LABORATORY EVALUATION OF

MODIFIED BITUMEN USING SUPERPAVE

METHODOLOGY UNDER INDIAN
CONDITIONS

BY
Mohammed Imthiyaz Ramu K.S

Students of
Dayananda Sagar College of Engineering
 CONTENTS
• Introduction
• Current Methodology
• Advantages of Superpave
• Conclusions
Objectives
• Studies of current modified binders and their
behaviour
• To correlate laboratory test with field
conditions
• Comparison between coventional methods
and Superpave methods.
Bitumen :
 Last residue of crude oil treated to produce bitumen
 Used in building and paving since ancient times
 Oldest adhesive known to man
– Used in 3500 B.C. As mortar for building stones and paving blocks in
Mesopotamia
– Used for water tightening of reservoirs, canals, bathing pools &
embankments of rivers in indus valley
 Streets of Babylon constructed in 2000 B.C. still in good shape.
 Used for Mummification in 300 B.C.
 Rock Asphalt used for flooring/sidewalks in France in 1800 A.D.
 First road surfacing done in New Jersey in 1870 A.D.
 From 1900 onwards Bitumen produced from Refineries being used
extensively.
Types of Bitumen

 Conventional Bitumen
 Paving Grade Bitumen
 Industrial Grade Bitumen
 Bitumen Emulsions
 Cutback Bitumen
 Modified Bitumen
# PMB
# CRMB
# NRMB
# WPMB
Selection of Grade of Bitumen

 Choice of Bitumen is based on:

- Climatic Conditions - Maximum &
Minimum temperature & rainfall
– Intensity of Traffic - Number of vehicles
per day & axle load of vehicles
 Limitations of Conventional Bitumen
 Brittleness at Low Temperature
 Becomes Soft In Hot Climatic Conditions
 High Temperature Susceptibility
 Susceptible To Deformation (Rutting)
 Fatigue Failure (Cracking)
 Poor Adhesion
Typical Problems Faced in India
# Severe Overloading
# Extreme variation of climatic conditions
# Premature cracking of pavements

Hot temperature failure,

Rutting

Cracking at low temperature

Bleeding Raveling
Corrugation/Depressions Rutting
A S0LUTION FOR ALL THESE PROBLEMS
LIES IN USE OF MODIFIED BITUMEN

Why Modified Bitumen ?

- Longer Road Life
- Lower Maintenance Cost
- Increasing Number Of Vehicles
- Increasing Axle Load
- Desire To Maintain Higher Serviceability Level
- Includes Long Term Maintenance
- Cost Effective Solution for a Country like ours with
limited availability of fund
- Changing Pattern Of Contracts such as BOTs
Properties Improved by Modified Bitumen

∗ A sufficient increase in viscosity, prevents

plastic deformation.
∗ An increase in flexibility and elasticity of binder
at low temperatures to delay the crack formation
(mainly due to fatigue failure) and loss of
chipping.
∗ High thermo stability, improved homogeneity
and aging resistance, thus helping to reduce the
hardening of the binder during mixing, laying
and pavement service life.
Guidelines on use of Modified Bitumen
 MORTH letter No. RW/NH-34041/36/90-S&R(Vol. II) dated April 21, 1999 advised
all States/UTs to use Modified Bitumen upto 10% for all works “as it has been
proved by field trials that the life of the road increases by 1.5 times”.

 IRC released new Specifications vide publication No. IRC-SP:53:2002 FOR USE
OF MODIFIED BITUMEN in road development activities in India.

 MORTH vide letter No. RW/NH-34041/36/90-S&R(Vol. II) dated 17, January 2000
requested all States to start using MODIFIED BITUMEN.

 MORTH letter No. RW/NH-34041/36/90-S&R(Vol. II) dated April 14, 2000

requested MOP&NG to start Modified Bitumen production at Refinery level.
 MORTH vide their letter No. RW/NH-35072/1/2001-S&R( R ) dated June 21, 2001
has requested all States to encourage use of Modified Bitumen in view of its
various advantages and improved performance over conventional Bitumen.

 MORTH vide their letter No. RW/NH-33041/3/2001-S&R dated June 13, 2002 has
stated that “It has been decided that keeping in view its advantages,
polymer/rubber modified bitumen may be adopted in surfacing for the whole
length, subject to availability”.
 Goals of the modification
 To decrease the viscosity at low temperature
 To increase the viscosity at high temperature
 To improve the fatigue behaviour of the
bituminous mixes
 To keep the adhesion (bitumen is a glue)
 A stable material
 A cost effective material
LABORATORY
EVALUATION
Penetration (IS1203)
It is a measure of hardness or consistency of bitumen. It is
vertical distance traversed by a standard needle expressed in
unit of 0.1 mm under specified
 Test Conditions

25°C, 100 g.

 Significance
 To identify the grade of unknown bitumen
 To check the quality (grade) of a bitumen
 To predict age – hardening (oxidation)
Softening Point (IS 1205)
 The temperature at which a standard steel ball placed
on the layer of bitumen kept in a standard ring
passes through the bitumen layer and touches the
bottom plate kept at a distance of 2.54 cm,
 Liquid Bath is heating medium Water for softening
point below 80°C

Significance:
 To determine consistency of bitumen
 Signifies the temperature at which bleeding of
bituminous road surfacing will occur
 Great significance in India due to extreme climatic
conditions
 Elastic Recovery
Measure the ductility at low temperature (15°C) by
stretching the specimen upto10 cm. And cutting at mid
point. The broken specimen is left at low temperature for
one hour
The length of the specimen is measured again
% Recovery is calculated as
Flash and Fire Point (IS:1209)

Flash – lowest temperature at which test flame causes the

vapour from bitumen to catch fire for a moment in the form
of a flash heating rate 5°c /min
Fire- lowest temperature at which test flame causes
bitumen to ignite and burn at least for 5 seconds

Significance

 Limit of safety and fire hazard temperature

The safe heating of bitumen is normally 50°c below the
flash point
Minimum value (175°c flash point) to pass a bitumen
sample construction
 THIN FILM OVEN TEST (TFOT)
This test is carried out on a thin film of bitumen. The
residue thus obtained is tested for penetration, softening
point and elastic recovery. Percentage loss in weight
during TFOT is also measured.
–Loss in mass (IS 9382)
–Reduction in Penetration of residue
–Increase in Softening Point (IS 1203)
–Elastic Recovery at 25 °C

Significance
This test is helpful for predicting the aging resistance of
bitumen.
Dynamic Shear-Rheometer (DSR)

# Used for determination of Complex Modulus (G*/sinδ )

 Indirect tensile strength test
To study the performance of mixes under repeated
loading.

Conditioned Specimens

Dry Specimens

Test condition: 60+10C temperature

 Rutting Characteristics
 The test involves determining the rut depth of the mix
using Hamburg wheel tracking device

Roller compactor cum rut analysis

 Fatigue test

The purpose of the

flexural beam fatigue
tests is to measure
the fatigue behaviour
of the mixture.
Showing Comparison of Rutting Test on Binders
at 60 + 10 C for BC Grade-1
N u m b e r o f P a sse s (in Hu n d re d )
0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
-5 Using CRMB-55

At 4.8 % OBC
Using 60/70 Grade Binder at
Rut Depth in mm

4.9 % OBC
-10

-15

-20

-25
Using WPMB at 4.8 % OBC
 Test Results of the Binders
Properties of original binder
TestDescription 60/70 80/100 CRMB-55 WPMB

Penetration(mm)at 25degc 69 89 47 43

SofteningPoint indegC 46 42 55 54

Ductility(cm) >75 >100 22 47

ElasticRecoveryin%(Min
2 4
64 15

50%)at 15degc

FlashPoint indegCMin230 175 180 246 210

degC

FirePoint indegC 280 268 285 273

Properties of Short Term Aged Binders (Using
Thin Film Oven Test Samples)

TestDescription 60/70 80/100 CRMB-55 WPMB

Penetration(mm)at25degc 61 79 47 40

SofteningPointindegC 49 44 58 57

Ductility(cm) 76 >75 17 44

ElasticRecoveryin%at15 1 2 58 13

degc

LossinMassin%(Max1%) 0.056 0.047 0.048 0.030

Gradation Curve obtained for
Bituminous Concrete
100

90

80

70
Percent passing

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5
Sieve Size (Raised to 0.45 Pow er)

Control Points Trial blend 1 Trial blend 2 Trial blend 3

 Advantages of Modified Bitumen
- Lower susceptibility to daily and seasonal
temperature variations
- Higher resistance to deformation at elevated
pavement temperature
- Better age resistance properties

- Higher fatigue life of mixes

- Prevention of cracking and reflective cracking

- Overall improved performance in extreme

climatic conditions and under heavy traffic
conditions.
Handling of Modified Bitumen's and
Mixes

Modifier should be thoroughly blended with bitumen

• Different types of modifiers require different techniques
of blending
•Storage Stability of Modified bitumen is important
• Blended bitumen should be supplied in tankers and if
supplied in drums shall be agitated in hot condition with
suitable device for 10 to 15 minutes before use.
• Penetration, Softening point, separation and elastic
recovery tests shall be conducted at site for a lot of 5 tonne
of Modified bitumen.
 (Production of
Mix in Plant)

(Transportation
of Mix to the
Construction
Site)
 (Laying of Mix
using Sensor
Pavers)

(Compaction of
Mix using
Vibratory
Rollers)
 (Final Finishing
using
Pnuematic
Tyre Rollers)

(Durable &
Higher
Serviceability
Level)
Conclusion
• Conventional test procedures failed to distinguish the performance of the binders.

• Superpave method performed better compared to conventional methods.

• Since Superpave methodology works on the basis of both climate and tropic
characteristics. It succeeded in distinguishing the performance of the binders.

• Modified binders are superior when compared to ordinary binders.

Thank you