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Evaluation of elastomer–plastomer vulcanised modifiers for using as bitumen binder modifier

ABSTRACT Polymer-modified bitumen binders have been dramatically used over the last decade to combat the increasing weight and volume of heavy vehicle traffic and to reduce the pavement maintenance cost. This paper provides the findings of a study performed to evaluate new polymer composites to be used in bitumen modification. The proposed polymer is an Elastomer–Plastomer Vulcanised (EPV) nanocomposite containing low-density polyethylene (LLDPE), styrene butadiene rubber and a type of nanoclay and a small amount of bitumen binder. An example of bitumen binder was modified with 2%, 4%, and 6% of different EPV types and the storage stability and morphology of modified binders were evaluated to select the optimum EPV type. Further rheological analyses were conducted on modified binders containing 2%, 4%, and 6% of the selected EPV. It has been found that modification of bitumen with 4% of the selected EPV resulted in increasing the stiffness and elastic properties at the range of intermediate to high in-service temperatures. The viscosity of modified binders also increased at elevated production temperatures.