Rheological behavior of recycled polyethylene modified bitumens

Abstract

© 2019, © 2019 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. Polymer modified bitumens were obtained by the introduction of recycled polyethylene into bitumens of different grades and studied by viscometry, oscillatory shear test and optical microscopy. It was shown that when recycled polyethylene was added into bitumen, the plasticity interval of bitumen increased and rheological behavior changed. The rheological behavior of polymer modified bitumen depended on the viscosity of neat bitumen and polymer concentration. The critical concentration of recycled polyethylene, at which the formation of co-continuous structure in polymer modified bitumen occurred, was revealed. Based on the rheological behavior and structure of polymer modified bitumens the conclusion was made that the field of application of polymer modified bitumens would depend on the polymer concentration.