Introduction
Nowadays a very large majority of the roads are constructed using a mixture of bitumen (5 wt. %) and mineral aggregates. Notwithstanding this low bitumen content, the performance of the road pavement is determined by the properties of the bitumen, as bitumen is the continuous phase and the only deformable component. On the other hand, from a technological point of view, the continuously increasing traffic load on road pavements has resulted in tightening of binder specifications in order to obtain higher mechanical stability of asphalt roads. However, the limit of increasing pavement performance with conventional pure bitumen seems to have been reached.

To achieve this improvement, it is necessary the addition of natural or synthetic polymers to the bitumen. The aim of this project is to obtain modified bitumens, using several synthetic polymers, like polyolefins or rubbers. The optimisation of composition and processing conditions will be carried out by taking into account the stability and rheological properties of bitumens for road paving under extreme conditions, which should be processed with conventional or slightly modified machinery.

Keywords.
EPDM/PE blends; Polyolefin modified bitumens; Bitumen rheology; Polymer/bitumen blends

A copy of this brochure is available by requesting RF-190902-ES-01