Ageing Performances of Asphaltite Modified Bitumens; Comparisons with Equivalent Petroleum Bitumens

Abstract

This work focuses on the ageing behavior of asphaltite modified paving bitumens. The addition of asphaltites in soft petroleum bitumens gives harder binders which are suitable for the production of high modulus bituminous mixes used in pavements construction. Such techniques are already used in several projects. However it is not known how asphaltite modified binders behave during ageing. In general, bitumens get harder, more elastic and consequently more brittle during ageing. In order to evaluate the ageing incidence we have studied the evolution of several mechanical properties of asphaltite modified bitumens during ageing. The evolutions of asphaltite modified bitumens during aging are compared

Rheological behavior of vegetable oil-modified asphaltite binders and mixes

“…These better resistances to the permanent deformation are probably due to the asphaltite even if the real mechanisms that occur are not known yet. This improvement of the resistance to permanent deformation observed is supported by the conclusions of previous studies on the natural asphalts [2,9,10].…”

“…Traditionally, natural bitumen are used as additives to harden paving grade bitumen. According to Yilmaz et al [2], the addition of 60 % Trinidad lake natural bitumen (TLA) or 10% Iranian Gilsonite or 9.5% USA Gilsonite in a 34/58 paving grade bitumen provides a new binder. A series of mechanical tests (water sensitivity, resistance to fatigue, rutting, direct tensile strength and stiffness modulus) show that performances are improved compared to the reference bitumen.…”

Modeling the linear viscoelastic behavior of asphaltite-modified bitumens

“…In the framework of a wide research project, the potential of asphaltites as modifiers of petroleum bitumens was studied (Themeli 2015, Themeli et al 2016. The asphaltites used in this study are very hard natural bitumens (zero penetration and softening point >120 °C), with a high content of polar constituents (resins + asphaltenes ≈ 75 %).…”