Comparative Study of Various Properties of Clear Binder with Traditional Black Binder

In the last few years, clear binder has been used in the pavement industry and the construction of pavements with clear or colored asphalt plays an important role to fulfill the functional, esthetical, and environmental aspects. This study proposes clear binder as an alternate binder for the replacement of traditional black bitumen and looked into the suitability of clear binder for road pavements. Conventional asphalt binder tests, frequency sweep test, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis, thermal analysis by dynamic scanning calorimeter (DSC) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), rolling bottle test (RBT), and bitumen bond strength (BBS) tests were conducted for comparative study of properties of clear binder and traditional black binder. Clear binder showed an increased propensity to complex shear modulus and rutting resistance at higher temperatures than traditional black bitumen. FTIR spectra of binders showed new peaks in the clear binder in the wave range of 400 cm(-1-1000) cm(-1) and increase in intensities of peaks was also observed. Thermal analysis of binders by TGA and DSC revealed that clear binder showed high thermal stability up to initial decomposition temperature as compared to traditional binder but lost maximum mass at final decomposition temperature. Results of the BBS test and RBT demonstrated high bonding properties of clear binder than traditional black bitumen in dry as well as in wet conditioning. Overall, this study revealed that clear binder showed promising results and thus, can potentially be used in road paving.

Automated summary

The study investigates the suitability of clear binder for road pavements and compares its properties with traditional black binder. It was found that clear binder exhibited higher thermal stability, enhanced rutting resistance at high temperatures, and stronger bonding properties compared to traditional black bitumen. The Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analysis also revealed new peaks and increased peak intensities in the clear binder.