Abstract
Long-term aging of recycled asphalt binders was studied through Superpave binder performance grade (PG) tests with extended aging time. Rejuvenation is an important component of asphalt recycling. Effectiveness of recycling agents (rejuvenators) is often evaluated by softening curves established based on viscosity and penetration tests. A shortcoming of these criteria is that they do not take long-term performance into account. This study aims at looking beyond initial performance and evaluating long-term aging of recycled binders. The aging rates of virgin and recycled asphalt, measured by PG tests, were compared. Virgin binder was aged using Pressure Aging Vessel (PAV). Aged binder was rejuvenated by mixing with four different rejuvenators and then was aged again. The PAV aging time it took each sample to reach the failure point was considered as a measure of binder longevity. Results showed significant difference in long-term aging of samples recycled with different recycling agents. While some samples aged significantly slower than the original binder, others aged faster. Analysis of aging rate of binders showed that selecting a proper recycling agent can extend the service life up to 10 years. Results from this study can be implemented to develop performance specifications for recycling agents in order to take long-term aging into account.
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