Linear viscoelastic properties of high reclaimed asphalt content mixes with biobinders

Abstract

The use of high Reclaimed Asphalt (RA) content mixtures together with binders produced from renewable resources (biobinders) is one of the current challenges in pavement engineering research. On the one hand, RA has been used for decades, but there are still some concerns about its performance, especially when high contents are used (>30%). On the other hand, biobinders are relatively new materials, which have to be deeply characterised and studied in order to develop good practices for their use. In this paper, linear viscoelastic properties of biobinders and bio-mixtures manufactured with high RA content and biobinders are analysed and discussed. High-modulus mixtures with 50% RA were selected for the mix design. Binders and mixtures were tested over a wide range of asphalt service temperatures and frequencies by means of Dynamic Shear Rheometer and two-point bending tests, respectively. Results show that biobinders have an important effect on mixtures behaviour. However, no direct links between their linear viscoelastic properties were found. Bio-asphalt mixtures still need further development for commercial exploitation; however, the take-away fact of this investigation is that it is possible to manufacture asphalt-like mixtures with acceptable viscoelastic properties while being composed only of RA and non-petroleum-based binders.