Performance based characterisation of bituminous binders

Abstract

Bitumen is predominantly used to construct pavements for roads, highways, and airports. Due to the viscoelasticity nature of bitumen, it plays a predominant role in the performance of the pavements where temperature and rate of load application have a great influence. In India, the specifications for bituminous binders rely on different empirical tests which have almost no significance on their performance characteristics.In this research, an attempt has been made to study the rheological properties of bituminous binders commonly used in India, at high and intermediate field temperatures in terms of their performance characteristics. Considering several factors that affect the behavior of bituminous binders, the effects of variations in temperature, rate of loading and amount of loading have also been studied. The changes in the properties of commonly used grades (80-100 and 60-70) bitumen both unmodified and modified with crumb rubber has been studied.Also the effect of ageing on the rheological properties of bituminous binders has been studied. It has been observed that the binders used in this investigation satisfy the rutting and fatigue criteria as stipulated under the new concept of Superior Performing Asphalt pavement (super pave).