Predicting Mixing and Compaction Temperatures of Polymer Modified Bitumen

Abstract

Despite many advantages of using polymer additives in bitumen, there are several challenges bordering onstandards and specifications with regards to their utilization. One of these challenges is related withspecifying the required heating or mixing and compaction temperatures of the polymer modified bitumen.The standard method (ASTM D 2493) aims to determine mixing and compaction temperatures of the baseor unmodified bitumen. Nevertheless, the application of this method in the case of polymer modifiedbitumen led to very high temperatures which may not be appropriate for PMB. In this paper, somealternative methods named as the high shear rate and steady shear flow method suggested in the literaturehave been examined and tested for 50/70 and 160/220 penetration grade bitumen samples involving anelastomeric type of additive. A suggested method has also been proposed to overcome the complexities inthe implementation of the alternative methods.