Are we correctly measuring the rotational viscosity of heterogeneous bituminous binders?
Modified bituminous binders allow asphalt technologists to design asphalt mixtures with superior performance. However, several recent studies highlighted that due to the complexity of these material, their characterisation can be challenging since common procedures used to characterise neat bitumen might not be adequate. For instance, during high temperature rotational viscosity testing of recycled tyre rubber modified binders (RTR-MB), a number of changes may occur to the sample leading to the here-defined sample stability which in turn provides misleading results. In this study the authors want to first provide a deeper understanding of this phenomenon by a numerical analysis using a besp…
Improving the rheometry of rubberized bitumen: experimental and computation fluid dynamics studies
Abstract Multi-phase materials are common in several fields of engineering and rheological measurements are intensively adopted for their development and quality control. Unfortunately, due to the complexity of these materials, accurate measurements can be challenging. This is the case of bitumen-rubber blends used in civil engineering as binders for several applications such as asphalt concrete for road pavements but recently also for roofing membranes. These materials can be considered as heterogeneous blends of fluid and particles with different densities. Due to this nature the two components tends to separate and this phenomenon can be enhanced with inappropriate design and mixing. Thi…