International Journal of Scientific Research in Knowledge, 2(9), pp.

404-415, 2014
Available online at http://www.ijsrpub.com/ijsrk
ISSN: 2322-4541; 2014 IJSRPUB
http://dx.doi.org/10.12983/ijsrk-2014-p0404-0415


404

Full Length Research Paper

Contribution of Crumb Rubber in the Aging Process of Asphalt Concrete

Saad Issa Sarsam*, Samer Muayad Al-Sadik

Department of Civil Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Baghdad, Iraq
*Corresponding Author: Email: saadisasarsam@coeng.uobaghdad.edu.iq

Received 27 June 2014; Accepted 15 August 2014

Abstract. Implementation of sustainable solutions in the road construction industry is considered as one of the major research
topics worldwide. The impact of aging process on the properties of asphalt cement and asphalt concrete was investigated using
both of short and long-term aging. Scrap tire rubber was introduced into asphalt cement to modify its physical and rheological
properties. Two percentages of crumb rubber (8 and 16) percent by weight of asphalt cement have been tried to modify the
properties of asphalt cement, and to investigate its contribution in the aging process. Such modified asphalt was implemented
in the construction of asphalt concrete. Marshal, Resilient Modulus, and tensile properties of rubber-modified asphalt concrete
were tested and compared with different aging periods and with that of reference mix. The results show that aging for 7 hours
of asphalt cement, make the asphalt stiffer, that lead to decreased penetration by an average value of (47.24%), ductility
(49.6%) and increased softening point (10.75%) and creep stiffness (79.25%). It was concluded that 8% of crumb rubber is
able to overcome the negative impact of short and long term aging on overall asphalt cement and asphalt concrete properties,
and improves the rutting resistance at 1000 repetition by (32.4 % and 57.3%) for short and long term aging respectively.

Keywords: Asphalt concrete; Aging; Scrap tire rubber; Tensile strength; Resilient Modulus

1. INTRODUCTION

One of the worst problems that meet asphalt during its
service life is the "aging" problem, Aging causes
stiffening and the asphalt become brittle which leads
to a higher potential for fatigue and thermal cracking.
Aging of asphalt pavements typically occurs through
oxidation of the asphalt and evaporation of the lighter
maltenes from the binder. This inevitably results in
cracking in the pavement structure (Hachiya et al.,
2003). Aging of asphalt mixtures is a very complex
mechanism with reversible and mostly irreversible
changes in physicochemical and mechanical
properties. In a mechanical way, aging increases
viscosity, softening point and the complex modulus,
while it decreases penetration and phase angle. In a
physicochemical way, aging changes the chemical
composition of asphalt cement. The addition of crumb
rubber could decrease the negative impact of aging
process on overall properties of asphalt concrete
(Sarsam, 2007).
Pasquini et al. (2012) studied gap graded Asphalt
Rubber Asphalt Concrete (ARAC) for wearing course
to carefully assess durability aspects and prepare
dense graded asphalt concrete for wearing courses.
The results show an increase in the Indirect Tensile
Stiffness Modulus (ITSM) because of long-term aging
of the ARAC mixture in comparison with that of the
dense-graded reference mixture investigated in the
same test conditions. Othman (2006) performed a
comparative study on cyclic thermal aging between a
conventional and an asphalt rubber mixture. It was
stated that the asphalt rubber material exhibits
superior fracture resistance to a conventional mix. The
objective of this work is to investigate the role of
crumb rubber in the aging process of asphalt cement
and asphalt concrete. The construction of roads is one
of the most material demanding industries in the
world with great economic as well as environmental
impacts. Significant efforts are seen in terms of
recycling and reuse of pavement materials. These
efforts are strong and are beginning to be part of the
industry processes and practice (Sarsam, 2013). The
objectives of this work were to study the
implementation of sustainable solutions in the road
industry, and to verify the possibility of using scrap
tire rubber in asphalt concrete production. The
contribution of such crumb rubber (which is
considered as waste material) in the aging process of
asphalt concrete was investigated. Reusing of the
waste material such as scrap tire rubber in road
construction could be beneficial in improving the
Sarsam and Al-Sadik
Contribution of Crumb Rubber in the Aging Process of Asphalt Concrete
405
roadway materials quality, enhancing the elastic
properties of asphalt cement, and reducing the impact
of waste material on the environment.

2. MATERIALS CHARACTERISTICS

2.1. Asphalt cement

Asphalt cement was obtained from Nasiria oil
refinery; the physical properties are listed in table 1.


2.2. Aggregates

Crushed quartz Coarse and fine aggregates were
obtained from Nibai quarry; this aggregate is widely
used in local asphalt paving, their physical properties
are listed in table 2.

2.3. Mineral filler

Ordinary Portland cement from Tasluga factory was
introduced as filler; table 3 shows major physical
properties.

Table 1: Physical properties of Nasiria asphalt cement
Property Unite Test result SCRB Specifications
Penetration, 25C, 100gm, 5 sec (ASTM D-5) 0.1 mm 45 40-50
Softening point, Ring and ball (ASTM D-36) C 48.2 -------
Ductility, 25C, 5 cm/min (ASTM D-113) Cm 132 > 100
After thin film oven test (ASTM D-1754)
Retained penetration, 25C, 100gm, 5 sec % 64 > 55%
Ductility, 25C, 5 cm/min Cm 79 > 25%

Table 2: Physical properties of coarse and fine aggregates
Properties of Coarse aggregate ASTM Designation No. Value Super pave Specification
Bulk Specific Gravity C-127 -01 2.584 --------------
Percent Water Absorption C-127 -01 57% ----------------
Percent Wear (Loss Angeles Abrasion C-131-03 13.08 45 % Max
Properties of fine aggregate
Bulk Specific Gravity C-128-01 2.604 ------------
Percent Water Absorption C-128-01 1.42 % ------------
Percent Sand equivalent D-2419-02 51 % 45 % Min

Table 3: Properties of filler
Tested property Test result
% Passing Sieve No. 200 96%
Specific Gravity
Specific surface area
3.14
312.5 m2/kg

Table 4: Grain Sizes Distribution of Crumb Rubber
Sieve No. Sieve Size (mm) % passing by weight
No. 16 1.18 100
No. 30 0.6 78
No. 50 0.3 25
No. 200 0.075 0

2.4. Crumb rubber

The crumb rubber produced by mechanical shredding
at ambient temperature was obtained from tires
factory at AL-Najaf governorate. This type is recycled
from used tires. Table 4 presents its grain size
distribution.

3. TESTING PROGRAM

3.1. Preparation of Rubber Modified Asphalt
Cement

Rubber Modified asphalt is prepared using the wet
process. Asphalt cement was heated to a 150 C, and
then blended with crumb rubber of two different
percentages, (8 and 16 % by weight of asphalt
cement). It was mixed in the laboratory using special
manufactured mixer at a blending speed of 1500 rpm
and elevated temperatures (185C) for 60 minutes to
promote the chemical and physical bonding of the
components. During the blending process, the crumb
rubber swells and softens, as it reacts with the asphalt,
bubble formation was also noticed.
The asphalt cement and rubber modified asphalt
samples were tested for physical and rheological
properties such as Penetration, Softening Point,
Ductility, Bending Beam Rheometer (BBR), surface
free energy, stiffness modulus, penetration index PI,
flexural creep stiffness of binder in the range of 30
International Journal of Scientific Research in Knowledge, 2(9), pp. 404-415, 2014
406
MPa to one GPa. At -18 C. The thin-film oven test
(TFOT) has been used for subjecting asphalt cement
to age hardening process to simulate hot mix plant and
placement conditions (short-term aging). Four aging
periods of (2, 3, 5 and 7 hour) have been used to
evaluate the physical and rheological properties of
asphalt and rubber modified cement. The same
physical and rheological properties were determined
after aging. Fig.1 shows the crumb rubber sample,
while fig. 2 shows the mixer implemented.



3.2. Preparation of asphalt concrete

The aggregates were separated to different sizes by
sieving; Coarse and fine aggregates were recombined
with mineral filler to meet the specified gradation
shown in table 5. The combined aggregate was then
heated to a temperature of (160 C) and the asphalt
cement was heated to a temperature of (150 C) to
produce a kinematic viscosity of (17020) centistokes.
Then, asphalt cement was added to the heated
aggregate to achieve the desired amount, and mixed
thoroughly by hand for 2 minute until all aggregate
particles were coated with asphalt cement.

Table 5: Grain size distribution of asphalt concrete
Sieve size ( mm) 10 12.5 9.5 4.75 2.36 0.3 0.075
% finer by weight 100 95 83 59 43 13 7
SCRB 2007 Specifications 100 90-100 76-90 44-74 28-58 5-21 4-10

3.3. Short term aging

The loose asphalt concrete mix was placed in a pan,
spread to an even thickness of 30 mm. The mixture in
pan was placed in the conditioning oven for 4 hours at
a temperature of 135 C and the loose mix was
shacked every 60 minutes to maintain uniform
conditioning. After 4 h, it was removed from the
forced-draft oven. The conditioned mixture was
compacted by Marshall Hammer. This procedure was
carried out in accordance with AASHTO R30. The
same procedure was repeated by placing the loose
mixture in oven for 8 hours to verify the impact of
increasing the aging period. Such verification could
simulate the field conditions when delay in the
transportation of asphalt concrete occurs. Short-term
aging process simulates aging of HMA that occurs
during mixing, transporting, and compaction of
asphalt concrete.

3.4. Long term aging

The long-term aging process simulates aging of HMA
that occurs during the pavement service life, it was
conducted after subjecting the loose asphalt concrete
mix to 4 or 8 hours short-term aging. The loose
mixture was compacted by Marshall Hammer using
75 blows on each side of the specimens. The specimen
in mold was left to cool to room temperature for 24
hours and then it was withdrawn from mold by using
sample extractor. The prepared Marshal specimens
were conditioned into the oven for 48 or 120 hours at
a temperature of 85 C. This procedure was carried
out in accordance with AASHTO R30.
The effect of aging periods on the properties of
asphalt concrete at optimum asphalt content such as
Marshall Properties, indirect tensile strength at 25 C
and 40 C, Resilient Modulus and resistance to
permanent deformation was evaluated.


Fig. 1: Crumb rubber Fig. 2: Developed mixer







Sarsam and Al-Sadik
Contribution of Crumb Rubber in the Aging Process of Asphalt Concrete
407
4. DISCUSSION OF TEST RESULTS

4.1. Effect of rubber and Aging on physical
properties of Asphalt Cement

The penetration test was performed on both virgin and
aged asphalt cement (after Thin Film Oven Test) at
each aging time. Penetration test results at various
aging times are presented in Figure 3. In general, as
aging time increases the penetration decreases since
asphalt cement became harder. The reduction in
penetration at (3) hr. aging time is 28.9%. At (7) hr.
aging, penetration becomes 48.9%. Such result
correlates with those of (Al-Jumaily 2007). When
Crumb rubber was added to the asphalt cement in
percentage of (8 and 16% by weight of asphalt
cement), it is noticed that the penetration decreases as
rubber content and aging time increases, this agrees
well with (Mashaan et al., 2011) finding. The percent
losses in penetration at (3) hr. aging time is 21.6% for
8% crumb rubber and 18.2% for 16% rubber content.
At (7) hr. aging, the penetration decreased by 43.2%
for 8% crumb rubber and 45.5% for 16% rubber
content as compare with modified asphalt cement
before aging.
Softening point values increase with aging time as
indicated in fig.4. When Crumb rubber was added to
asphalt cement, the softening point increases as rubber
content increases, such results agree with (Mashaan et
al., 2011) and (Osman & Adam 2012) findings. The
ductility of asphalt cement without additive was (+100
mm). It can be noticed from fig.5 that the ductility
values decrease due to the increase in aging time, such
behavior may be related to oxidation and loss of
volatiles that increase when aging time increase. Such
result agrees with (Al Jumaily, 2007) finding. When
Crumb rubber was added to asphalt cement by 8%, it
was noticed that the ductility decreases. When such
percentage was duplicated, ductility was decreased but
the variation in such reduction in ductility was not
significant with aging time, such result agrees with
(Mashaan et al., 2011) findings. The 16% rubber gave
lower ductility than 8% rubber.


Fig. 3: Impact of rubber on penetration and aging Fig. 4: Impact of rubber on softening point and aging

The low temperature behavior of asphalt can be
characterized by the Bending Beam Rheometer (BBR)
test. Fig.6 shows that creep stiffness values increases
with increment of aging time. The increase in creep
stiffness refers to the fact that aging process converts
the asphalt consistency to very hard and brittle
material. After adding rubber, the creep stiffness
lower than that of virgin asphalt, this agrees with
(Sarsam and Lafta, 2014), and (Bahia & Davies,
2012) findings. After aging the modified asphalt, the
creep stiffness increased at lower rate when compared
to virgin asphalt. This reduction in creep stiffness as
compare with virgin asphalt may be related to the fact
that crumb rubber is helpful in increasing the elasticity
of asphalt binder during aging process.

International Journal of Scientific Research in Knowledge, 2(9), pp. 404-415, 2014
408

Fig. 5: Impact of rubber on ductility and aging Fig. 6: Impact of rubber on creep stiffness and aging

4.2. Effect of rubber and Aging on Rheological
Properties of Asphalt Cement

The Paving asphalts has penetration index PI value
between (-2) and (+2) which exhibits normal
susceptibility to temperature which is the rate at which
the consistency of asphalt cement changes with a
change in temperature.

Table 6: Impact of crumb rubber on rheological properties of asphalt cement
Rubber content % Aging time Penetration index Stiffness modulus (N/m
2
) Surface free energy (ergs/cm
2
)
Control
0% Rubber
0 hours - 1.88 8.0 x 10
4
26.34
2 - hours - 1.53 1.0 x 10
5
24.96
3 - hours - 1.69 1.1 x 10
5
24.22
5 - hours - 1.54 1.4 x 10
5
27.26
7 - hours - 1.78 1.7 x 10
5
23.03
8% Rubber 0 - hours - 1.71 9.0 x 10
4
22.00
2 - hours - 1.50 1.2 x 10
5
19.83
3 - hours - 1.56 1.4 x 10
5
22.26
5 - hours - 1.46 1.7 x 10
5
21.18
7 - hours - 1.59 2.1 x 10
5
22.83
16% Rubber 0 - hours - 1.32 1.2 x 10
5
20.36
2 - hours - 1.18 1.5 x 10
5
22.14
3 - hours - 1.25 1.7 x 10
5
20.33
5 - hours - 1.10 2.1 x 10
5
22.03
7 - hours - 0.98 3.0 x 10
5
17.97


Fig. 7: Impact of crumb rubber and aging on Marshal stability Fig. 8: Impact of crumb rubber and aging on Marshal flow

In addition, the negative sign of (PI) means that
asphalt cement is more susceptible to temperature
(Sarsam, 2011). The addition of rubber reduces the
temperature susceptibility of asphalt, doubling the
rubber content shows further decrease in PI values.
Aging process also shows minor reduction in PI
values as shown in table 6.
The stiffness modulus was determined using shell
nomograph at temperature of 60 C, using a single
loading time of 0.02 second, which is related to the
typical traffic speed (5060 kph); as suggested by
Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP),
(Sarsam, 2006). Table 6 shows that the stiffness
modulus of asphalt cement increases with increasing
aging time and rubber content. This increment in
Sarsam and Al-Sadik
Contribution of Crumb Rubber in the Aging Process of Asphalt Concrete
409
binder stiffness may be related to the age hardening
which releases volatile component of the asphalt
cements, resulting in mass loss and a stiffening effect.
On the other hand, the chemical reaction between
rubber molecules and asphalt will exhibit stiffing
effect.
Surface free energy of asphalt binder is related to
the work of cohesion within the binder and the work
of adhesion between binder and aggregate. The
influence of aging time and rubber content of asphalt
cement on surface free energy is illustrated in Tables
6. The surface free energy is 26.342 ergs/cm
2
. After 7
hr. of aging process, the surface free energy decreases
to 23.03 ergs/cm
2
. When adding 8 % crumb rubber,
the surface free energy decreased to 22.00 ergs/cm
2
as
compare with unmodified asphalt cement. After
duplicating the rubber content, the surface free energy
decreased to 17.97 ergs/cm
2
. It is important to realize
that surface energy measurements reflect surface
chemistry, which can differ substantially from bulk
properties. Such result agrees with (Cheng et al.
2002); (Little and Bhasin, 2006); (Wei and Zhang,
2010) and (Sarsam and Al-Azawee, 2013) findings,
that aging reduces the surface free energy of asphalt
binder significantly.

4.3. Effect of rubber and Aging on Marshall
Properties

Fig.7 shows the effect of short and long-term aging
periods on Marshall stability, and it can be observed
that the short and long term aging of asphalt mixture
have increases the Marshall Stability values. The
Marshall stability after 8 hr. short aging is higher than
that of virgin mixture by 42.2%. In addition, 8 hr.
aging shows higher stability than that of 4 hr. Such
Increment may be related to the fact that due to aging,
the viscosity increases thus leading to increase the
strength of bond between the components of asphalt
concrete .It can be observed that short-term aging of
asphalt mixture for 8 hr. has higher stability when
compared to aging of the asphalt mixture at 4 hr.
In the case of long-term aging of 5 day, the
stability increases by 61% as compare with virgin
mix. Such variations may be attributed to the loss of
asphalt binder volatiles. Such result agrees with (Al-
Jumaily, 2007) findings. When adding rubber to
asphalt mixture by 8%, it could be observed that the
stability increased by 24.35 %. After aging process, it
was found that the stability increased by 13%, 19.4%
as compared with virgin and modified asphalt mixture
respectively. After 5 day long-term aging, the
Marshall stability of modified mixture gives higher
stability than short term aging. The stability also
increases by 60% as compared with modified virgin
asphalt.
When duplicating crumb rubber percentage, the
Marshall stability is lower than that of 8% crumb
rubber initially, but still shows higher stability than
that of virgin mixture in aged and unaged processes.
At 8 hr. aging, it was found that 16% crumb rubber
shows higher stability than 8% rubber. At 8 hr. aging,
the stability is almost equivalent to that at 2 day aging.
Results indicate that the modified asphalt mix has
higher Marshall stability than the control mixtures. It
may be concluded that the modified asphalt mixture
would be less susceptible to plastic deformation as
characterized by Marshall Stability, this agrees with
(Al-Banaa, 2010) findings.
Fig.8 shows the effect of short and long term aging
periods on Marshall Flow. It can be observed that
aging reduces the Marshall Flow values, this agrees
with (Al-Jumaily 2007) findings. These reductions
may be related to the stiffer mix obtained, and the
reduction in fluidity of the binder. The addition of 8%
crumb rubber reduces the Marshall flow as compared
with virgin mixture. After increasing the rubber to
16%, the flow values increase as compared with 8%
rubber; this may be due to the decrease in adhesion
between the components of the mixture, reflecting that
rubber percentage is in excess. All the modified mixes
exhibit low flow value when compared with that of
virgin mix. Mixture with 16% crumb rubber give
lower flow than virgin mixture after the aging process,
but has more flow than 8% rubber. This indicates that
8% rubber gives less permanent deformation than
other mixture.
The effect of short and long-term aging on the bulk
Density is illustrated in Fig.9. This figure indicates
that aging process decreases the bulk density of the
mixtures. After adding rubber to mixture, the bulk
density of the control mixture is higher than that of the
modified asphalt concrete mixtures. The bulk density
decreases with increase in crumb rubber content, this
may be related to that the rubber exhibit resistance to
compaction by the addition of more flexibility to
mixture, such result agrees with (Al-Banaa 2010) and
(Sarsam and Lafta, 2014) findings. Air void in the
mixture is an important parameter because percentage
of air voids is related to durability of asphalt mixture.
Fig. 10 shows the effect of short and long-term aging
times on percent voids in total mix (VTM). It is clear
that the air void increases with increasing aging time;
modified asphalt gives high air void as compared to
virgin mixture. When the percentage of rubber is
increased, the air void increases, this agrees with (Al-
Banaa 2010) and (Sarsam, 2007) finding. It was
found that 8 hr. aging shows more air void than 2 day
long-term aging but less than that of 5 day aging. This
could be related to the fact that when loose mixture is
subjected to aging, it becomes difficult to compact as
it becomes very hard.
International Journal of Scientific Research in Knowledge, 2(9), pp. 404-415, 2014
410


Fig. 9: Impact of crumb rubber and aging on bulk density Fig. 10: Impact of crumb rubber and aging on total voids

Fig.11 indicates that the 8 hr. aging leads to
decrease the voids filled with asphalt (VFA) % by
6.14% for asphalt concrete. By increasing aging time
to 5 days the percent of (VFA) decreases to 9.33%
when compared with virgin mix. The 8 hr. aging has
lower VFA than 2 day aging. This decrease in (VFA)
% with increased aging may be related to the
increment in viscosity of asphalt which restricts the
rolling of aggregate particle under compaction, at the
same time aging leads to decrease the asphalt volume
by evaporation of volatiles material.
When 8% crumb rubber is added, the percent of
(VFA) decreases by 1.2% when compared with virgin
mix. After the 8 hr. aging, the (VFA) % decreases by
10.2% as compared with control modified mixes.
When the modified mixture is aged to 5 day, the
(VFA) % decreases to 14.8% as compared with
control modified mixes. This reduction may be
attributed to the increase in air voids and viscosity.
When duplicating the rubber content, it was found that
(VFA) % decrease and has the same trend of 8%
rubber content.


Fig. 11: Impact of crumb rubber and aging on VFA Fig. 12: Part of the prepared marshal specimens

4.4. Effect of rubber and Aging on Indirect Tensile
Strength Test

The indirect tensile (ITS) strength test is related to the
cracking properties of the pavement. In order to
evaluate the mixture resistance to variation in
temperatures, different testing temperatures are used
(25, 40 C). The (ITS) at 25 C has been tested for
virgin and modified asphalt concrete. Fig. 12 shows
part of the prepared specimens for ITS test. The effect
of aging times on (ITS) at 25 C is illustrated in
fig.13. Results indicate that (ITS) at control-virgin,
condition is 1307 KPa. After 8hr aging, the (ITS)
increased to 29.7% as compared with the control mix
value. At 5 day aging the (ITS) increased to 54.85%.
When adding rubber by 8%, the ITS value was
increased by 19.9% as compared with control
modified mix. When the mixture was subjected to 8
hr. aging, the ITS value exceeds the control modified
mixture by 32%. After 5 days, aging the increment
was 56.25% as compared with control- modified mix.
When the rubber content was duplicated the (ITS) has
the same trend of 8%.

Sarsam and Al-Sadik
Contribution of Crumb Rubber in the Aging Process of Asphalt Concrete
411

Fig. 13: Impact of crumb rubber and aging on ITS at 25C Fig. 14: Impact of crumb rubber and aging on ITS at 40C

The value of ITS when tested at 40 C for control
virgin condition as shown in fig.14 was 557 KPa.
After 8 hr. aging, the (ITS) increased to 48.4% as
compared with the control mix value. At 5 day aging
the (ITS) increased to 54.7%. When the mixture
experiences 8 hr. aging, the (ITS) value rises by
31.8% more than the control modified mixture value.
After 5 day long aging the increment was 67.2% as
compared with control-modified mix.
When the rubber content was duplicated, the (ITS)
increased by 42.5% and 9.5% as compared with
virgin mix and mix with 8% rubber content by
respectively. After 8 hr. aging, mix with 16% rubber
shows higher (ITS) than that of 8% by (12.7%). The 5
day aging still shows higher (ITS) than control
modified mixture.

4.5. Effect of rubber and Aging on Resilient
Modulus Test

Resilient modulus Mr represents the ratio of an
applied stress to the recoverable strain that takes place
after the applied stress has been removed. The aging
processing seems to provide more stiffness, which
possibly indicates a greater resistance to permanent
deformation. This leads to higher resilient modulus.
Resilient modulus of the modified mixes is
significantly higher than the values obtained for
control mixture. Table 7 shows that the resilient
modulus increases with the increasing of aging period.
This may be related to increase in stiffness. Such
result is compatible with (Sarsam and Al-Sadik, 2014)
and (Sarsam and AL-Zubaidi, 2014) findings. When
crumb rubber is added to the mixture, the Mr value
was higher than that of virgin mixture .This is related
to the fact that rubber content gives more stiffness to
mixture. After the aging process, the Mr of modified
mixture continues to increase with aging period.
Higher resilient modulus results will generate great
rutting resistance development in the asphalt
pavements as cited by (Abdelaziz and Karim, 2003).

4.6. Effect of rubber and Aging on Resistance to
Permanent Deformation

Permanent Deformation was measured using the
dynamic indirect tensile test; the pneumatic repeated
load system shown in fig.15 was implemented. The
permanent vertical plastic strain is measured at
temperature of 40 C and a stress level of 0.138 MPa.
The intercept (a) represents the permanent strain at
N=1, where N is the number of the load cycles. The
higher value of intercept, the larger strain and hence
the larger the potential for permanent deformation as
mentioned in the study carried out by (Dreessen et al,
2010). While slope (b) represents the rate of change in
the permanent strain as a function of the change in
loading cycles (N) in the log-log scale, high slope
values for a mix indicate an increase in the material
deformation rate hence less resistance against rutting.
A mix with a low slope value is preferable as it
prevents the occurrence of the rutting distress
mechanism at a slower rate. The results of permanent
deformation tests are shown in fig.16. on the other
hand, the effect of crumb rubber on permanent
microstrain is presented in fig.17. The analysis of
permanent deformation in this study is based on
intercept, slope parameters and permanent
deformation at 1,000 load cycles. The values of
permanent deformation (microstrain) for each asphalt
mixture are presented in Table 7. The 8 hr. short term
aging process decreases the permanent deformation by
35.2% for asphalt cement mix as compared with
control mix. When aging the mixture for 5 day the
permanent deformation decreased by 59.3% for
asphalt cement as compared with control mix. Such
results indicate that the aging process makes the
mixture stiffer, which leads to reduction in the
pavement deformation. When 8% crumb rubber was
added, the permanent deformation decreased by 21 %
with respect to control mix. This means that the
modified asphalt concrete has lower permanent
deformation when compared to control mixture.


International Journal of Scientific Research in Knowledge, 2(9), pp. 404-415, 2014
412
Table 7: Impact of crumb rubber and aging time on physical properties of asphalt concrete
Rubber content % Aging time Permanent microstrain
@ 1000 load cycles
= a N
b

Resilient modulus
(MPa)
Intercept (a) Slope (b)
Control
0% Rubber
0 hours 6545 261.57 0.466 2144
4 - hours 5615 240.6 0.456 2208
8 - hours 4243 208.7 0.436 2253
2 - days 3357 174.7 0.427 2300
5 - days 2666 156.0 0.410 2481
8% Rubber 0 - hours 5170 239.8 0.444 2324
4 - hours 4405 206.6 0.442 2400
8 - hours 3079 178.9 0.411 2481
2 - days 2566 160.0 0.401 2453
5 - days 1970 128.3 0.395 2831
16% Rubber 0 - hours 5402 244.3 0.448 2253
4 - hours 4696 215.8 0.445 2453
8 - hours 3306 177.3 0.423 2453
2 - days 2894 164.0 0.415 2598
5 - days 2537 149.3 0.410 2693

When aging the modified mixture to 8 hr., the
permanent deformation was decreased by 40.4% as
compared with control-modified mix. After the
mixture was subjected to 5 day of long-term aging, the
permanent deformation decreased by 61.9 % as
compared with control-modified mix. When
duplicating the rubber content, the mixture shows
lower deformation than that of control mixes. On the
other hand, it shows higher deformation than that
when 8% rubber was introduced. This behavior is also
indicating that 16% rubber is an excess amount, and
8% rubber is sufficient for modification of asphalt
concrete from permanent deformation point of view.
The intercept values shown in table 7 decreases as
the aging time increases, this means that the aging
exhibit lower microstrain at initial load cycles .When
rubber is added the intercept value decreases as
compared with control mix, this indicates that
modified asphalt reduces the potential of permanent
deformation.
The slope values are shown in Table 7. The
control-mix slope value is higher than that of mix with
8 hr. aging by 7.3% and higher than 5 day aging by
11.1%. When crumb rubber was added by 8%, the
slope value was decreased by 4.6% for asphalt with
respect to control mixture. After 8 hr. aging, the slope
value was lower than that of modified mixture by
7.3%, and 5 days long term aging lower slope value
by 11% as compared with the control modified
mixture .This indicates that the aging process
decreases the slope for modified and control mix. The
same trends was shown after duplicating the rubber
content but have slope value higher than that of the
mix with 8% rubber and lower than virgin mix. It was
noted that the difference in the slope between 8 hr.
and 2 days aging periods is not significant. Addition
of 8% crumb rubber to asphalt cement has change the
physical and rheological properties of asphalt cement;
it effectively decreases the penetration, ductility and
creep stiffness values. It also improves mixture
properties by increasing Marshall Stability, indirect
tensile strength at 25 and 40 C, and resilient
modulus. The addition of rubber is able to overcome
the negative impact of short and long-term aging on
asphalt cement and asphalt concrete.


Fig. 15: Pneumatic repeated load system Fig. 16: Effect of aging on permanent deformation for virgin mix

Sarsam and Al-Sadik
Contribution of Crumb Rubber in the Aging Process of Asphalt Concrete
413

Fig. 17: Effect of rubber content and aging on permanent deformation

5. CONCLUSIONS

1- Short-term aging for 7 hours of asphalt cement
make the asphalt stiffer, that lead to decreased
penetration by (47.2%), ductility (49.6%) and
increased softening point (10.7%) and creep stiffness
(79.2%).
2- Aging of asphalt concrete increases Marshall
Stability by (49.6% and 66%), VTM (26% and
37.5%), indirect tensile strength at 25 C (31.5% and
51.6%), indirect tensile strength at 40 C (42.1% and
74.8%) and the resilient modulus (7.6% and 18.6%)
for short and long-term aging respectively.
3- The resistance of aged mixtures against
permanent deformation was increased by (33.4% and
54.4%) at 1000 repetition for short and long term
aging respectively.
4- Addition of 8% crumb rubber to asphalt cement
has change the physical and rheological properties of
asphalt cement, it effectively decreases the
penetration, ductility and creep stiffness values by
(21.6%, 62.9%, 15.6%), and leads to increased
softening point by (4.7%).
5- The addition of (8%) crumb rubber improves
mixture properties by increasing Marshall stability,
indirect tensile strength at 25 and 40 C, resilient
modulus by(24.35 % ,19.9% , 30.34%, and 8.42 %)
respectively as compared with control virgin mixture.
6- The permanent deformation under repeated load
test exhibits low plastic deformation for modified
mixture with 8% rubber by 21% when compared to
control asphalt mixtures, while Aging modified
asphalt mixture to 8 hr. reduces the permanent
deformation decreased by 40.4% as compared with
control modified mixture.
7- The 5 day long term aging of modified mixtures
causes, the Marshall Stability, indirect tensile strength
at 25 and 40 C and resilient modulus to be increased
by (60%, 56.25%, 67.2% and 21.8%) respectively as
compared with control-modified mixture. The
permanent deformation decreased by 61.9%, as
compared with control modified mixture. 8% crumb
rubber is able to overcome the negative impact of
short and long term aging on asphalt cement and
asphalt concrete.

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Prof. Saad Issa Sarsam was born in Baghdad (1955), got his BSc. In Civil Engineering (1977), Post
graduate diploma in Transportation Engineering (1978); MSc in Transportation Engineering (1980).
He worked as senior material Engineer for NCCL (1982-1992); He joined the academic staff at
University of Mosul (1992-2005) and got the Assistant Professor degree at (2002); He joined the
academic staff at University of Baghdad (2005 until now) and got the Professor degree at (2007).
Areas of specialization and interest: (Roller compacted concrete; modified asphalt concrete; Asphalt
stabilized embankment models; Road user characteristics).







Samer Muayad Al_Sadik was born in Baghdad (1989), got his BSc. in civil Engineering (2011),
MSc in Civil Engineering- Transportation (2013).
He worked for the National Center for Construction Laboratories and Research NCCLR as senior
material Engineer; currently he is working as site Engineer for KAR-PET Company (Turkish
Company) in the project of Baghdad Flower Residential Complex.