LAUSR

Abstract In this study, the chemical and middle and low temperature functional analysis of bitumen modified by waste polybutadiene rubber (PBR) polymer is conducted. The results suggest that the addition of waste PBR polymer to the pure bitumen increases its resistance to fatigue, low temperature cracking, aging and oxidation. The results of this study demonstrate that waste PBR polymer has storage stability. When PBR polymer is added to the pure bitumen by at least 1%, its low temperature performance improves from −22 °C to −28 °C. The results of FTIR and XRD show that there is good agreement between the results of these techniques and other results of middle and low temperature functional analysis, which can help assess the results accurately at macromolecular level. This study is an innovative research because it analyzes the middle and low temperature performance of waste PBR polymer in the bitumen modification along with chemical analysis using FTIR and XRD methods for the first time in the world.