A novel procedure for the evaluation of anti-rutting potential of asphalt binders

Abstract

Asphalt binders play an important role in the rutting performance of road pavements, and therefore their characterization is crucial in preventing this type of distress. Several studies have been carried out to replace the G*/sinδ Superpave criteria which was found to be inadequate to capture the anti-rutting potential of these materials. In this paper, a novel testing procedure combining single creep-recovery and multiple stress creep tests is proposed. Five asphalt binders of different type and origin were considered. For comparison purposes, two available standard methods, based on low shear viscosity and multiple stress creep recovery tests, were included in the study. Obtained experimental results indicated the effectiveness of the test method in highlighting fundamental material properties related to rutting, overcoming some of the drawbacks of existing standard protocols.

Field and laboratory performance evaluation of a field-blended rubber asphalt.

“…The decrease of non-recoverable creep compliance because of rubber modification has also been reported in the literature (Giuliani & Merusi, 2010;Subhy et al, 2015). In addition, a larger decrease in Jnr,3200 for rubber asphalt in comparison to polymer-modified (SBS) and the respective neat binders has also been observed in other studies for similar temperatures (64 to 88°C) (Santagata et al 2015). The MSCR stress sensitivity parameter (Jnr,diff) for the binders are summarized in Table 3.2 for the three temperatures tested.…”

“…This behavior shows that the delayed elastic deformation may have influenced the results, since the strain recorded at the end of each cycle was affected by the residual strain recorded at the end of the previous one. This behavior has also been reported elsewhere (Santagata et al, 2015).…”

“…Other studies have also observed a stress dependent behavior of rubber asphalt binders by means of the MSCR test (Martins et al, 2011;Santagata et al, 2015;Willis et al, 2012). Even though the binder showed a stress dependent behavior, the Jnr values are very small (ranging from 0.05 to 0.34 1/kPa for the higher stress level), indicating that the mixture should have a small rutting potential in the field.…”

Evaluation of Rutting Properties of Bituminous Binders by Means of Single Shear Creep-Recovery (SSCR) Tests and Correlation with Mixture Performance

“…Rutting properties of binders were assessed by means of SSCR tests, performed by adopting a protocol very similar to that previously developed by Santagata et al (2014). Such a protocol is composed by a single creep phase followed by a recovery phase, during which the variation of shear strain is monitored as a function of time.…”

“…More recently, Santagata et al (2014) proposed a novel test procedure involving the use of single shear creep-recovery (SSCR) tests carried out at different temperatures and at predefined loading and recovery times. Results obtained on a wide set of materials confirmed the effectiveness of the procedure in discriminating high-temperature characteristics of bituminous binders of different types and origin.…”