The Influence of Recycled Tyre Rubber on the Rheological Properties of Trinidad Lake Asphalt and Trinidad Petroleum Bitumen

In this study the influence of different amounts of crum rubber (CR) on the rheological properties of Trinidad Lake Asphalt (TLA) and Trinidad Petroleum Bitumen (TPB) was studied. The results confirmed that CR has an enormous potential to be used as a modifier of TLA and TPB. The abundance of waste tyres in Trinidad renders the material environmentally attractive for improving the use of asphalt and bitumen. The incremental addition of CR to TLA resulted in an increase in the complex modulus, G* (stiffness) which appeared to plateau at approximately 5%. The influence of CR resulted in a viscosity maximum (highest phase angle) for the blend containing 2% CR and further addition of CR resulted in a decrease of the viscoelastic response (lower phase angle). When CR was added to TPB there was an increase in the values of G*, with a maximum occurring at approximately 5% CR. The effect of the addition of CR to TPB on the phase angle resulted in a general increase in the viscosity of the material except at 5% CR concentration where a significant decrease of the viscoelastic response was observed.