Experimental analysis of the influence of crumb rubber addition on the short-term aging of Syrian asphalt

The use of rubber pavement technology, also known as ecological pavement, offers a solution to a problem of worldwide dimensions. The rubber-modified asphalt becomes an excellent alternative compared to conventional asphalt. A series of laboratory tests was conducted to evaluate the effect of tire rubber addition on the performance of asphalt and asphalt concrete produced in Syria. The paper is composed of three parts: the first part includes a literature review on asphalt aging and the use of modified rubber asphalt in pavement road applications. The second part emphasizes rheological properties of two types of Syrian asphalt hard and soft and analyzes the influence of short-term aging on each type of asphalt. The last part presents a comparison of properties obtained for both cases of nonmodified asphalt and crumb rubber-modified asphalt that have been subjected to short-term aging. Results show an improvement of the resistance to short-term aging for the crumb rubber-modified asphalt. It also demonstrates that adding tire rubber to asphalt improves the performance of asphalt concrete by increasing its stability and reducing permanent deformations.