Moisture susceptibility evaluation of RAP based foamed bituminous mix

Abstract

The existing sources of fresh aggregates are depleting due to the boom in large infrastructure projects. Therefore, this demand necessitates the pursuit of substitute materials and technologies. Foamed bituminous mix (FBM) prepared using reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) is one of the alternative solutions that will not only reduce the demand for fresh aggregates but may also minimize the carbon emission during the production of the mix as FBM is a cold mix technique. Therefore, in the present study, an attempt has been made to develop the cold bituminous mix using RAP and foamed bitumen. In this regard, the mix is prepared using fresh and by varying RAP content from 70% to 100%. The influence of RAP on the tensile strength ratio of the foamed bituminous mix is evaluated. Further, resistance against the moisture damage is also determined by assessing the variation in the resilient modulus of the specimen subjected to soaking conditioning. Test results describe that FBM prepared using RAP material exhibits better resilient modulus and less moisture susceptible than the mix prepared using 100% fresh aggregates. Based on the limited laboratory studies it can be concluded that RAP material considerably improves the resistance of the FBM against the moisture damage as compare to fresh aggregates.