Evaluation of the state of practice asphalt binder and mixture tests for assessing the compatibility of complex asphalt materials

Abstract

The present study aims to evaluate binder and mixture testing methods for capturing the compatibility of complex asphalt materials consisting of different virgin binder sources, reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) materials and recycling agents (RA). Binder evaluation methods include the saturate, aromatic, resin and asphaltene (SARA) fractionation, advanced polymer chromatography (APC) analysis, differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) and rheological measurements. Mixture performance tests include the complex modulus (E*), direct tension cyclic fatigue (DTCF), disk-shaped compact tension (DCT) and semi-circular bending (SCB) fracture tests. The results from the testing and analysis indicate that the rheological characterisation of asphalt binder or mixture may not capture the incompatibility between virgin binder, RAP and RA. Binder DSC analysis as well as mixture fracture tests have shown promise to evaluate the compatibility of complex asphalt materials with different virgin binders, RAP and RA, as well as the effect of incompatibility on mixture performance.