An Experimental Study to Develop Bituminous Based Crack Sealant Using Rheological Data

Abstract

Abstract-Pavement maintenance in hot climatic areas requires a significant annual budget to keep it at a desired serviceability level. Filling of cracks during the pavement maintenance with an appropriate hot-poured crack sealant can save money. However, this cost can further be reduced by utilizing the local modifiers in a relatively higher penetration grade bitumen. This study presents optimizing the percentage rice husk as modifier in 80/100 penetration grade bitumen. A comparison of rheological properties among different crack sealants and bitumen modified with different percentages of modifier has been reported. Intermediate and high temperature performance characteristics of different crack sealants have been compared using stiffness parameters. Temperature and frequency sweep tests were run at different temperatures and frequency levels using a dynamic shear rheometer. The results showed a significant relationship of shear modulus (G*) with percentage addition of modifier and test temperatures. The developed sealant showed elastic behavior at lower temperatures and at higher percentage of modifier. The study recommends utilizing an effective and economical material, which is based on a soft bitumen and 9% rice husk.