Laboratory Evaluation of HMA Containing RAP and PMB

Abstract

Sustainable pavement designs call for energy-efficient and durable materials that lead to long-lasting, safe and economical highways. This paper presents the results of the laboratory study on rutting susceptibility of the Hot-Mix Asphalt (HMA) mixes used in the North East region of the US. A total of 40 different HMA combinations were included in this study. The HMA mixes were prepared with five different Polymer Modified Binders (PMB): 70-28, 76-22, 64-28, 64-28PPA, and 58-34. These binders were combined with four Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement (RAP) sources in two different ways. In the control mixes, the RAP was first burned to remove the RAP binder and only the RAP aggregate was added to the base batch of a virgin binder and aggregate. In the second set of mixes, the RAP was added at 10 percent of the total mix weight. The RAP sources differed in the mineralogical origin of their aggregates. Each of the four RAPs consisted primarily of one of the following minerals: granite, basalt, schist, and limestone. All 40 mixes were compacted according to the mix design with 12.5 mm Nominal Maximum Aggregate Size (NMAS) using the one virgin aggregate source. In order to evaluate rutting susceptibility, mixes were tested in the Asphalt Pavement Analyzer (APA) at the high PG grade temperature of the corresponding binder with the rate of 60 cycles per minute. This paper outlines the methodology, presents experimental data and includes statistical analysis of the APA results.