PHYSICAL AND RHEOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF LIQUID NATURAL-RUBBER MODIFIED BITUMEN

Polymer modification of commercially available bitumen has been attemp ted by the incorporation of liquid natural rubber (LNR) of medium visc osity. Both soft and blown bitumens have been studied. Physical and rh eological characteristics of the samples were investigated. Improvemen t in physical properties such as shear strength and ductility in the c ase of blown bitumen and resistance to flow in the case of soft bitume n were observed. It was also found that as a result of addition of LNR , the activation energy of flow increases in the case of soft bitumen and decreases in blown bitumen. (C) 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.