Effects of bio-oil on performance characteristics of base and recycled asphalt pavement binders

Abstract

The present study evaluates the effects of using bio-oil derived from waste wood biomass on physical properties, aging, fatigue and rutting performance of base binder. A base binder (Viscosity Grade VG30) was blended with 2%, 4%, 6%, 8% and 10% of bio-oil by total weight of the binder. Along with physical properties tests (penetration, softening point and viscosity), rutting and fatigue performance of the bio-oil modified binder was evaluated using multiple stress creep recovery (MSCR), and linear amplitude sweep (LAS), tests, respectively. Furthermore, the aging index was determined to observe the oxidation characteristics of bio-oil modified asphalt binder. The results showed that the blending of bio-oil increased the penetration and decreased the softening point and viscosity of the base binder. Based on Indian Standard 73:2013 specification, it was observed that blending of 2% and 4% bio-oil satisfies VG20 and VG10 binder properties, respectively. Increased percent of bio-oil modified binder showed high aging susceptibility. Addition of bio-oil decreased rutting performance, while it improved the fatigue and thermal cracking resistance. Bio-oil as a rejuvenator was explored by blending it with RAP binder. It was found that addition of bio-oil reduces viscosity and high PG of recycled asphalt pavement (RAP) binder, thus showed the potentiality to use as softener for aged binder.