Rheological and mechanistic characteristics of Bone Glue modified asphalt binders

• Mixing and compaction temperatures were only slightly increased for Bone Glue modified asphalts.
• G∗/Sin δ and creep compliance of Bone Glue modified asphalt binder were significantly increased.
• Shear fatigue results exhibited substantial increase in fatigue life of Bone Glue modified asphalts.

Polymer modified asphalts are being used frequently in almost every part of the world, especially in developed countries. Higher initial cost of polymer modified asphalts in terms of material, energy, processing, and construction, limits its use in developing countries and in parts of developed countries. A viable and more adaptive option will be a cheaper modifier, bearing low cost of modification and exhibiting improvement in mechanistic and performance characteristics of asphalt binder. This study provides a viable option in terms of Bone Glue modified asphalt binders. Two types of asphalts were modified with varying amount of Bone Glue. Rheological and mechanistic characteristics of neat, control and Bone Glue modified were determined and analyzed. The viscosity results showed that the mixing and compaction temperatures were not significantly changed as compared to the neat one. On the other hand, complex shear modulus, shear fatigue, and creep compliance of the modified binders showed significant improvements relative to the neat and control asphalts. This implies that the Bone Glue modification will not only reduce the initial cost, but will also improve the long-term performance characteristics of pavement.