Bituminous binders are foreseen as colloidal dispersed systems characterised by high chemical complexity containing a plethora of molecules classified into maltenes and asphaltenes. The effect of these fractions on the overall response of bituminous binders remains elusive. This research selected two binders from the same refinery but with different paving grades. First, Dynamic Shear and Bending Beam Rheometers were employed to assess their rheological properties, and results were consistent with the physical measurements conducted on binders to address low to high temperature rheological response. Then, the binders and their fractions were individually analysed in a Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and differential scanning calorimetry to elucidate their chemistry associated with the structural changes. No significant difference could be noticed in the infrared spectra of binders, even if they displayed diverse physical properties. Differences may be identified in asphaltenes, an observation which is also supported by calorimetric measurements where steric hindrance occurred upon heating. Maltenes contributed significantly to the glass transition of both binders, while the impact of asphaltenes on the heat capacity changes in glass transition was limited. The findings from this research could be used to establish a new analytical approach for bituminous binders to understand the differences in the physical properties of binders based on their chemistry.@en

RILEM TC-279 WMR task group TG 1 studied the performance of waste Polyethylene (PE) in bituminous binders and bituminous mixtures. Several laboratories participated in this study following a common protocol. Locally sources aggregates and bituminous binder and same source of waste PE were utilized. The binder experiments showed that at high temperatures, using MSCR tests, PE modified blends had better resistance to permanent deformation in comparison to the non modified binder. Whereas at intermediate temperatures, using the LAS tests, fatigue performance of the PE blends could withstand more loading cycles under low strains; however, it could sustain less loading cycles under high strains due to the increase in brittleness. Dry process was used for the mixture experiments in order to bypass the stability and inhomogeneity experience that was observed at the binder scale. The PE modified mixtures showed improved workability and increased strength. The higher the PE dosage, the higher the ITS increase with respect to the values measured for the control materials (i.e., without any plastic waste) thanks to the improved cohesion of the plastic modified mastic. The stiffness experiments tended to show an improved performance with a lower time dependence and a higher elasticity when plastic was added. The cyclic compression tests demonstrated a reduced creep rate along with a higher creep modulus thanks to the addition of PE; similar conclusions can be drawn from the experimental findings coming from wheel tracking test. Furthermore, acceptable and often improved moisture resistance was observed for PE modified materials.

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In the past years, the use of liquid additives as bitumen modifiers has increased to enhance or adjust the properties of bitumen for wide range of applications. Their molecular composition and mutual interaction result in a specific phase morphology in the binders. Hence, there is a need to evaluate the phase and interphase framework and physical properties of complex binders. The RILEM Technical Committee 272-PIM ‘Phase and Interphase behaviour of innovative bituminous Materials’, Task Group TG1 investigates the characterization of assessing phase interphase properties of complex bituminous binders. In this framework, three liquid additives have been selected with different viscosity, nature and use. They were blended with base bitumen to achieve similar consistency and the blends were further aged. Physical properties were evaluated through rheology using dynamic shear rheometer (DSR) in a wide range of conditions. The phase morphology was addressed by atomic force microscopy (AFM), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) techniques. AFM and DSC results, from fresh and aged binders, reveal that each binder display specific phase morphology and glass transition characteristics, manifesting mutual compatibility of the individual binder components. This approach of binder assessment: combining phase characteristics and rheological response can assist material selection to specific applications.@en

Inter-laboratory experiments were designed to evaluate the impact of plastic waste blended directly in bitumen and to assess the properties, using conventional and advanced bituminous binder testing. The blends targeted 5% of plastic waste in 95% bitumen, using two types of polyethylene (PE) primary (pellets) and secondary (shreds) waste. The experiments showed that the addition of PE waste to bitumen does not alter the chemistry of the bitumen, the blending is physical. The DSR results indicate a strong dependency on the testing temperature as at low temperatures the composite material bitumen and PE behave both elastically whereas, at higher temperatures, the bitumen becomes viscoelastic. The MSCR tests indicated that the neat binder is more sensitive to permanent deformation compared to the blends with PE. The fatigue performance using the Linear Amplitude Sweep test showed a better performance in terms of stress and fatigue life for the PE blends.

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In the past years, the use of liquid additives as bitumen modifiers has increased to tailor the rheology of bitumen for a wide range of applications. Their chemical composition and mutual interaction result in specific phase morphologies in the binders. Hence, there is a need to evaluate the phase morphology of complex binders and the impact of additives on their physical properties. The RILEM Technical Committee 272-PIM ‘Phase and Interphase behaviour of innovative bituminous Materials’, Task Group TG1 assessed the phase and interphase properties of bituminous binders. Some preliminary results are presented on blends using three liquid additives and a neat 35/50 bitumen. The goal of formulating the blends was to achieve similar consistency of a pen grade 70/100 bitumen at the original state and to evaluate the binders at both original and after aging. Physical properties were evaluated through rheological characterisation using a dynamic shear rheometer (DSR) in a wide range of conditions. The phase morphology was assessed using atomic force microscopy (AFM). Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was also used for the characterisation of the thermal behaviour of the binders. While conventional properties, as obtained from the routine binder testing methods, hardly distinguish between blends, the cross-over temperature, derived from DSR measurements, enabled to dictate the impact of liquid additives on the physical properties of bituminous binders at intermediate temperature. AFM confirmed a difference in phase morphology between the blends, whereas some binders displayed new phases at original and aged conditions. Glass transition, as determined by DSC, also showed a difference in the low-temperature domain that may be explained with the difference in phase morphology. Overall, an in-depth understanding of microstructure morphology and glass transition behaviour of complex binders can assist in designing future specifications to distinguish durable bituminous materials better.@en

InfraRed spectrometry is a powerful technique to characterise bituminous binders. The methodology is not fully harmonised and may lead to vari-ability. The RILEM-272-PIM-TG1, evaluated seven complex bituminous, for which eleven laboratories performed FTIR. While, the spectra showed sim-ilar trends, further analysis was needed to improve comparison. A specific approach was applied on two binders, unmodified and polymer modified bitumen, and two ageing conditioning. Combining a Gaussian distribution
and derivative analysis confirmed a good alignments of laboratory results. A two-step model was developed improving further interpretation. It con-sists of a baseline adjustment with eight points and normalisation over the maximum aliphatic peak. Furthermore, a specific fingerprint model was determined with the main absorption peaks defined by their location and shape. Only the intensity varies from laboratory to laboratory and binders. This general approach can be used as a platform to characterise aging or binder complexity@en

The RILEM TC 272 PIM (Phase and Interphase behaviour of innovative bituminous Materials) – TG1 Binder has initiated an inter-laboratory program investigating the phase and interphase behaviour of bituminous binders. Five laboratories evaluated the low temperature properties of seven standard and complex binders with differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). DSC has been accepted as a powerful tool to evaluate, among others, the glass transitions, Tg, monitoring the endothermic or exothermic heat flow of a material under controlled temperature conditions. There are different ways to run the test, conventional temperature linear-DSC (TL-DSC), and temperature modulation-DSC (TM-DSC). The latter has been proven as an efficient method differentiating the structural relaxation phenomena from the heat capacity. In this study, emphasis was laid on comparing the Tg measured by TL- and TM-DSC improving the interpretation of binder glass transitions. To restrain the scope of this study, two SBS polymer modified binders (PmBs), a commercially available PmB and an highly modified PmB (7.5 % SBS) , were evaluated and compared with two neat bituminous binders. It was observed that the modification by 7.5% SBS resulted in a decrease of the Tg. This reduction of Tg reflects the positive influence of SBS at low temperatures. @en

The asphalt industry is constantly working to enhance the performances of asphalt materials, introducing innovative and more sustainable solutions. In this context, the incorporation of materials, such as additives, polymers, is more and more used to improve the properties of neat bitumen. This leads to even more complex bituminous binders, raising the question, are the current specifications and test methods appropriate for complex materials? To deal with this, the RILEM Technical Committee 272-PIM ‘Phase and Interphase behaviour of innovative bi-tuminous Materials’ with its Task Group TG1 is looking at the efficiency of vari-ous test methods for complex binders with an extensive inter-laboratory program with 17 laboratories. It includes seven different binders, two neat bitumen, two polymer modified bitumen and three binders with liquid additives, emphasising on compositional and physical changes at different conditions. The focus is low temperature; while a complementary experimental program encompasses as well as testing at intermediate and high temperatures. The outcomes of the work will provide indications on how robust the current binder characterisation techniques are and establish technical recommendations for future test methods specially de-signed for complex binders. Some first results are presented hereby.@en

The RILEM TC 272 PIM (Phase and Interphase behavior of innovative bituminous Materials)—TG1 Binder has initiated an inter-laboratory program investigating the phase and interphase behaviour of bituminous binders. Within the scope, four laboratories evaluated the low temperature properties of seven binders with differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). DSC has been accepted as a powerful tool to evaluate, among others, the glass transitions, Tg, monitoring the endothermic or exothermic heat flow of a material under controlled temperature conditions. There are different ways to run the test, conventional temperature linear-DSC (TL-DSC), and temperature modulation-DSC (TM-DSC). The latter has been proven as an efficient method differentiating the structural relaxation phenomena from the heat capacity. In this study, emphasis was placed on comparing the Tg measured by TL- and TM-DSC to improve the interpretation of binder glass transitions. In this study, the scope was restrained to two Polymer modified Binders (PmBs): a commercially available modified binder named PmB1 and a highly modified binder (7.5 wt% high vinyl SBS) named PmB2, were evaluated and compared with two neat bituminous binders. Based on the thermographs of the PmB2 obtained through this inter-laboratory program, it was observed that the modification by 7.5% SBS resulted in a decrease of the Tg. This reduction of Tg reflects the positive influence of SBS at low temperatures.@en