Laboratory Evaluation of Ground Tire Rubber in Stone Mastic Asphalt

Abstract

Stone mastic asphalt (SMA) is a gap-graded mix whereby stiffer asphalt cement is required to bind the stone matrix or arrangement of stones together. Although various asphalt additives are traditionally available, the use of rubber crumbs in SMA is still a new rresearch endeavor. Many countries around the world are facing serious problems on what to do with reject or discarded tires. In the present study, commercial truck tires, containing 70% natural rubber, were ground and pre-blended in 80-100 penetration asphalt for use in SMA mixtures. An assessment was made of the laboratory performance of rubberized SMA in terms of stability, resilent modulus, dynamic creep and tensile strength ratio. It was observed that the performance of SMA with ground tire rubber was for superior as compared to SMA mix with unmodified asphalt. Sulfur and Styrene Butadeline Rubber (SBR) were used in rubberized SMA mixes as additives to test the sensitivity of SMA mixtures. As standard practice a 0.3% newly developed cellulose oil palm fiber was used in SMA to minimize the asphalt drain-down effects.