Construction and Building Materials 25 (2011) 3204–3212

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Construction and Building Materials

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Laboratory comparison of the crumb-rubber and SBS modified bitumen

and hot mix asphalt
Baha Vural Kök a,⇑, Hakan Çolak b,1
a
Firat University, Engineering Faculty, Civil Engineering Department Elazig, Turkey
b
17, Regional Directorate of Province Bank Trabzon, Turkey

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The use of crumb rubber (CR) recycled from waste tires using an ambient grinding process was evaluated
Received 9 November 2010 at two stages in asphalt formulation. First, bitumen modified with crumb rubber was evaluated by rota-
Received in revised form 12 February 2011 tional viscometery (RV), dynamic shear rheometry (DSR) and conventional binder tests. Hot asphalt mix-
Accepted 1 March 2011
tures including crumb-rubber-modified bitumen were then evaluated by determining the permanent and
Available online 29 March 2011
fatigue characteristics and stiffness moduli of control and modified mixtures. The properties of the
crumb-rubber-modified bitumen and asphalt mixtures were compared to different contents of sty-
Keywords:
rene–butadiene–styrene (SBS) modified-bitumen and asphalt mixtures. The tests showed that to achieve
Crumb rubber
SBS
the same performance, as with SBS-modification, the CR-content must be used at much higher than SBS.
Modification 8%-CR modification was determined as the most suitable content according to both binder and mixture
Rheology tests.
Mechanical properties Ó 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction solution. The escalating cost of bitumen and polymer modifiers

To a large extent, the stiffness and strength of mixtures deter-
mines the performance of asphalt pavement. Recently, numerous
studies have evaluated formulation modifications designed to
improve the performance of asphalt mixtures [1–3]. Antistripping
additives and polymer modifications are two common modifiers
used to improve the fundamental properties of asphalt binders,
as these properties are closely related to the performance of as-
phalt mixtures. The results of these studies have shown that the
overall performance of polymer-modified mixtures is more desir-
able than those of unmodified mixtures or of mixtures modified
with antistripping additives. Polymers have been found to improve
rutting performance, adhesion, and cohesion of an asphalt binder
[4]. Currently, the most commonly used polymer for bitumen mod-
ification is styrene–butadiene–styrene (SBS). SBS block copolymers
are classified as elastomers that increase the elasticity of bitumen,
and they are probably the most appropriate polymers for bitumen
modification. Prior studies have shown that SBS-modified mixtures
exhibited good performance in both asphalt cements and mixtures
[5–7]. However, in some cases the modifiers not only decreased the
workability of HMA but also failed to provide a cost-effective
⇑ Corresponding author. Tel.: +90 424 2370000/5418; mobile: +90 506 718 9410;
fax: +90 424 234 01 14.
E-mail addresses: bvural@firat.edu.tr (B.V. Kök), hcolak23@hotmail.com
(H. Çolak).
1
Mobile: +90 533 662 11 23.
and the lack of available resources have motivated highway engi-
neers to explore alternatives for the construction of new roads.
The usage of waste materials has thus become an important issue
in this respect. Reclaimed rubber obtained from waste tires has
been used for paving as an elastic binder additive. Using this waste
material may contribute to the solution of a waste disposal-prob-
lem and will also facilitate economic sustainability by reducing
the construction cost of roads.
Asphalt-rubber binder results from the chemical reaction of a
mixture of liquid asphalt binder with 5–22% crumb rubber ob-
tained from used tires and added to liquid asphalt. Asphalt-rubber
is mixed and applied to roads mainly using either of two tech-
niques: the dry and wet processes. In a dry process, crumb rubber
is used as a part of the aggregate in the hot mixture to replace
some of the solid fraction [8]. In a wet process, crumb rubber is
added to the asphalt cement mixture.
Navarro et al. investigated the thermorheological behavior of
bitumens modified with 9 wt.% crumb tire rubber at in-service
and handling temperatures. They concluded that the addition of
ground tire rubber to bitumen increased both the linear viscoelas-
tic modulus and the viscosity at high in-service temperatures.
Additionally, the use of rubber-particle sizes less than 0.35 mm
and high shear rates during manufacturing operations was highly
recommended [9]. It has also been reported that the addition of
recycled tire rubber to asphalt mixtures using a dry process can
improve the engineering properties of asphalt mixtures, and the
rubber content has a significant effect on the performance with

0950-0618/$ - see front matter Ó 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2011.03.005
 B.V. Kök, H. Çolak / Construction and Building Materials 25 (2011) 3204–3212 3205

respect to resistance to permanent deformation and cracking [10].

Nevertheless, compared to the wet process, the dry process has
been a far less popular method for crumb-rubber-modified (CRM)
asphalt production. This is due to problems regarding the compat-
ibility of mixtures. In a study investigating the effects of different
sizes of crumb-rubber modifier on high-temperature susceptibil-
ity, it was concluded that by using 10% CR (by total weight of bitu-
men) in the wet processes, the mixtures modified with 0.15 mm CR
exhibited the best effect on a dense-graded mixture, whereas mix-
tures modified with 0.60-mm CR exhibited the best effect on an
open-graded mixture of porous asphalt [11]. Xiao et al. concluded
that the addition of crumb rubber was helpful in increasing the
voids in mineral aggregate in Superpave mix design and improving

bo daspeki research
the rutting resistance of asphalt mixtures regardless of rubber size
and type [12]. Over the last four decades, several researchers have
demonstrated the improved performance of bituminous mixes
with crumb rubber [13–15]. Increased fatigue life, reduced reflec-
tive cracking and low-temperature cracking, and improved tensile
strength were cited as the advantages of crumb-rubber-modified
mixtures [16].
In this study the performance of crumb-rubber and SBS-
modified bitumens and mixtures including these bitumens were
compared in a wet process. In the first stage, bitumens modified
individually with SBS and crumb rubber were evaluated by rota-
tional viscometery (RV), dynamic-shear rhemotry (DSR) and soft-
ening-point tests. Next, SBS and crumb rubber modified hot
bituminous mixtures were evaluated by repeated creep test, indi-
rect tensile fatigue test, indirect tensile stiffness modulus test. It
was attempted to determine the appropriate content of crumb rub-
ber in hot mixtures, which would exhibit performance equivalent
to an SBS modified hot mixtures and so reduce the cost of
pavement.

2. Material and methods

Fig. 1. SEM images of crumb rubber obtained by grinding processes.
2.1. Material and sample preparation

An asphalt cement, B 160–220, obtained from Turkish Petroleum Refineries was

used as bitumen for mixture preparation. The SBS polymer used was Kraton Table 1
D-1101, supplied by the Shell Chemicals Company. Kraton D-1101 is a linear SBS Physical properties of the aggregate.
polymer in powder form that consists of different combinations polystyrene
Properties Standard Specification Coarse Fine Filler
(31%) and polybutadiene blocks of a very precise molecular weight [17]. These
limits
blocks are either sequentially polymerized from styrene and butadiene and/or cou-
pled to produce mixed coblock polymer chains. Five SBS polymer modified bitumen Abrasion loss (%) ASTM D 131 Max 30 29 – –
(PMBs) were produced. The polymer contents ranged from a low polymer modifica- (Los Angeles)
tion of 2% to higher degrees of modification, up to 6%, with a 1% increment. To pro- Frost action (%) ASTM C 88 Max10 4.5 – –
duce asphalt rubber, the crumb rubber must be cut and scraped into small particles (with Na2SO4)
and reduced to powder size; it is then added into the conventional asphalt. Process- Flat and elongated ASTM D 4791 Max 10 4
ing scrap tires into crumb rubber can be accomplished through either ambient particles (%)
grinding or cryogenic grinding technologies. In ambient ground rubber processing, Water absorption (%) ASTM C127 Max 2 1.37
scrap tire rubber is ground or processed at or above ordinary room temperature. Specific gravity (g/cm3) ASTM C127 2.613 – –
Cryogenic processing uses liquid nitrogen to freeze tire chips or rubber particles Specific gravity (g/cm3) ASTM C128 – 2.622 –
prior to size reduction (120 °C) [18]. The crumb rubber (CR) used in this study Specific gravity (g/cm3) ASTM D854 – – 2.711
was obtained by an ambient process. Shen et al. indicated that the surface area of
the ambient CR was twice as large as that of the cryogenic product, leading to a
much higher complex modulus and phase angle of the CRM bitumens [19]. The par-
ticles of crumb rubber obtained by grinding processes have an irregular particle found to be 5.0% by weight of aggregate for the unmodified asphalt mixes. This ratio
shape with high specific surface as can be seen in Fig. 1. was chosen for all mixtures so that the amount of bitumen would not confound the
Five crumb rubber modified bitumens were produced. The crumb rubber con- analysis of the test data. For the mechanical tests, SBS-modified mixtures were pre-
tents ranged from 3% to 15%, with a 3% increment. The modified bitumens were pared with 2%, 3%, 4%, and 5% SBS modified bitumen and CR modified mixtures
produced with a laboratory-scale mixing device with a four-blade impeller (IKA) were prepared with the 4%, 6%, 8%, and 10% CR modified bitumen. The physical
at a temperature of 180 °C for one hour at a rotation speed of 1000 rpm. properties of the mixtures such as air voids (Va), voids filled with asphalt (Vfa),
Limestone aggregate was used in the asphalt concrete mixture. The properties voids in mineral aggregates (Vma) Marshall stabilites and flow values are given
of the aggregate are given in Table 1. A crushed coarse and fine aggregate, with a in Table 3.
maximum size of 19 mm, was selected as the dense-graded asphalt mixture. The
gradation of the aggregate mixtures is given in Table 2. The asphalt mixture was de-
signed in accordance with the standard Marshall mix design procedure. The speci- 2.2. Dynamic-shear rheometer (DSR) test
mens were compacted by using 75 blows on each side of cylindrical samples in
101.6 mm diameter and 63.5 cm thickness. Mixing and compaction temperatures, At present, the most commonly used methods for the fundamental rheological
which were determined according to viscosity values, were taken into account dur- characterization of bitumen are dynamic mechanical methods using oscillatory-
ing the sample preparation. The mixing and compaction temperatures were deter- type testing, generally conducted within the region of linear viscoelastic (LVE) re-
mined for mixtures including different bitumens by using the 170 ± 20 and sponse. These oscillatory tests are undertaken using dynamic-shear rheometers
280 ± 30 cP viscosity values, respectively [20] The optimum bitumen content was (DSRs).
3206 B.V. Kök, H. Çolak / Construction and Building Materials 25 (2011) 3204–3212

Table 2 tigated, the dynamic-creep test gave a very good correlation with measured rut
Aggregate gradation. depth and had a high capability for estimating the rutting potential of asphalt layers
[24].
Sieve size (mm) 19 12.5 9.5 4.75 2.36 1.18 0.6 0.3 0.15 0.075 The point or cycle number at which pure plastic shear deformation occurs is
Passing (%) 100 95 88 65 39 24 18 14 9.5 5 referred to as the ‘‘flow number’’. The flow number has also been recommended
as a rutting indicator for asphalt mixtures [25,26]. Flow number is based on the
initiation of tertiary flow or the minimum point of the strain rate curve.
In the repeated-creep test, the accumulated axial strain, resilient axial strain,
The DSR test was performed on SBS and crumb rubber modified bitumens using peak vertical stress, resilient modulus and creep stiffness are calculated by the fol-
a Bohlin DSRII rheometer. The test was performed under controlled stress loading lowing equations [27]:
conditions using frequency sweeps between 0.01 and 1 Hz at temperatures be-
tween 40 °C and 80 °C. The principal viscoelastic parameters obtained from the ec ¼ ðL3n  L1Þ=G ð2Þ
DSR are the magnitude of the complex shear modulus (G) and the phase angle
(d). G is defined as the ratio of maximum (shear) stress to maximum strain and
provides a measure of the total resistance to deformation when the bitumen is sub- er ¼ ðL2n  L3n Þ=ðG  ðL3n  L1ÞÞ ð3Þ
jected to shear loading [21]. It consists of elastic and viscous components, which are
designated as the (shear) storage modulus (G0 ) and the (shear) loss modulus (G00 ),
Er ¼ r=er ð4Þ
respectively. These two components are related to the complex (shear) modulus
and to each other through the phase (or loss) angle (d), which is the phase or time
lag between the applied shear stresses and shear-strain responses during a test. Ec ¼ r=ec ð5Þ

2.3. Rotational-viscometer (RV) test
Asphalt binders must remain sufficiently fluid, or workable, at the high temper-
atures necessary during the plant mixing, field placement and compaction of
hot-mix asphalt. The bitumen reaches temperatures exceeding 135 °C during these
procedures. The rotational viscometer measures the rheological properties of
asphalt binders to evaluate their pumpability during delivery and plant operations.
The Brookfield DV-III rotational viscometer was used in this study. The rota-
tional viscosity was determined by measuring the torque required to maintain a
constant rotational speed (20 rpm) of a cylindrical spindle while submerged in bitu-
men maintained at a constant temperature. Different crumb-rubber and SBS con-
tents were tried to obtain acceptable contents with respect to the viscosity,
which must be lower than 3000 cP at 135 °C. The rotational viscometer was also
used to establish equiviscous temperature ranges for selecting HMA mixing and
compaction temperatures. Hence, this study can lead to further studies on the
use of crumb-rubber- and SBS-modified asphalt in hot-mix asphalt.
2.4. Conventional tests
where ec is the accumulated axial strain (le), er is the resilient axial strain (le), r is
the peak vertical stress (kPa), L3n is the final displacement level of the transducer for
pulse ‘n’ just prior to the application of the stress for pulse ‘n + 1’ (mm), L1 is the ini-
tial zero-reference displacement of the transducers (mm), G is the initial specimen
length (mm), L2n is the maximum displacement of the transducers with stress ap-
plied for pulse ‘n’, Er is the resilient modulus (MPa), and Ec is the creep stiffness or
modulus (MPa).
The dynamic creep test is usually conducted at 40 °C, with a 1-h loading time
and 0.1 MPa applied stress. However, it has been reported that a stress level of
100 kPa is not suitable for investigating the permanent deformation potential of as-
phalt mixtures [28]. Therefore, to more clearly evaluate the behavior of the mixture
in this test, a loading level of 500 kPa and a temperature of 50 °C were chosen. The
specimen strain during the cycling load was measured along the same axis as the
applied stress using two linear variable displacement transducers (LVDTs). A
square-pulse wave was applied, with a 500-ms pulse width and a 500-ms rest per-
iod. Prior to testing, the specimens were put into the chamber for 6 h to allow for a
uniform temperature distribution. The dynamic creep test conditions consisted of
600 s of preload (10 kPa) and 4200 load cycles.

The base, SBS and crumb-rubber-modified bitumens were subjected to penetra-
tion and softening-point tests. Three replicates of each bitumen containing different
polymer contents were prepared for bitumen testing. The temperature susceptibil-
ity of the modified bitumen samples was calculated in terms of its penetration in-
dex (PI) using the results obtained from the penetration and softening-point tests.
Temperature susceptibility is defined as the change in the consistency parameter as
a function of temperature. A classical approach related to penetration index (PI) is
provided in the Shell Bitumen Handbook [22], as given by the following equation:
1952  500  logðPen25 Þ  20  SP
PI ¼
50  logðPen25 Þ  SP  120
where Pen25 is the penetration at 25 °C and SP is the softening-point temperature of
the bitumen.
2.5. Dynamic-creep test
2.6. Indirect tensile–fatigue test
Fatigue is considered to be one of the most significant distress modes in pave-
ments associated with repeated traffic loads [29]. In this study, a constant-stress
indirect tensile–fatigue test was conducted by applying cyclic constant loads of
270 kPa with a 0.1-s loading followed by a 1.4-s rest period. The test was carried
out at 25 °C. The universal testing machine (UTM) was used for this purpose. The
machine has a servohydraulic test system. The loading frame was housed in an
environmental chamber to control temperature during the test. The desired load le-
ð1Þ vel, load rate and load duration were controlled by a computer. The deformation of
the specimen was monitored through linear variable-differential transducers
(LVDTs). The LVDTs were clamped vertically onto the diametrical side of the spec-
imen. A repeated dynamic compressive load was applied to specimens across the
vertical cross-section along the depth of the specimen using two loading strips
12.5 mm in width. The resulting total deformation parallel to the applied force
was measured.

The dynamic creep test was developed to estimate the rutting potential of as-
phalt mixes. The dynamic creep test is thought to be one of the best methods for 2.7. Indirect tensile–stiffness–modulus test
assessing the permanent deformation potential of asphalt mixtures. This test was
developed by Monismith et al. [23] in 1970 and is based on the concept of an The stiffness modulus of asphalt mixtures measured in indirect-tensile mode is
axial-compression test. NCHRP reported that, among the five laboratory tests inves- the most popular form of stress–strain measurement used to evaluate their elastic
properties and is considered a very important performance characteristic of a pave-
ment formulation. The indirect tensile stiffness modulus (ITSM) test defined by BS
Table 3 DD 213 is a nondestructive test. The ITSM Sm in MPa is defined as:
Physical properties of the mixtures.
Sm ¼ FðR þ 0:27Þ=LH ð6Þ
Mixture Mixing Compaction Va Vma Vf Marshall Flow
type temp. temp. (°C) (%) (%) (%) stability (mm) where F is the peak value of the applied vertical load (repeated load) (N), H is the
(°C) (kN) mean amplitude of the horizontal deformation obtained from five applications of
Base 145 130 4.07 14.90 72.64 17.1 2.89 the load pulse (mm), L is the mean thickness of the test specimen (mm), and R is
4%CR 168 154 4.17 15.33 72.76 17.3 2.73 the Poisson ratio (here assumed to be 0.35). The test was performed with controlled
6%CR 178 165 4.16 15.30 72.78 18.4 2.68 deformation, again using the universal testing machine (UTM). The magnitude of the
8%CR 191 178 4.14 15.27 72.85 19.0 2.71 applied force was adjusted by the system during the first five conditioning pulses
10%CR 202 189 4.12 15.23 72.94 19.2 2.64 such that the specified target-peak transient diametral deformation was achieved.
2%SBS 165 151 4.08 15.00 72.75 17.6 2.92 A value of 6 lm was chosen so as to ensure that the signal amplitudes obtained from
3%SBS 174 162 4.09 15.01 72.74 18.2 2.68 the transducers were sufficient to yield consistent and accurate results. During test-
4%SBS 185 173 4.13 15.06 72.52 19.3 2.87 ing, the rise time, which is the time taken for the applied load to increase from zero
5%SBS 191 179 4.10 15.05 72.72 21.3 3.04 to a maximum value, was set at 124 ms. The load-pulse application was set to 3.0 s.
The test was performed at 25 °C.
 B.V. Kök, H. Çolak / Construction and Building Materials 25 (2011) 3204–3212 3207

3. Results and discussion 55

50 3%CRM

Modification indices
45
3.1. Dynamic-shear-rheometer test results 40 6%CRM
35 9%CRM
30
The frequency dependence of the complex modulus (G) of the 12%CRM
25
SBS and CR modified bitumens, obtained by producing rheological 20 15%CRM
master curves at a reference temperature of 50 °C, are given in 15
10
Figs. 2 and 3, respectively.
5
The complex modulus master curves showed similar behavioral 0
trends between the SBS and CRM bitumens. The complex moduli of 0.001 0.01 0.1 1 10
both bitumens increased with increasing frequency. The modifica- Frequency (Hz)
tion indices of the modified bitumens, which were obtained by Fig. 4. Modification indices of CR modified bitumens.
dividing the complex modulus of the modified bitumen by that
of the base bitumen, both at 50 °C, are given in Figs. 4 and 5. The
significance of frequency on the complex modulus is seen in these
figures. The complex modulus of the 5% SBS modified bitumen was 30
15 times and 6 times higher than that of the base bitumen at 2%SBS
25

Modification indices
0.01 Hz and 1 Hz respectively. The corresponding values were 24 3%SBS
times and 6 times for the 12% CRM bitumen. The modulus 20 4%SBS
improvement effects of different additive contents of grew closer 5%SBS
15
at higher frequency. While the complex modulus increased with 6%SBS
increasing frequency, the rate of this increase leveled off for both 10
types of modified bitumens. The decrease in modification indices
5
was more pronounced at higher additive contents. The results indi-
cate that there were significant differences in the modification 0
indices above 4% SBS content and 9% CR content. These values 0.001 0.01 0.1 1 10
Frequency (Hz)
can be considered as the thresholds for transition to superior
performance. Fig. 5. Modification indices of SBS modified bitumens.
The variations in complex moduli with additive contents at the
frequencies of 0.1 and 1 Hz are given in Fig. 6. The values were ta-
ken from the master curves. The complex moduli increased with
35000
increasing additive content. The effect of additive content on com- SBS@0.1Hz SBS@1Hz
30000 y = 2251.6e0.1713x
plex modulus was exponential for both SBS modified and crumb
Complex modulus (Pa)

CRM@0.1Hz CRM@1Hz 2
R = 0.9963
rubber modified bitumens. This indicates that much higher values 25000
y = 1342.2x1.5727
20000 2
R = 0.9988
100000 15000 y = 253.27e0.2383x
y = 133.34x2.1277 2
2 R = 0.9963
10000 10000 R = 0.9957
Complex modulus (Pa)

1000 5000
0%CRM
0
100 3%CRM 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
6%CRM Additive content (%)
10
9%CRM
Fig. 6. The variations in complex moduli with additive contents.
1 12%CRM
15%CRM
0.1
0.0001 0.001 0.01 0.1 1 10
of crumb rubber are more effective than lover values. The slopes of
Frequency (Hz)
the curves decreased with decreasing frequency. The decreasing
Fig. 2. Rheological master curves of the CR modified bitumens. slope of the curves with decreasing frequency showed similar ratio
for the SBS and CRM bitumens. However, to satisfy the same per-
formance with SBS modified bitumens, the CRM bitumens must
be used at much higher content than SBS, particularly at low
100000
frequency. Fig. 7 was plotted by determining the crumb rubber
Complex modulus (Pa)

10000 contents that provide the same complex modulus as the corre-
sponding SBS contents at 0.1 and 1 Hz. The good curve fits, with
1000 0%SBS
high correlations, ensure the determination of crumb rubber con-
2%SBS
100 tents equivalent to given SBS contents regarding the same complex
3%SBS moduli. The same G values as the 3% SBS modified bitumen were
10 4%SBS obtained by 6.9% and 7.1% crumb rubber modified bitumens at
1 5%SBS 0.1 Hz and 1 Hz, respectively. As for the 5% SBS modified bitumen,
6%SBS the same performance was obtained by 11.8% and 11.9% crumb
0.1 rubber modified bitumens at 0.1 Hz and 1 Hz, respectively. As the
0.0001 0.001 0.01 0.1 1 10
curves were similar at 0.1 Hz and 1 Hz, this indicates that the re-
Frequency (Hz)
sponse of SBS and CRM bitumens to frequency changes was similar
Fig. 3. Rheological master curves of the SBS modified bitumens. with respect to the complex modulus, as described above.
3208 B.V. Kök, H. Çolak / Construction and Building Materials 25 (2011) 3204–3212

7 10000
2
y = 0.0185x + 0.0821x + 1.5053 9000
6 2 SBS@135 °C SBS@165 °C
R = 0.9995 8000
SBS content (%)

Viscosity (cP)
5 7000 CRM@135°C CRM@165°C
4 6000
2
5000
3 y = 0.0112x + 0.2278x + 0.8645 4000
2
R = 0.9979 3000
2
0.1 Hz 2000
1 1 Hz 1000
0 0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
Crumb rubber content (%) Additive content (%)

Fig. 7. CR contents versus SBS contents providing the same complex modulus. Fig. 9. The variations in the viscosities of bitumens.

The variations in phase angles versus the complex moduli of the pumpability according to Superpave specifications. When compar-
modified bitumens are given in Fig. 8. Each curve was plotted with ing the complex moduli of the 6.7% SBS modified bitumen and the
five points. Each point on the curves represents a different additive 10.5% CR modified bitumen at 1 Hz, it was observed that, although
content. The phase angles decreased with the increase of additive these bitumens had same viscosity, the complex modulus of the
content. While the variations in complex moduli were similar at CRM bitumen was half that of the SBS modified bitumen. This indi-
low and high frequencies, the variation between the complex mod- cates that, at contents above 10%, CR modification is a physical (fil-
uli and phase angles of the SBS and CR modified bitumens at 1 Hz ler type) modification rather than a polymeric modification. It was
were only similar, despite the fact that a significant difference was considered that insoluble crumb rubber particles remained above
observed at 0.1 Hz. The CRM bitumens gave lower phase angles 10%. The observed increase in viscosity without expected increase
than SBS modified bitumens at the same complex modulus at in complex modulus can be explained due to these undissolved
low frequency. The phase angles of the SBS and CR modified particles.
bitumens were 69.8° and 63.5°, respectively, at a 3.0 kPa complex
modulus at 0.1 Hz. The reduced phase angle at low frequency,
3.3. Conventional bitumen test results
where typical vehicle loads are encountered, more effectively indi-
cates an elastic response. A distinction was observed between the
The effects of SBS and CR modification on the properties of the
phase angle increases of the CR and SBS modified bitumens, partic-
base bitumen can be seen in Table 4 as a decrease in penetration
ularly at higher complex moduli where the additive contents were
values and an increase in softening points with increasing additive
high. Having a lower phase angle than the SBS modified bitumen,
contents. This trend was more pronounced for the SBS modified
the CRM bitumen exhibited more flexible behavior at high additive
bitumen. The modification reduced the temperature susceptibility
contents at low frequency, which is potentially beneficial in resist-
(as determined by the penetration index; PI) of the bitumen. Lower
ing deformation.
PI values indicate higher temperature susceptibility. Asphalt mix-
tures containing bitumen with higher PI are more resistant to
low temperature cracking and permanent deformation [30]. As
3.2. Rotational viscometer test results
seen in Fig. 10, both SBS and CR modified bitumens exhibited less
temperature susceptibility with increasing additive content. How-
The variations in the viscosities of bitumens at 135 °C and
ever, the slopes of the SBS curves were higher than the CRM curves,
165 °C are given in Fig. 9. The results show an exponential increase
especially at higher additive content, indicating more temperature
in the viscosities with modification. The viscosities give a clear
susceptibility compared to the CRM bitumen. It was determined
indication of the stiffening effects of crumb rubber modification
that 12% CR modification provides the same temperature suscepti-
at high additive contents. In particular, crumb rubber modification
bility as the 4% SBS modification.
induced a significant increase in viscosity above 10%. It was deter-
At the end of the bitumen test a general assessment was made,
mined that SBS and CRM bitumens reached a viscosity of 3000 cP
as summarized in Table 5. This table shows the crumb rubber con-
at 6.7% and 10.5% additive, respectively. Additive contents above
tent required to exhibit the same properties as the various SBS con-
these values may not be suitable for good workability and
tents according to the panel of bitumen tests. It was observed that
each test presents very different equivalent crumb rubber con-
tents. The CR contents required to match the performance of the
100000 SBS modifications according to the penetration index are much
SBS@0.1Hz
higher than the values obtained by the other tests. Among the vis-
CRM@0.1Hz cosity, values a slight decrease in CR content was seen at 165 °C,
Complex mdulus (Pa)

10000 SBS@1Hz which indicates an increased resistance to high temperature. The

CRM@1Hz phase angles did not change in accordance with the increase of
SBS content between 0.1 Hz and 1 Hz, whereas the CR require-
1000
ments for the equivalent complex moduli remained approximately
constant at low and high frequencies for the different SBS contents.
A low CR demand for equivalent phase angles at low frequency
indicates an increased elastic response. It was also determined that
100 the required crumb rubber content obtained for the softening point
50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85
and penetration tests were closer to the values obtained for the
Phase angle (Degree)
complex modulus at high frequency than the other rheological
Fig. 8. Variation in phase angles of modified bitumens. values.
 B.V. Kök, H. Çolak / Construction and Building Materials 25 (2011) 3204–3212 3209

Table 4
Physical properties of the bitumens.

Pure SBS content (%) CR content (%)

2 3 4 5 6 3 6 9 12 15
Penetration 190 128 97 82 64 53 116 100 81 62 53
S.point (°C) 41.5 47.8 53.8 58.2 62.7 68.6 46.4 52.0 56.3 62.2 67.9
PI 0.365 0.922 1.576 2.047 2.219 2.755 0.130 1.222 1.585 2.032 2.637

3 5
y = 1.6737Ln(x) - 0.2513 4.5 Base

Accumulated strain (%)

2.5 2
R = 0.9995 4
Penetration index

2 3.5
3
1.5 2.5 4%CR

1 2 6%CR
y = 1.465Ln(x) - 1.4909 1.5 8%CR
2
R = 0.9808 SBS 10%CR
0.5 1
CRM
0.5
0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 0
0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000
Additive content (%) Pulse count
Fig. 10. Penetration index of the bitumens.
Fig. 11. Accumulated strain versus pulse counts for CR modified mixtures.

3.4. Dynamic creep test results

5
Figs. 11 and 12 display the results of comparisons between the 4.5 Base
Accumulated strain (%)

accumulated strain of the control (base) and modified mixtures at 4

50 °C and a 500 kPa stress level. The accumulated strain versus 3.5
pulse counts of the repeated creep test results were obtained from 3 2%SBS
three specimens each of the control and modified mixtures. How- 2.5
2 3%SBS
ever, the figures represent the average specimen strain pulse count
1.5 4%SBS
values. The pulse count was selected as 4200. It was observed that 5%SBS
1
all specimens showed a minimum slope lover than a 4200 pulse 0.5
count, which means that the mixtures passed the tertiary stage. 0
It is seen from these figures that the accumulated strain of the mix- 0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000
tures decreased with increasing additive content, indicating a Pulse count
resistance to permanent deformation and an increased service life.
Fig. 12. Accumulated strain versus pulse counts for SBS modified mixtures.
The figures show that the 2%, 3%, 4%, and 5% SBS modified mixtures
exhibited similar performance compared to 4%, 6%, 8%, and 10% CR
the required CR content increases with the increase of SBS content.
modified mixtures, respectively. The accumulated strain values of
At unfavorable temperatures such as 50 °C, the same performance
the mixtures at 4200 pulse count are given in Table 6. Here, a much
as a 5% SBS modified mixture was obtained by a 10% CR modified
greater affinity was observed between the 3% SBS and 6% CR mod-
mixture; i.e., two times the SBS content. These mixtures gave
ified mixtures according to the accumulated strain values.
2.5-fold higher flow numbers than the control mixture. Although
Another comparison was made with the flow numbers (FN) of
the CR demand was twice that of the SBS, when the cost of SBS
the mixtures, taken at the minimum points of the strain rate
and CR are taken into account it is obvious that using CR in the
curves; see Fig. 13. The increase in flow number was more pro-
mixtures provides a cost reduction.
nounced with SBS modified mixtures than in CR modified mix-
tures. Because the FN is recommended as a rutting indicator, it is
apparent that SBS modified mixtures can better resist to high loads 3.5. Indirect tensile fatigue test results
without any deterioration than CR modified mixtures at the same
additive content. However, CR modified mixtures can satisfy the Based on the results of the fatigue test, the number of load rep-
same performance criteria as SBS modified mixtures when the CR etitions to failure was determined for the base, SBS modified and
contents are higher than the SBS contents. As shown in Fig. 13, CR modified mixtures. Figs. 14 and 15 show examples of the

Table 5
Required crumb rubber content to satisfy the same performance with SBS modification.

SBS content (%) Crumb rubber content (%)

PI Viscosity @ 135 °C Viscosity @ 165 °C G @ 0.1 Hz G @ 1 Hz d @ 0.1 Hz d @ 1 Hz Softening point Penetration Mean
2 5.2 3.2 3.2 4.2 3.5 2.6 3.0 3.7 2.0 3.40
3 8.1 5.2 4.7 6.9 7.1 4.7 6.5 7.3 6.2 6.30
4 12.1 6.7 6.5 9.3 9.5 7.3 8.9 9.9 8.7 8.66
5 14.7 8.0 7.6 11.8 11.9 9.0 10.9 12.8 11.9 10.94
6 18.1 9.4 9.0 13.4 13.4 10.9 13.8 15.4 12.5 13.16
3210 B.V. Kök, H. Çolak / Construction and Building Materials 25 (2011) 3204–3212

Table 6
Accumulated strain values of mixtures.

Base SBS content (%) CR content (%)

2 3 4 5 4 6 8 10
Acc. strain (%) 4.409 2.737 1.751 1.560 1.461 2.173 1.721 1.660 1.252

3500
changes in accumulated deformation versus load repetitions. It is
3000 readily observed that, at first, the accumulated deformations
Flow number

2500 increased rapidly as the air voids were compressed by the load rep-
2000 etition; later, the accumulated deformations of the mixture in-
1500 creased linearly. Because the test was performed in stress
controlled mode, the deformations finally increased rapidly after
1000
SBS initial cracking occurred. The crack growth of SBS and CR modified
500 CR mixtures exhibited the same trends, except for the 10% CR modi-
0 fied mixture. It can be concluded that, among the modified mix-
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
tures, the 10% CR mixture has low resistance to crack growth.
Additve content (%)
Again, the undissolved crumb rubber particles in the bitumen
Fig. 13. Flow number-additive content relation. could have led to this type of deterioration. Conversely, the 6%
CR and 8% CR mixtures showed similar deformation characteristics
until initial cracking. However, it was observed that the crack
Accumulated deformation (mm)

4
3.5 Base growth of the 8% CR mixture was lower than that of the 6% CR mix-
3 8% CR 10% CR ture, which indicates an elastic behavior. Therefore, it can be as-
4% CR
6% CR sumed that the effective crumb rubber content is 8% by weight
2.5
of bitumen according to the fatigue test. The load cycle numbers
2
of the mixtures to fracture induction are given in Fig. 16. The val-
1.5 ues ranged from low to high; thus, the relative performances of the
1 mixtures can be compared along the horizontal axis of the graph.
0.5 The presented data are the mean values of three specimens. It is
0 seen from the figure that the 4% CR modification gave better results
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 than the 2% SBS modification, the 6% CR modification gave better
Load cycle results than the 2% and 3% SBS modification, and the 8% and 10%
CR modifications gave better results than the 2%, 3%, or 4% SBS
Fig. 14. Accumulated deformation versus load repetitions for CR modified
mixtures. modifications. Any of the CR modified mixtures can reach the per-
formance of a 5% SBS modified mixture. The load cycle number of
the mixture modified with 8% CR, which was previously deter-
Accumulated deformation (mm)

4
3.5 Base 5% SBS mined to be the effective CR content, was five times greater than
2% SBS 4% SBS that of the base mixture.
3 3% SBS
2.5
3.6. Indirect tensile stiffness modulus test results
2
1.5
The test results for stiffness modulus are shown in Fig. 17. Three
1 specimens each of the control and natural asphalt mixtures were
0.5 tested. Each specimen was tested at three different positions.
0 Therefore, to obtain the stiffness modulus value of any type of
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000
mixture, the mean of nine values was used. The force, providing
Load cycle
a 6-lm deformation, was applied five times. When the moduli
Fig. 15. Accumulated deformation versus load repetitions for SBS modified ranged from low to high, it was seen that the sequencing did not
mixtures. greatly differ from that of the fatigue tests. The 8% CR modified

3000

2500

2000
Load cycle

1500

1000

500

0
Base 2%SBS 4%CR 3%SBS 6%CR 4%SBS 8%CR 10%CR 5%SBS
Mixtures

Fig. 16. Load cycle numbers of the mixtures.

 B.V. Kök, H. Çolak / Construction and Building Materials 25 (2011) 3204–3212
1800
1700
1600
1500
Sm (MPa)
1400
1300
1200
1100
1000
900
800
Base 2%SBS 3%SBS
Fig. 17. Stiffness modulus values of the mixtures.
mixture exhibited performance similar to the 4% SBS modified
mixture and had a 50% higher stiffness modulus value than the
base mixture. It was also determined that there was little variation
in the stiffness modulus with the alteration of additive content in
this test method. While the 8% CR mixture had a value only 1.5
times higher than the base mixture in the stiffness modulus test,
the values rose to 2.3 times and 5 times higher for the dynamic
creep and fatigue tests, respectively. The most effective response
to modification was obtained for the fatigue test.
4. Conclusions
The experimental results of this study show the effect of the use
of crumb rubber for the modification of bitumen and hot mix as-
phalt mixtures, including conventional and rheological bitumen
tests and hot mixture performance tests such as the dynamic
creep, fatigue and stiffness modulus tests. The performance of
crumb rubber modified bitumen and asphalt mixtures was com-
pared to SBS modified bitumen and asphalt mixtures to determine
if the use of crumb rubber can replace SBS as an additive with
respect to the tested properties of the bitumen and mixtures.
Based on the laboratory test results, the following conclusions
were drawn:
According to conventional bitumen tests, it was determined
that both SBS and CR modified bitumens exhibited reduced tem-
perature susceptibility with increasing additive contents. However,
this trend was more pronounced for the SBS modified bitumen.
In the dynamic shear test, it was determined that the improve-
ment effects of the contents of the different additives (SBS and CR)
were closer at high frequency. The decrease in modification indices
was more pronounced at higher additive contents. Significant dif-
ferences were observed in the modification indices above 4% SBS
content and 9% CR content. These values can be considered to be
thresholds for the transition to superior performance properties.
The effects of additive content on complex modulus were deter-
mined to be exponential for both the SBS modified and crumb rub-
ber modified bitumens, indicating that much higher crumb rubber
contents were more effective than lower contents.
The crumb rubber modified bitumen displayed lower phase an-
gle than the SBS modified bitumen at the same complex modulus
at low frequency, indicating an elastic response.
The viscosities gave a clear indication of the stiffening effects of
crumb rubber modification at high additive content. It was deter-
mined that SBS and CRM bitumens each reached a viscosity of
3000 cP at 6.7% and 10.5% addition, respectively.
According to a series of bitumen tests, very different percent-
ages of crumb rubber addition were required to exhibit the same
properties as the corresponding SBS modifications. Depending on
3211
4%CR 6%CR 4%SBS 8%CR 10%CR 5%SBS
Mixtures
the type of bitumen test, a 6.3–12.1% crumb rubber addition
was required to achieve the same performance as a 4% SBS
modification.
The results of the dynamic creep test demonstrated that a
crumb rubber content twice that of the SBS content in the hot mix-
tures provided the same performance, and a high affinity between
3% SBS and 6% CR modified mixtures was observed with respect to
the accumulated strain values.
The fatigue test results showed that the crack growth of the SBS
and CR modified mixtures exhibited the same trends. As to 10% CR
modified mixtures showed a high deformation rate after initial
cracking, the 8% crumb rubber modification was determined to be
the maximum useful crumb rubber content. An 8% CR modification
gave better results than the 2%, 3%, or 4% SBS modifications and
yielded a load cycle number five times that of the base mixture.
The stiffness modulus test showed that the 8% CR modified mix-
ture exhibited performance similar to the 4% SBS modified mixture
and had a 50% higher stiffness modulus value than the base mix-
ture. It was also determined that the stiffness modulus test results
were less severely affected by the additive increases than those of
the other mixture tests.
Overall, the rheological and mechanical test results made it
apparent that crumb rubber modification exhibits superior perfor-
mance with respect to bitumen and mixture properties. In addi-
tion, an 8% crumb rubber content was determined to be the most
suitable content, yielding much better test results than unmodified
bitumen and the other mixtures. The use of crumb rubber is pre-
ferred over SBS modification because it can provide a significant
cost savings due to the high price of SBS and will also prevent
the accumulation of this waste material in the environment.
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