Experimental study demonstrates a method to quantify effective reclaimed asphalt binder, indicating improved design accuracy for recycled pavement mixes.
Key Points
To develop and evaluate an experimental method for determining the reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) binder availability factor (BAF) to optimize virgin binder content in recycled asphalt mixtures.
Asphalt mixes were formulated and conditioned to permit the mechanical separation of RAP material from virgin aggregate.
The method measured the BAF across multiple RAP sources to analyze correlations with high-temperature performance grade (PG).
Key variables affecting BAF—including mixing temperature, conditioning time, rejuvenator addition, and recycling agent incorporation methods—were experimentally evaluated.
A correlation was successfully established between the high-temperature performance grade of the RAP source and its binder availability factor.
Evaluations confirmed that mixing temperature, conditioning period, and rejuvenator application methods directly influenced the availability of RAP binder released to blend with virgin binder.