BITUMEN (WEEK 3)

Polymer-modified bitumen or PMBs-

generally consists of a blend of a bitumen with a polymer.

Two different types of monomers can be combined into a single polymer, 

which is then called a copolymer.

*The most common type of polymer used to modify bitumen is a copolymer of polystyrene and
polybutadiene. It is usually called SB or SBS. This family of copolymers is called an elastomer
because it brings viscosity and elasticity to the bitumen. More than 80% of polymers used in bitumen
are SB or SBSs.

But there is another type of polymer that can be used in the bitumen industry. 
It is a copolymer of polyethylene and polyesters like, for instance, 
vinyl acetate. This family of copolymers is called a plastomer because it brings stiffness
and plasticity to the bitumen.

Polymer modification stiffens of bitumen at elevated service temperatures, 

say around 50 to 70°C. 
PMBs have higher Ring&Ball temperature and 
are less sensitive to creep.

The resulting asphalt mix will have an improved resistance to rutting or 
permanent deformation. At very low temperatures, PMBs are less stiff and 
more flexible than regular bitumen. They have a lower fraass point and a higher toughness. 
It makes polymer-modified asphalt mixes more resistant to thermal cracking. In other words, PMBs
are less sensitive to extreme temperatures. They can be used on a wider range of temperature
compared to regular bitumen.

 Polymer modification improves binder cohesion.Under traffic the film of bitumen hold the aggregates
together may break, causing the aggregates to come off. This phenomenon is called raveling. 

Polymer modification improves the binder resistance to aging. Bitumen on the road is subjected to
aggressive climatic conditions like oxidation by air, UV light, water, changes in temperatures.All this
combined with traffic loads. Over time the bitumen tends to stiffen and come more brittle. In the case
of PMB, this aging phenomenon is mitigated, which brings some extra durability to the pavement.

Finally, polymer modification improves the resistance to fatigue. Fatigue is the development of
cracks by the repetition of loading cycles. It is responsible for the failure of many pavements! PMBs
are more resistant to fatigue.

The crosslinking technology is based on the modification of the polymer structure 

in the bitumen matrix by adding a crosslinking agent and creating bonds between the polymer
chains. The outcome is a complete change of the PMB microstructure, becoming completely
homogeneous. This technology has been patented by Total in 1978 and is widely renowned under
the brandname Styrelf with three hundred thousand tons sold each year by Total and its licensees
over the world.
CONCLUSION

Polymers used to modify bitumen are either elastomers, 

typically SBS polymer, or plastomers, typically polyethylene copolymers. 
PMBs have improved mechanical properties compared to regular bitumen. 
These properties include lower temperature susceptibility, resistance to fatigue, lower aging, and
high cohesion.

Finally, Cross linking allows to further improve the performance of SBS modified bitumen.

The styrene-butadiene-styrene (SBS) are the commonly 

used polymers to improve the elasticity in the cohesion of the Bitumen

Thus particles of crumb rubber made with recycled bits of tires 

can be used in the polymer to increase its elastic properties and cohesion.

Bitumens modified with crumb rubber are usually called CRMB. 

Crumb Rubber Modified Bitumen, the CRMBs are cheaper alternative to PMBs. 
For example, India is a significant user of CRMB.

To manufacture CRMB, fine crumb rubber is added and 

dispersed in the bitumen Using your high share blender.
CRMB may contain up to 25 percent of crumb rubber and 
display enhanced performances, 
which may be seen as up to 1.5 percent of the asphalt mixture.

The CRMB's are well known to be not very stable during the storage at high 
temperature.

The warm mix asphalts are a relatively recent technique developed in 
response to the needs of the road industry for 
decreasing energy consumptions and emissions and worker's exposure. 
In France, for example, the French world companies signed in 
March 2009 an agreement of voluntary commitment with the Ministry of Ecology, 
Energy, Sustainable Development in the town and country planning. 
In which they make in particular a commitment to reduce greenhouse 
gas emissions of the order of 33% to the recent in 2020, 
leading to use of warm mix asphalts.

______________________________________________________________________________
A convenient way to handle bitumen at lower 
And therefore, safer temperatures is to manufacture emulsions. 

With traffic, weather conditions, and aging effects, 

road surfaces show signs of stress: stripping, bleeding, 
cracking, and also wear of aggregates which reduces skid resistance.

There are two main processes: surface dressing and microsurfacing. 

Surface dressing: 
the simplest wearing course is one layer of bitumen plus one layer of gravel, (no sand), 
The requirements are found in NF EN 12271.

Micro surfacing, the laying of cold asphalt mix, 

( D maximum size up to 4 millimeters) at low spreading rate, 
(about 15 to 20 kilograms per meter), without compaction in many cases, 
the requirements are found in NF EN 12273. 
Note, the generic term used for "cold-cast bituminous materials" is the slurry seal, 
but in France this designates the fine aggregates Dmaximum size four millimeters, 
not used for wearing course due to poor skid resistance.

Present surface treatments to improve 

the performances and durability of roads.

The proportions of the hot bitumen and 

emulsion are fifty-fifty, with about 15% with modification.

Different structures can be used according to the main topic: 

Surface dressing: 
Mono layer, simple gravelling, the most common aggregate range is 6 to 10, 
or 10 to 14 millimeter maximum size. 
Mono layer double gravelling, the most common is 10 to 14 and 4 to 6 millimeters. 
Bi-layer, it is twice mono layer single gravelling, 
the most common is 10 to 14 + 6 to 10 millimeters. 
Pre-graveled, thickener. Micro surfacing: mono layer, generally 0 
to 6 millimeters, sometimes 0 to 8 or 0 to 10 millimeters. 
Double layer, one layer to improve the profile with slurry seal, 
0 to 4, plus second layer, 0 to 6.

The advantages are: low-cost maintenance (especially for surface dressing). 

Low thickness for wearing course, so low consumption of raw materials, 
Quick to apply, so low inconvenience to traffic 
(Order of magnitude for the the daily output 25,000 and 
8,000 square meters for surface dressing and micro surfacing), 
Rapid reopening to traffic, 
Excellent macrotexture and 
skid resistance by using aggregates with high polishing resistance, 
Very good seal efficiency, especially for bi-layer surface dressing.

The disadvantages are : insufficient resistance under shear stresses, 

like small radius turning, turnabout, Sensitive to poor quality of the support, cracking, debonding,
bleeding,... These deteriorations appear rapidly if the preparation of the support is not sufficient, or if
the structure is not well adapted. And exclusively for surface dressing: - stripping at an early
age, (first week in service), due to the process of chipping,

Micro surfacing is commonly applied in city areas because it 

offer a good compromise for all of the surface characteristics. 
(For instance, the annual surface 
laid in France is approximately 30 million square meters). 
Surface dressing is the most common technique for wearing courses especially for 
the economical maintenance of rural roads for moderate traffic. 
It accounts for than more 150 million square meters. 
A new technique has appeared on national roads, 
the CAPESEAL which combines ESU (surface dressing) plus ECF ( cold micro asphalt concrete
surfacing). 
It increases the efficiency to reflective cracking and maintains 
the advantages of these two techniques, without the disadvantages 
of surface dressing.
The role of the copping layer, is to protect the natural soil and 
improve its the bearing capacity. 
The tension of the road base, is to support the traffic loads, and 
to spread the loads in the sub-grade. 
The road base can be divided in two layers, the base layer and the sub base.

The surface course has two functions. 

To protect the road base and to ensure good surface characteristics, 
evenness, skid resistance, evacuation of water. 
On heavy traffic pavements it can consist of two layers. 
The wearing course and the binder course.

Bituminous pavements can be divided into two groups. 

Low traffic pavements which consist of a single bituminous wearing course 
generally less than 12 cm thick and a granual base. 
These pavements are limited in France to traffic slower than 150 heavy 
vehicles per day. 
Thick bituminous pavements which have a bituminous wearing course and 
a bituminous road base with a thickness varying generally between 15 and 40 cm.

Bituminous base layers present mainly fatigue cracking 

due to repeated tensile stresses in use by the traffic loads 
at the bottom of bituminous layers and also layer the bonding.

The objective of pavement design is to define the pavement structure materials, 

layer thicknesses, satisfying the constraints of the project. 
Type of road, traffic level, design life, and budget. 
At first I will present some general principles of pavement design, 
then I will focus on the example of the French pavement design method.

Most recent pavement design methods can be defined as mechanistic empirical methods. 
Because they are based on the mechanical pavement model adjusted by the introduction of
empirical calibration coefficients 

Determined by comparison with performance of real pavements. 

Mechanistic-empirical pavements design methods 
are generally based on the following principles. 
A multi-layer linear elastic model 
is used to calculate the critical strengths in the pavement structure. 
And given standard equivalent single axle load or easel.

The French pavement design method considers only the two most 
common design criteria, fatigue and permanent deformations.

Pavements structures consist of 3 main layers, the subgrade, 

the road base which is the main structure of element and 
the surface course which determines the surface characteristics.

Bituminous pavements present two main structural failure modes. 

The fatigue of bituminous layers and 
the permanent deformation of the sub grade and unbound general layers.

The French pavement design method is based on linear elastic pavement model and 
defines the fatigue criterion to calculate the design life of 
the bituminous layers, and permanent deformation criterion 
to calculate the design life of the sub-grade. 

The gyratory compactor test combines vertical compression 

Is a single action jack and rotation with an angle of inclination of 
1 degree in France and 1.25 degree in the USA. 
The axis of a cylinder of given dimension at the mixture manufactory temperature.
This effects simulate the needing 
of shearing of grains of asphalt mixings during compacting.