RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN BITUMINOUS BINDER RHEOLOGICAL PROPERTIES AND WHEEL TRACKING RUTTING RESISTANCE OF ASPHALT MIXTURES

In this paper the influence of the bituminous binders on the resistance to the plastic deformation of the asphalt mixtures is analysed. An exhaustive study was carried out using fourteen binders (eleven conventional and three modified) and their rheological properties were determined and compared. The plastic deformation of two different mixture designs manufactured with these binders, with the same aggregates and different binder contents, was measured by means of the laboratory wheel-tracking test. The test results were then compared with binder rheological properties (G*, delta, dynamic viscosity...) showing that binder type can significantly influence the rutting behaviour of bituminous mixtures. A good linear relationship has been observed between the inverse of the different values from rheological tests (G*, G*/sin delta and dynamic viscosity at 60 degrees C), and the results from the wheel-tracking tests of the mixtures on conventional and modified binders. For the covering abstract see ITRD E121480.