Analysis of the multiple stress creep recovery asphalt binder test and specifications for use in Indiana.

PDFTech ReportFHWA/IN/JTRP-2016/07SPR-3810Relaxation (Mechanics)CreepBituminous bindersAsphalt pavementsPavement performanceIndianaPurdue University. Joint Transportation Research ProgramBehnood, AliShah, AyeshaMcDaniel, Rebecca S.Olek, JanPurdue University. Joint Transportation Research ProgramIndiana. Dept. of TransportationUnited States. Federal Highway AdministrationUS Transportation CollectionThe Superpave specifications and equipment, introduced in 1993, represented a major advancement with respect to offering a betterunderstanding of the behavior and characteristics of asphalt binders based on their rheological properties. However, the Superpave hightemperaturetest protocol has been shown to be inadequate for characterizing the high-temperature behavior (rutting resistance) ofasphalt binders, particularly polymer modified ones. Recently, a specification based on the Multiple Stress Creep Recovery (MSCR) testhas been proposed to address the shortcomings of the Superpave high-temperature binder specifications. This study aims to investigatethe merits of implementing the MSCR test and specification as a replacement for the conventional high-temperature testing in thePerformance Graded (PG) system. A statistical analysis was conducted on a dataset from Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT)to see how MSCR and PG procedures differ in grading different binders used in the state. In addition, an experimental study wasconducted using seventeen different modified and unmodified binders. In addition to binder tests, seven of the binders were selected toconduct asphalt mixture tests such as dynamic modulus and flow number. The results confirm that the MSCR test is a suitablereplacement for the current PG high temperature test since it provides a better tool to rank modified asphalt binders as well asunmodified ones. That is, creep compliance from the MSCR test more fundamentally represents binder behavior at high temperaturescompared to the PG rutting parameter. In addition, the very simplified approach, known as grade-bumping, used in the current PGsystem to account for high traffic levels and low speed limits can be eliminated when using the MSCR test. The MSCR test also provides abetter coefficient of correlation (at both stress levels) with flow number test results than the PG rutting parameter, again indicating thatit more accurately reflects binder performance at high temperatures