Thermomechanical properties of bitumen modified with crumb tire rubber and polymeric additives

In this paper, the influence of some additives on the rheological and technological properties of crumb rubber modified binders has been studied. The research has been mainly focused on the degree of bitumen modification, measured as the improvement of the mechanical properties, produced by the additives used, and the storage stability of these binders at high temperature. The experimental results obtained reveal that all the polymeric additives used yield an improvement in both rheological and technological properties of the binder. The storage instability of these binders has been associated to sedimentation processes of insoluble CR particles that strongly influence the mechanical properties of the binder. The additives and processing conditions selected in this study do not completely prevent problems associated with the poor stability of CRMBs during storage at high temperature. Nevertheless, the use of polyoctenamer, FT-wax or SBS-containing additives improves CRMB stability. In this sense, similar loss tangent values were found before and after hot storage of these binders.