A Study on Aging Characteristics of Asphalt Binders Modified with Waste EPDM Rubber and Tire Pyrolysis Oil

Abstract

Composite modification of an asphalt binder forms an interesting approach to enhance the properties over diverse performance regimes. Aging of asphalt binders during the production, construction, and service life of the asphalt mixtures in pavement increases its stiffness and may have a negative impact on their resistance toward fatigue and low-temperature cracking, thus generating the need to evaluate the aging behavior of a composite-modified asphalt binder. This study analyzed the aging characteristics of individual and composite asphalt binders produced with waste ethylene-propylene-diene-monomer (EPDM) rubber, derived from manufacturing units dealing with nontire automotive rubber products, and the tire pyrolysis oil (TPO) derived from the pyrolysis of scrap tires. Three different pathways were used to formulate composite-modified binders, namely, without pretreatment and with pretreatment through heat and microwave irradiation. The study focused on the evaluation of physical, rheological, chemical, and microstructural characteristics of the composite-modified binders produced in different manners after being subjected to both short-term and long-term aging. Results showed that the effect of aging was adverse on the base binder and the binder prepared with TPO alone. In contrast, the addition of EPDM rubber alone improved the binder’s aging resistance. The composite-modified binder through the pretreatment yielded significantly improved performance against aging; thus, composite modification with pretreatment can be a useful approach to yield aging-resistant binders prepared by EPDM and TPO.