EXPERIMENTAL STUDY ON THE APPLICATION OF POLYMER MODIFIED BITUMEN IN THE FLEXIBLE PAVEMENT

The road transport facilities play a vital role in deciding a countries economy status. Developing countries like India mainly depends upon their road networks for transportation. To provide a road network which can perform for a longer period is the need of the hour. The main failure of a pavement is due to its permanent deformation, which is a result of the poor performance of the bitumen used as a binder. The Development of polymer modified bitumen composites gaining momentum due to its vast application in the field of flexible pavements, since it can produce pavements with longer life. A series of polymer modified bitumen samples were prepared using different varieties of polymer like PVP and PVA in different percentages of polymers starting from 3% to 7% and for WP its in the range of 1% to 5%. These polymer modified bitumen was characterized for its physical properties using some advanced analytical tools. properties of the binder. The polymer modified bitumen was also subjected to study its mix characteristics. The tests result concludes that there is a notable improvement in the properties of the bitumen when it is modified with polymers. A detailed discussion of the results obtained were also done in this project work. The study also concludes that the research on polymer modified bitumen paves a newer way in the area of flexible pavement construction.