This document discusses determining appropriate mixing and compaction temperatures for modified binders used in pavement construction. The researchers tested two modified binders (CRMB60 and PMB40) using a rotational viscometer to map their Newtonian and non-Newtonian behaviors at different temperatures and thermal histories. They identified the Newtonian-non-Newtonian transition point as the mixing temperature and found it to be lower than current practice recommends. Samples cast with the determined temperatures showed similar volumetric properties to control samples made using prevalent practices. The researchers conclude their method can better establish mixing and compaction temperatures for modified binders.
This document discusses determining appropriate mixing and compaction temperatures for modified binders used in pavement construction. The researchers tested two modified binders (CRMB60 and PMB40) using a rotational viscometer to map their Newtonian and non-Newtonian behaviors at different temperatures and thermal histories. They identified the Newtonian-non-Newtonian transition point as the mixing temperature and found it to be lower than current practice recommends. Samples cast with the determined temperatures showed similar volumetric properties to control samples made using prevalent practices. The researchers conclude their method can better establish mixing and compaction temperatures for modified binders.
Original Description:
Modified binders - determination of mixing and compaction temperatures
This document discusses determining appropriate mixing and compaction temperatures for modified binders used in pavement construction. The researchers tested two modified binders (CRMB60 and PMB40) using a rotational viscometer to map their Newtonian and non-Newtonian behaviors at different temperatures and thermal histories. They identified the Newtonian-non-Newtonian transition point as the mixing temperature and found it to be lower than current practice recommends. Samples cast with the determined temperatures showed similar volumetric properties to control samples made using prevalent practices. The researchers conclude their method can better establish mixing and compaction temperatures for modified binders.
This document discusses determining appropriate mixing and compaction temperatures for modified binders used in pavement construction. The researchers tested two modified binders (CRMB60 and PMB40) using a rotational viscometer to map their Newtonian and non-Newtonian behaviors at different temperatures and thermal histories. They identified the Newtonian-non-Newtonian transition point as the mixing temperature and found it to be lower than current practice recommends. Samples cast with the determined temperatures showed similar volumetric properties to control samples made using prevalent practices. The researchers conclude their method can better establish mixing and compaction temperatures for modified binders.
Colloquium on Transportation Systems Engineering and Management
CTR, CED, NIT Calicut, India, May 12-13, 2014.
Paper Id: 224 DETERMINATION OF MIXING AND COMPACTION TEMPERATURE FOR MODIFIED BINDERS
Uma Menon 1 , Reashma P.S. 2 , Shenbagameenal S., 3 and J. Murali Krishnan 4
1 M.Tech. Student, Transportation Engineering 2 Assistant Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, REVA Institute of Technology & Management, Bengaluru 560064, Karnataka 3 Project Associate
4 Associate Professor Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai 600036, Tamil Nadu E-mail: [email protected], Contact author
Abstract: Modified binders are used in pavement construction to enhance the performance. Significant challenges exist related to the use of modified binders, one of which being the determination of mixing and compaction temperature. Most of the world standards currently available do not specify a precise mixing and compaction temperature for modified binders and only the manufacturers technical specifications are used. Typically 15 to 20C in excess of what is normally used for unmodified binders is used for modified binders. For unmodified binders, a viscosity criterion is normally used to determine such temperatures. Since the modified binders exhibit non-Newtonian characteristics even at high temperature, a straight forward use of viscosity criterion is not possible. In this investigation, two types of modified binders (CRMB60, PMB40) were used. To map the non-Newtonian and Newtonian regimes during mixing and compaction, a rotational viscometer was used. Steady shear and shear rate sweep experiments were carried out under different thermal histories. Using these test protocols, the mixing and compaction temperatures were determined based on the Newtoniannon-Newtonian transition. It was found that these temperatures were much lower than the current practice. A typical bituminous grade mixture as specified in MORTH guidelines with all the modified binders were cast using a shear compactor at the mixing and compaction temperature established by the above protocols. It was seen that the volumetric properties of the control sample (manufactured as per the prevalent practice) and the samples using the mixing and compaction temperature determined in this study did not show much deviation.
Keywords Mixing and compaction temperature, nonNewtonian, Newtonian, Shear compactor
1. INTRODUCTION
The rate of highway construction in India has accelerated in recent years. Around 90% of roads in India use bitumen for pavement construction(Nagabhushana, 2009). The performance of the pavement depends on the quality of the materials used for the construction. In order to meet the increasing traffic loads and the corresponding increase in pavement stresses, binders used in the bituminous mixtures for road paving are modified. The binders which are modified by suitable additives are expected to improve the mechanical properties of the mixtures. The pavement constructed with modified binders shows higher resistance to rutting, thermal cracking and decreased fatigue damage (Kandhal et al., 2011). During the manufacture of bituminous mixtures, the binders are heated to high temperature to ensure that the aggregates are well coated by the binder during mixing. Immediately after mixing, the mix is transported to the construction site and compacted. The loss of temperature during transport is minimized by appropriately insulating the truck so that the mix during compaction will be workable and reach the desired level of compaction. The various standards and specifications for hot mix asphalt construction (Asphalt Institute, 2003) clearly stipulate the temperature during mixing and compaction for mixes prepared with unmodified bitumen. The Asphalt Institute mix design manual defines the mixing and compaction temperature for unmodified binder in terms of the viscosity of binder.The temperature to which the bitumen is heated to produce a viscosity of 0.170.02 Pa.s and 0.280.03 Pa.s shall be the mixing and compaction temperatures respectively (Asphalt Institute, 2003). Asphalt Institute (2003) also suggests that one should use the manufacturers guidelines for determining the mixing and compaction temperature for modified binders. It is well understood that if one uses the viscosities as mentioned here for modified binders, the temperatures are going to be unusually high. IRC:SP:53(2010) suggests 165 to 185 o C as the range to be used for mixing and 130 to 160 o C as the range for compaction temperature. Most of the manufacturers suggest mixing and compaction temperature for modified binders to be 20 C higher than that for unmodified binders. If one goes by the manufacturers recommendation, the mixing temperature for modified binder mixture will be 185 C and the compaction temperature will be at 170 C. Such high mixing and compaction temperature can lead to phase separation of some of the modified binders. Also, while it is possible to make samples at such higher temperature in the laboratory, it is plainly not possible to subject the material to such high temperature uniformly throughout in the field. One of the biggest concern currently expressed by the highway engineers is the need to identify a method for determining the mixing and compaction temperature. Yildrim et al., 2000, used the same viscosity range that is used for the unmodified binder. The viscosity-temperature chart and the temperature corresponding to the viscosity of 0.170.02 and 0.280.03 Pa.s was taken as the mixing and compaction temperature respectively. Bahia et al., 2001, used zero shear viscosity to determine the mixing and compaction temperature. The mixing and compaction temperature obtained using zero shear viscosity was found to be less than that obtained from conventional viscosity chart. A test methodology referred to as the phase angle method, which was based on Newtonian response of the material was suggested by West et al., (2010) for determining the mixing temperature. A frequency sweep test is conducted using a Dynamic Shear Rheometer at 50, 60, 70 and 80 o C, and a master curve is constructed. Using empirical expressions, the mixing temperature is determined for frequency corresponding to the phase angle of 86 . Determination of compaction temperature is even more challenging when compared to mixing temperatures. At these temperatures, the material exhibits transition from Newtonian to a non-Newtonian fluid and hence the viscosity determination at any specific temperature will be non-unique. The decrease in viscosity due to the shear thinning behaviour of the modified binder due to shearing and the increase in viscosity due to temperature drop rather complicates the issue. Currently, the compaction density is the only quality control parameter used to check the compaction of pavement. However, it is possible that for a given density (or air voids), the possibility of a widely varying mechanical properties can exist and unless one understands the issues related to compaction mechanics, it is not possible to arrive at an unique compaction temperature range for a given binder and mix (Saradhi et al., 2008). Added to the above issues is the aging that happens to the mix during mixing and compaction. During the transport of mix from hot mix plant and during compaction considerable aging occurs to the binder and this also influences the manner in which compaction could be carried out. To simulate the short term aging of the mix, the current AASHTO protocol prescribes that the mix be kept in an oven for a specific temperature for 4 hours before compaction (AASHTO PP2, 1994). Prior to compaction, the sample is then transferred to another oven which is kept at the compaction temperature for 30 minutes and immediately thereafter the sample is compacted. While there is considerable discussion and debate in the technical literature (Bahia et al., 2001; West et al., 2010) about compaction temperature for mixes with modified binders, it is not clear whether the short-term aging protocol for mixes with unmodified binders could be identically adopted for mixes with modified binder. As mentioned earlier, the modified binder shows transition from Newtonian to non Newtonian at mixing and compaction temperature. This transitory behaviour of modified binder was characterized using the apparent viscosity from protocols established at IIT Madras (Padmarekha et al., 2011). The current study focuses on the concept identifying the Newtonian temperature for mixing. As mentioned earlier the compaction occurs in non Newtonian regime of the modified binder. The temperature at which the effect of shear rate increment and temperature decrement on the viscosity of binder compensates each other can be identified as the compaction temperature. In this investigation, the Newtonian non-Newtonian transition temperature of the modified binders were mapped during mixing and compaction. Using this data, the mixing and compaction temperature for fabricating modified binder mixtures were arrived at. A control sample following Industry practice was bench marked with mixes made with the temperature proposed here and the variation of volumetric properties were determined.
2. EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION
As part of current study, a polymer modified binder (PMB40), a crumb rubber modified binder (CRMB60) was used for binder characterisation.The CRMB and Plastomer samples were prepared for the mixture tests. The median grading of bituminous concrete grade-2 as per MoRTH (2001) were used.
2.1 Binder Investigation
Three different experimental protocols were developed by Padmarekha and Krishnan (2011) to determine the on-set of Newtonian regime for unmodified binders and fourth protocol was developed as part of current study is to quantify the shear thinning characteristics of the modified binder. The readers can refer to Padmarekha and Krishnan (2011) for details related to the first three protocols. In order to characterize the rheological response of the binder, the data collected from the tests conducted as per the three protocols were analysed to determine the mixing temperature. The experiments were carried out on unaged binder. The results of experiments performed on PMB40 as per protocol 1 shown in Fig 1.(a). The apparent viscosity is expressed as a function of temperature. The binder was subjected to three different shear rate increments of 0.01, 0.02 and 0.03 rpm/s. The temperature was increased at rate of 2 o C/min starting from 90 o C . At this temperature, the binder is expected to be non Newtonian. The transition temperature is identified as temperature at which shear rate independent viscosity is obtained and from the graph in Fig 1 (a) it is seen that it occurs at 137 o C. Fig 1(b) shows the data of experiments performed on PMB40 as per protocol 2. The apparent viscosity is expressed as a function of shear rate. The experiments were conducted at two different temperatures.The binder showed Newtonian response at 145 o C. The data of experiments conducted on PMB40 as per protocol 3 is shown in Fig 1(c) The binder was subjected to a steady shear at constant temperature. The plot in Fig 1 (c) shows the apparent viscosity of the binder expressed as a function of time at 150 o C. As mentioned earlier, the temperature at which the binder shows shear rate independent viscosity is taken as transition temperature. The temperature corresponding to the on-set of Newtonian response of the binder is considered as the mixing temperature .The transition temperature obtained from analysis of protocol I, II and III is shown in Table 1. Fig 1. (a) Apparent Viscosity as a function of temperature of PMB40 - Protocol 1
Fig 1. (b) Apparent Viscosity as a function of shear rate of PMB40 - Protocol II
Fig 1. (c) Apparent Viscosity as a function of time of PMB40 protocol III
Table 1. Transition Temperature obtained from analysis of protocol I, protocol II and protocol III
Binder Protocol I Protocol II Protocol III PMB40 137 150 160 CRMB60 183 185 (>200)
The fourth protocol results were studied to determine the compaction temperature. Fig 2 depicts protocol IV wherein the binder was subjected to a shear rate ramp and temperature was allowed to drop according to the ambient conditions. The experiments were run at steady shear, low shear rate increment of 0.0067 rpm/s and high shear rate increment of 0.1 rpm/s. The consistency in temperature drop was ensured. Brookfield HA DV-II rotational viscometer with the thermosel apparatus was used for binder characterization. The SC4- 21 spindle of 16.77 mm diameter and 35.15 mm effective length was used. The sample preparation was carried out as per ASTM D4402, 2013. The viscosity as a function of shear rate at different temperatures was recorded.
Fig 2. Angular velocity of spindle and Temperature as a function of Time Protocol IV
As mentioned earlier,the temperature regime at which the effect of shear rate increment and temperature decrement on the viscosity of binder compensates each other can be identified using protocol IV. The range of temperature over which the viscosity will not change drastically can be obtained and thus reduce the compaction temperature appropriately.The data obtained from the experiments on CRMB60 exhibited non Newtonian behaviour to a large extent at 170 o C. The shift in apparent viscosity values as seen between steady shear plot and high shear rate increment plot is due to shear thinning behaviour of the binder. The combined effect of shear rate increment and temperature drop on the binder will cause minimum change in apparent viscosity over a temperature regime, from 170 o C to 150 o C as seen in Fig 3(a). The apparent viscosity of PMB40 as a function of temperature is shown in Fig 3 (b) The shift in viscosity between steady shear and high shear rate increment is less.
Fig 3.(a) Apparent Viscosity as function of temperature (CRMB60)
Fig 3.(b) Temperature as a function of time (PMB40) Fig 3(a) and Fig 3.(b) shows the variation of apparent viscosity as the temperature is dropped and the material was subjected to different shear rate sweeps. It is very clear that CRMB60 shear thinned considerably at high shear rate (0.1 rpm/s) and hence the gain of viscosity due to temperature drop was not as substantial when compared to steady shear experiment or the low shear rate experiment (0.0067 rpm/s). This clearly gives one enough information to make a choice of compaction temperature as the temperature drops drastically. Based on different trials of experiments carried out on PMB40 (not reported here for want of space), it was very clear that the plastomer and unmodified binder exhibited identical non- Newtonian characteristics during compaction temperature regime. Hence, the compaction temperature of plastomer was kept identical to that of an unmodified binder. The compaction temperature of unmodified binder is 150 o C. On the other hand, from the analysis of the high shear rate viscosity data for CRMB60, it is clearly seen that one can reduce the compaction temperature to an extent in which the viscosity values remained more or less constant. Taking into account the issues related to measurement accuracy of the Brookfield viscometer, it was found that the compaction temperature could be reduced to 160 o C since viscosity variations are minimal when compared to the starting temperature of 170 o C.
2.2 Mixture investigation
The bituminous mix of BC grade 2 was fabricated using plastomer PMB40 and CRMB60. Two sets of bituminous mix samples were fabricated with different mixing and compaction temperature mentioned against mix protocol I and mix protocol II in Table 2. All the bituminous concrete mixes were prepared for a 4% target air voids with 5% bitumen content. After mixing, the mix was kept in the 135 o C oven for 4 hours to simulate aging that occurs due to transport of the mix from plant to site. The aging temperature for modified binder mixture is not explicitly specified in any standards. The mix temperature after short term aging is increased to compaction temperature before compaction. The target density of the compacted block was reached at the programmed terminal air voids. The rectangular blocks of 450 150 165 mm height were produced using shear box compactor..
Table 2. Mixing and Compaction Temperature as per Mix Protocol 1 and Mix Protocol 2
Protocol Binder Type Mixing Temperature ( o C) Aging Temperature ( o C) Compaction Temperature ( o C) Mix Protocol 1 CRMB 185 (binder) 170 (aggregates) 155 170 Plastomer 185 (binder) 170 (aggregates) 155 170 Mix Protocol 2 CRMB 185 (binder) 170 (aggregates) 155 160 Plastomer 135 (binder) 150 (aggregates) 135 150
The cylinders of 100 150mm are cored out of the beam sample to determine the volumetric and mechanical properties. The compaction termination criterion was achieving the target air voids of 4%. The data collected by means of the UTS software in terms of variation of air voids with the number cycles is as shown in Fig 4 (a) and Fig 4 (b). The number of compaction cycles for mix protocol 1 and 2 was similar for CRMB60. The results of PMB40 also showed less variation in the results of the two mix protocols. Fig 4. (a) Air voids attained as a function of number of compaction cycles for CRMB60 Fig 4.(b) Air voids attained as a function of number of compaction cycles for PMB40
The cylindrical samples cored were sliced to three discs in order to determine the air void distribution. Table 5 shows the air voids, bulk specific gravity (G mb ), maximum specific gravity (G mm ) of cored and sliced PMB60 samples as per mix protocol 2. The samples which were fabricated as per mix protocol 1 as part of investigation carried out at IIT Madras, showed similar air void content as obtained from mix protocol 2.
Table 4. Air voids of samples cored from the beam (Mix protocol 2)
Sample No. G mb G mm Air voids (%) PMB 1 2.493 2.602 4.180 PMB 2 2.497 4.001 PMB 3 2.512 3.438
Table 5. Air voids of samples sliced from the cylinder (Mix protocol 2)
Sample No. G mb G mm Air voids (%) PMB 1 2.515 3.350 PMB 2 2.501 2.602 3.740 PMB 3 2.494 4.100
3. SUMMARY
In this investigation the non Newtonian to Newtonian transition temperature of PMB40 and CRMB60 was determined. The temperature at which the binder exhibits Newtonian behaviour was considered as the mixing temperature. The range of temperature over which the viscosity did not change drastically was obtained from the results of the experiment conducted as per protocol IV. The reduced compaction temperature of 150 o C for PMB40 and 160 o C for CRMB60 was identified from the results of the experiment run as per protocol IV. The modified binder mixture samples were fabricated on two sets as per mix protocol I and II. Though different sets of temperatures were used, similar volumetric properties were obtained for both the binders using the new protocol when compared to the current industry practice.
Acknowledgements
The authors thank Department of Science and Technology for funding this investigation. The grant number is DST/TSG/STS/2011/46.
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