Research Article A Study on the Rheological Properties of Recycled Rubber-Modified Asphalt Mixtures

Copyright © 2015 Murat Karacasu et al.This is an open access article distributed under the Creative CommonsAttribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Using waste rubber in asphalt mixes has become a common practice in road construction. This paper presents the results of a study on the rheological characteristics of rubber-modified asphalt (RMA) concrete under static and dynamic loading conditions. A number of static and dynamic creep tests were conducted on RMAmix specimens with different rubber sizes and contents, and a series of resonant column tests were conducted to evaluate the shear modulus and damping values. To simulate the stress-strain response of traffic-induced loading, the measurements were taken for different confining pressures and strain levels. The results of the study indicated that rubber modification increases stiffness and damping ratio, making it a very attractive material for use in road construction. However the grain size of the rubber is very important. Although RMAmay cost up to 100 % more than regular asphalt, the advantages it brings, such as an increased service life of the road and proper waste utilization contributing to a more sustainable infrastructure, may justify the added cost. 1