International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology (IJETT) Volume 14 Number 2 Aug 2014

A Study on the Performance of Crumb Rubber

Modified Bitumen by Varying the Sizes of Crumb
Rubber
Nabin Rana Magar1
1
Student, M.Tech., Centre for Transportation, Civil Engineering Department, JNTUH, Hyderabad, Telangana, India

Abstract. The abundance and increase of waste tyre the conventional bitumen needs to be improved. There are
disposal is a serious problem that leads to environmental many modification processes and additives that are currently
pollution. Crumb rubber obtained from shredding of those used in bitumen modifications such as styrene butadiene
scrap tires has been proven to enhance the properties of styrene (SBS), styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR), ethylene vinyl
plain bitumen since the 1840s. It can be used as a cheap acetate (EVA) and crumb rubber modifier (CRM).
and environmentally friendly modification process to Crumb rubber is the term usually applied to recycled
minimize the damage of pavement due to increase in rubber from automotive and truck scrap tires. During the
service traffic density, axle loading and low maintenance recycling process steel and fluff is removed leaving tire rubber
services which has deteriorated and subjected road with a granular consistency. Continued processing with a
structures to failure more rapidly.Use of crumb rubber granulator and/or cracker mill, possibly with the aid
leads to excellent pavement life, driving comfort and low of cryogenics or mechanical means, reduces the size of
maintenance. The rheology of CRMB depends on internal the particles. From physical and chemical interaction of crumb
factors such as crumb rubber quantity, type, particle size, rubber with conventional bitumen Crumb Rubber Modified
source and pure bitumen composition, and external Bitumen (CRMB) is made. Its advantages are: Lower
factors such as the mixing time, temperature, and also the susceptibility to daily & seasonal temperature variations,
mixing process (dry process or wet process). The present higher resistance to deformation at elevated pavement
study aims in investigating the experimental performance temperature, better age resistance properties, higher fatigue
of the bitumen modified with 15% by weight of crumb life of mixes, Better adhesion between aggregate & binder,
rubber varying its sizes. Four different categories of size of Prevention of cracking & reflective cracking, and Overall
crumb rubber will be used, which are coarse (1mm - improved performance in extreme climatic conditions & under
600m); medium size (600m - 300m); fine (300m- heavy traffic condition.
150m); and superfine (150m - 75m). Common
laboratory tests will be performed on the modified 2. REVIEW OF LITERATURE
bitumen using various sizes of crumb rubber and thus
A detailed review of research works carried out related to
analyzed. Marshall Stability method is adopted for mix
the present study are described as below.
design. Finally a comparative study is made among the
The penetration is a measure of hardness or softness of
modified bitumen samples using the various sizes of
bitumen binder which shows an effect by adding crumb
Crumb Rubber particles and the best size is suggested for
rubber to bitumen binder; it decreases as rubber content is
the modification to obtain best results
increased. The penetration shows lower values as rubber
content increases at different mix conditions of rubberized
Keywords Bitumen, CRMB, Crumb Rubber, Marshall bitumen binder, indicating that the binder becomes stiff and
Stability Test and Pavement more viscous (Mashaan et al, 2011a).
Mahrez (1999) investigated the properties of rubberized
bitumen prepared by physical blending of bitumen 80 / 100
1. INTRODUCTION penetration grade with different crumb rubber content and
various aging phases. The results of penetration values
India has a road network of over 4,689,842 kilometres in decreased over the aging as well as before aging by increasing
2013 [1][2] , the second largest road network in the world. It has the rubber content in the mix. Also, the modified binders have
primarily flexible pavement design which constitutes more lower penetration values than unmodified binders.
than 98% of the total road network. India being a very vast The softening point refers to the temperature at which the
country has widely varying climates, terrains, construction bitumen attains a particular degree of softening. The use of
materials and mixed traffic conditions both in terms of loads crumb rubber in bitumen modification leads to an increase in
and volumes. Increased traffic factors such as heavier loads, the softening point and viscosity as rubber crumb content
higher traffic volume and higher tyre pressure demand higher increases (Mahrez, 1999; MAshaan et al , 20011a). Mahrez
performance pavements. So to minimize the damage of and Rehan (2003) claimed that there is a consistent
pavement surface and increase durability of flexible pavement,

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 International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology (IJETT) Volume 14 Number 2 Aug 2014
relationship between viscosity and softening point at different easily thus, developing higher binder modification
aging phases of rubberized bitumen binder. (Abedlrahman and Carpenter, 1999).
According to a study conducted by Lee et al. (2008), the
higher crumb rubber content produced increased viscosity at
3. MATERIALS
135C and improved the rutting properties. It was also
observed that the increased crumb rubber amount (fine crumb VG-30 bitumen, Fine crumb rubber, Softening point
rubber) produced rubberized bitumen with higher viscosity apparatus, Penetration test Apparatus, Bitumen mixing setup,
and lower resilience. However, optimum crumb rubber Marshall test apparatus, Air voids apparatus
content still needs to be determined for each crumb rubber
size and asphalt binder. It is believed that a physicochemical 4. EXPERIMENTAL PROGRAMS
interaction that occurs between the asphalt and the crumb
4.1. Mixing of crumb rubber with plain bitumen
rubber alters the effective size and physical properties of the
rubber particle, thus influencing pavement performance In preparing the modified binders, about 500 g of the
(Huang et al, 2007) bitumen was heated to fluid condition in a 1.5 litre capacity
Becker et al, (2001) claimed that blend properties will be metal container. For blending of crumb rubber with bitumen,
influenced by the amount of crumb rubber added to the it was heated to a temperature of 160 C and then crumb
bitumen. Higher amounts indicated significant changes in the rubber was added. For each mixture sample 15% [3] of crumb
blend properties. As rubber content generally increases, it rubber by weight of four different sizes is used, which are
leads to increased viscosity, increased resilience, increased coarse (1mm - 600m); medium size (600m - 300m); fine
softening point and decreases penetration at 25C. (300m-150m); and superfine (150m - 75m). The blend
The mixture showed improved performance in dynamic is mixed manually for about 3-4 minutes. The mixture is then
stability, 48 h residual stability, flexural strength and strain heated to 160 C and the whole mass was stirred using a
value. Asphalt containing 0.2 and 0.4 mm size rubber mechanical stirrer for about 50 minutes. Care is taken to
indicated the best laboratory results (Souza and Weissman , maintain the temperature between 160 C to 170 C. The
1994). The particles size disruption of crumb rubber contents are gradually stirred for about 55 minutes. The
influenced the physical properties of bitumen rubber blend. In modified bitumen is cooled to room temperature and suitably
general, small difference in the particles size has no stored for testing.
significant effects on blend properties. However, the crumb
rubber size can certainly make a big difference. 4.2 Common tests on the modified bitumen
According to a study of Shen et al. (2009), the particle size
effects of CRM on high temperature properties of rubberized Penetration test and Softening point tests on both the plain
bitumen binders was an influential factor on visco- elastic and modified CRMB are performed and the results are
properties. The coarser rubber produced a modified binder analyzed for further study.
with high shear modulus and an increased content of the
crumb rubber decreased the creep stiffness which in turn 4.3 Preparation of Bituminous mix
showed significant thermal cracking resistance.
For the present study Bituminous concrete mix gradation
When crumb rubber is blended at high temperatures with
was used following specifications stated by MORT & H table
bitumen to produce a modified binder (i.e wet process), the
500-19.
two materials interact once bitumen components migrate into
Three specimens of Marshall moulds and one loose mix
the rubber causing it swell (Bahia and Davies, 1994). Initially,
(uncompacted) are prepared for each size of crumb rubber.
the interaction between crumb rubber and bitumen is a non-
Aggregates are oven dried and sieved according to BC
chemical reaction, where the rubber particles are swollen by
gradation and separated. The amount of each size of fraction
the absorption of the aromatic oils of bitumen (Heitzman,
required to produce a mixed aggregate of 1200gm as per
1992).
gradation is weighed. The required height of specimen is
Modified bitumen using crumb rubber showed an
63.5(+/-1). Bitumen and aggregate is heated separately to
improvement in the performance of pavements over the base
160 C and 150 C respectively. Then bitumen is poured in
binders as a result of the interaction of crumb rubber with base
aggregate as per requirement. Then the mixture is mixed till a
binders. Due to this interaction, there are noticeable changes
uniform coating is obtained on aggregate while the mixture is
in the viscosity, physical and rheological properties of the
being heated together maintained at around 170 C. The
rubberized bitumen binder (Airey et al , 2003; Bahla and
specimens mould and compaction hammer are cleaned
Davies, 1995), leading to high resistance of rutting of
thoroughly and mould assembly is heated in hot air oven to a
pavements (Huang et al, 2007).
temperature about 150 C. A little grease is applied to the
The rubber particles are considered in their movement into
mould before the mix is placed. The mould is assembled and
the binder matrix to move about due to the swelling process
the mix is transferred and tampered using spatula. Then 75
which limits the free space between the rubber particles.
blows are applied on either sides of the mould manually. Then
Compared to the coarser particles, the finer particles swell
the specimen is extracted after 24 hours.

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 International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology (IJETT) Volume 14 Number 2 Aug 2014
4.4 Marshall Stability tests
Before testing the moulds their dimensions is measured to
note the volume and their weight in air, weight in water, and
weight of dry SSD are taken. After that they are kept in water
bath maintained at 25 for 30 minutes. The moulds are tested
within 3 to 4 minutes after taken out from water bath. The
mould is put out on Marshall Apparatus and Marshall Stability
and flow dial gauge readings are recorded.

Fig1 : Preparation of sample

Fig 4: Marshall Stability Test Setup

4.5 Density and Air Void Analysis
The following quantities are worked out by carrying out
density voids analysis: Bulk specific gravity of Compacted
Mixture, Theoretical Maximum specific Gravity, Percent air
Fig 2: Marshall moulds for OBC determination voids, Percent air voids in mineral aggregates (VMA), Percent
aggregate voids filled with bitumen (VFB) and further graphs
are plotted .

a. Bulk Specific Gravity (Gmb) = [A / (B C)]

Where;
A= Weight in grams of the specimen in air.
B= Weight in grams, surface dry.
C= Weight in grams, in air.
b. Theoretical Maximum Specific Gravity (Gmm) = A /
Fig 3: Loose mix(uncompacted) for air voids calculation (A + D E)

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 International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology (IJETT) Volume 14 Number 2 Aug 2014
Where; 5. TESTS RESULTS
A= mass of oven-dry sample on air Common Tests on Plain and Modified Bitumen
D = mass of flask filled with water up to neck
Penetration value of VG-30 bitumen =62.78mm
at (25C )
E = mass of container filled with sample and Softening Point of plain VG-30 bitumen = 49.82 C
water up to neck at (25C )

c. % Air Voids (Va )= 100 [ 1-( Gmb / Gmm ) ] TABLE 1: Penetration Results for CRMB of different crumb
Sample No.1:(1mm-600)m
Where; Crumb rubber
Gmb = Bulk specific gravity Sample No.2:(600-300)m Crumb
Gmm = Theoretical maximum specific rubber
gravit Sample No.3:(300 -150)m
Crumb rubber
d. Voids in mineral aggregate (VMA) = 100 [ 1 Sample No.4:(150 -75)m Crumb
((Gmb ( 1- Pb)) / Gsb )] rubber
Test
Propert Sample Sample Sample
Where; y Sample No.1 No.2 No.3 No.4
Gmb = Bulk Specific Gravity of compacted
mix. Tempe
Ball Ball Ball Ball Ball Ball Ball Ball
Gsb = Bulk Specific Gravity of total rature
(C) No.1 No.2 No.1 No.2 No.1 No.2 No.1 No.2
aggregate.
Pb = Percent of bitumen by weight. 57.1 56.5 57.4 58.7 60.6 61.1 63.3 64.1
Mean
Softeni
e. Voids Filled With Bitumen (VFB) = 1- (Va/VMA) ng
point 56.8C 58.05C 60.85C 63.7C
Where; rubber sizes
Va = % Air voids
VMA = Voids in mineral aggregate
TABLE 2: Softening Point test results for CRMB of different
crumb rubber sizes

Test Sample Sample Sample Sample

Property No.1 No.2 No.3 No.4

penetration
(mm) 43.33 41.17 38.33 36.17

5.1. OBC Determination

The Marshall stability test and air voids analysis results are
tabulated as under:
Fig 5: Air Voids determination setup
The bitumen content corresponding to 4% air voids is taken
as optimum bitumen content (OBC). With that OBC the
Marshall tests are repeated for the CRMB mixes prepared
using four different sizes of crumb rubber as stated
earlier. And the results are analyzed and compared to identify
the best size of crumb rubber to be added for modification.

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 International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology (IJETT) Volume 14 Number 2 Aug 2014
TABLE3: Observation table for Marshall tests
7
Bitumen Unit Stability Flow Air VMA VFB 6.5
Content Wt. (Kg) (mm) Voids % % 6

Air Voids, %
5.5
% %
5
4 2.35 1219.18 2.59 6.36 17.06 62.74 4.5
4.5 2.41 1290.53 3.15 5.52 16.84 67.21 4
3.5
5 2.38 1370.41 3.57 4.47 16.74 73.31
3 5.3
5.5 2.35 1211.33 4.16 3.87 17.89 78.38 4 4.5 5% 5.5 6
6 2.34 993.60 5.21 3.95 18.86 79.03 Bitumen Content, %

Fig 8: Bitumen Content vs. Air Voids

1500
1400
2.42
Stability, Kg

1300
2.41
1200 2.4
1100 2.39
1000 Unit Wt. 2.38
2.37
900 2.36
4 4.5 5 5.5 6
2.35
Bitumen Content, % 2.34
Fig 6: Bitumen Content vs. Stability 4 4.5 5 5.5 6
Bitumen Content, %

6 Fig 9: Bitumen content vs. Unit Wt.

5.5
19
5
Flow, mm

4.5 18.5
4
18
VMA, %

3.5
3 17.5
2.5
17
2
4 4.5 5 5.5 6 16.5
Bitumen Content, % 4 4.5 5 5.5 6
Bitumen Content, %
Fig 7: Bitumen content vs. Flow
Fig 10:Bitumen content vs. VMA

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 International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology (IJETT) Volume 14 Number 2 Aug 2014
6. CONCLUSIONS
90
85 By studying the test results of common laboratory tests on
80 plain bitumen and crumb rubber modified bitumen it is
75 concluded that the penetration values and softening points of
VFB, %

plain bitumen can be improved significantly by modifying it

70 with addition of crumb rubber which is a major environment
65 pollutant.
60 From the table 2 it can be observed that the sample
prepared using crumb rubber size (0.3-0.15mm) give the
55 highest stability value of 1597.64 kg, minimum flow value,
50 maximum unit weight, maximum air voids and minimum
4 4.5 5 5.5 6 VMA and VFB % values. So the best size to be used for
crumb rubber modification can be suggested as (0.3-0.15mm)
Bitumen Content, %
size for commercial production of CRMB.

Fig 11: VFB vs. Bitumen Content 8. REFERENCES

[1]. "National Highways Development Project: An
5.2. Marshall tests using CRMB prepared by different sizes of
Overview" (PDF). Government of India. p. 1- 2. Retrieved 7
crumb rubber June 2014.
[2]. Roadways (CIA Factbook)". CIA, United States.
Using OBC 5.3% as obtained from figure 8:, three CRMB
Retrieved 3 April 2013.
marshall samples and one loose mix (uncompacted) are [3]. The study of Souza and Weissman (1994) using a binder
prepared taking 5.3% by weight of modified bitumen. Then
Marshall stability tests and density void analysis tests are with 15% rubber content (size of 0.2,0.4 and 0.6mm) in
performed as mentioned earlier for the plain bitumen and the dense- graded bitumen.
results are tabulated as below.
[4]. Ministry Of Road Transport & Highways (MORT & H),
Specifications for road and bridge works.
Crumb Unit Stability Flow VMA VFB [5]. http://www.pavementinteractive.org/
rubber Wt. (Kg) (mm) Air % % [6]. http://www.trb.org/NCHRP/NCHRP.aspx
[7]. Mix Design Methods for Asphalt Concrete and
Size(mm) Voids%
Other Hot- Mix Types, Asphalt Institute Manual Series
(1-0.6) 2.29 1312.22 3.33 4.55 18.68 80.83 NO.2 (MS-2), 6.
[8]. S.K. Khanna and C.E.G Justo Highway
(0.6-0.3) 2.27 1512.79 4.25 3.93 19.75 76.45 Engineering 2008.
[9]. Bureau of Indian Standards, Paving Bitumen-
(0.3- 2.34 1597.64 3.74 4.84 16.72 71.06 Specification (Third Revision) IS 73:2006, July 2006.
0.15) [10]. Goodrich J.L., (1998) Bitumen and polymer
modified Bitumen properties related to the performance
(0.15- 2.31 1231.45 4.9 2.33 17.89 86.97 of Bitumen concrete mixes, Journal of the Association
0.075) of Bitumen Pavement Technologists, Volume 57,
pp.116-160
TABLE 4:Observation table for Marshall Stability tests on [11]. IRC SP: 53-2002, 2004, 2010 Guidelines on use of
CRMB mix Polymer and Crumb Rubber Modified binders.
[12]. Evaluation of Crumb Rubber Modified Bitumen Mixes
7. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT journal of materials in civil engineering.
Im highly indebted to the valuable suggestions received [13]. Abdelrahman MA, Carpenter SH (1999). Mechanism of
from my Mtech. Supervisor Prof. Dr. P. Sravana, coordinator interaction of asphalt cement with crumb rubber modifier.
of Centre for Transportation, JNTUH, Hyderabad. This whole Transportation Research Record: J. Transport. Res. Board,
research work is dedicated to my family for their endless 1661: 106-113.
support.

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