Evaluating the Effect of Polymer Modification on the Low-Temperature Rheological Properties of Asphalt Binder

Abstract

This paper investigates the viscoelastic properties of oxidized neat bitumen and three polymer-modified binders at low temperatures. The earlier proposed interrelated expressions for the relaxation modulus and for the creep compliance of bitumen binders are further developed. The results of creep testing of the binders on a bending beam rheometer at the six temperatures from −18 °C to −36 °C are presented. The results were analyzed using the equations developed for the relaxation modulus and the relaxation time spectrum. Viscosities at the low temperatures of tested binders were estimated. Approximate interrelations between the loss modulus and the relaxation spectrum were presented. The method for the determination of the glass transition temperature of a binder in terms of the relaxation time spectrum is proposed. The glass transition temperatures of tested binders were determined by the proposed method and compared with ones determined by the standard loss modulus-peak method.