflect field
performance of PMB
• If bitumen test temperature is decreased by
6C, viscosity increases by 2 times
• Requirements of PMB:
 GRADING OF MODIFIED BITUMEN

Performance Grading bitumen tests:

1)Rotational Viscometer (RV)
2)Rolling Thin Film Oven Test (RTFOT)
3)Pressure Aging Vessel (PAV)
4)Dynamic Shear Rheometer (DSR)
5)Bending Beam Rheometer (BBR)
6)Direct Tension Tester (DTT)
FRAAS breaking point is used in IS:15462 (2019) instead of BBR and DTT
ASTM D 6373-15: “Standard Specification for PG Asphalt Binder”

31
GRADING OF MODIFIED BITUMEN
GRADING OF MODIFIED BITUMEN
 GRADING OF MODIFIED BITUMEN
IS:15462-2019: Selection criteria for PMB:
 GRADING OF MODIFIED BITUMEN
IS:15462-2019: Calculation of Pavement Temperatures:
GRADING OF MODIFIED BITUMEN

Multiple Stress Creep and Recovery:

Source: https:/ / www.fhwa.dot.gov/pavement/ materials/ pubs/ hif11038/hif11038.pdf

 GRADING OF MODIFIED BITUMEN

Multiple Stress Creep and Recovery:

• Test temperature: PG upper temperature
• 25 mm plate, 1 mm gap
• Loading for 1s and recovery for 9 s
• Ten creep and recovery cycle each at 0.1 kPa and 3.2 kPa creep
stress
• Record stress and strain at 0.1 s intervals for creep cycle and
0.45 s intervals for recovery cycle
• Record data points at 1 s and 10 s for each cycle
• 0 is initial strain at beginning of creep portion of each cycle
• c is strain at the end of the creep portion (after 1 s) of each
cycle
• 1 is adjusted strain at the end of creep portion (after 1 s) of
each cycle
• r is strain at the end of recovery portion (after 10 s) of each
cycle
• 10 is adjusted strain at the end of recovery portion (after 10 s)
of each cycle
 GRADING OF MODIFIED BITUMEN
Multiple Stress Creep and Recovery:
• Test temperature: PG upper temperature
• 25 mm plate, 1 mm gap
• Loading for 1s and recovery for 9 s
• Ten creep and recovery cycle each at 0.1 kPa and 3.2 kPa
creep stress
• Record stress and strain at 0.1 s intervals for creep cycle and
0.45 s intervals for recovery cycle
• Record data points at 1 s and 10 s for each cycle
• 0 is initial strain at beginning of creep portion of each cycle FromASTM D
• c is strain at the end of the creep portion (after 1 s) of each cycle 7405 - 15
• 1 is adjusted strain at the end of creep portion (after 1 s) of each
cycle
• r is strain at the end of recovery portion (after 10 s) of each cycle
• 10 is adjusted strain at the end of recovery portion (after 10 s) of
each cycle
 GRADING OF MODIFIED BITUMEN

IS:17079-2019:
• PMB and RMB differ in composition, method of preparation and product
performance (thus, bifurcated)
• IS:15462 (2004) had 3 grades of CRMB: CRMB 50, CRMB 55, CRMB 60; NRMB
had three grades: NRMB 40, NRMB 70, NRMB 120
• Last decade (ref. 2019), no production or demand for CRMB 50 and NRMB 120
• Thus, only two grades of CRMB and NRMB are included in IS: 17079 (2019)
[CRMB 55, CRMB 60; NRMB 40, NRMB 70]
• Moisture in crumb rubber < 0.75% by weight
• Specific gravity of crumb rubber: 1.15 ± 0.05
• Crumb rubber particle size < 0.6 mm
• Ferrous metal particles < 0.01% by weight
• Should not contain visible non-ferrous particles
 GRADING OF MODIFIED BITUMEN
IS:17079-2019: Requirements of NRMB:
 GRADING OF MODIFIED BITUMEN
IS:17079-2019: Requirements of CRMB: