Asphalt Binder for Recycled Asphalt Mixtures

Abstract

The present chapter provides a synthesis of the research activity of RILEM TC 264-RAP Task Group 3 (Asphalt Binder for Recycled Asphalt Mixtures). The binder component, virgin and recovered from reclaimed asphalt, as well as their combination and interaction with recycling additives commonly known as rejuvenators, were addressed. This chapter is divided into seven sections. First, an abstract is provided. Then, a brief introduction (Sect. 2) incorporating details on the terminology is followed by a literature review in Sect. 3, specifically centred on using asphalt recycling agents in pavement recycling. Section 4 presents the objective and the research approach selected for the experimental activity. This focuses on studying the ageing behaviour of binder blends incorporating reclaimed asphalt binder and an asphalt recycling agent through a combination of conventional, rheological, and chemical test methods. Section 5 is dedicated to describing the experimental method used during the interlaboratory testing campaign. Section 6 reports the experimental work results and the performed analysis with a qualitative and quantitative discussion of the outcomes. The conclusions of the research effort are finally summarized in Sect. 7. Overall, the experimental activity and the analysis performed to support the idea of the research approach proposed by Task Group 3 is sufficiently robust to evaluate the ageing behaviour of the binder blends consisting of asphalt recycling agent, reclaimed asphalt binder and virgin binder. This is confirmed by the ageing trends observed in the different blends compared to the reference virgin binder based on conventional, rheological and chemical characterization.