Recovery of the bitumen and asphalt concrete properties with rejuvenator

Abstract

The main factor in the decreasing in the quality of asphalt concrete with time is thehardening of the bituminous binder, which occurs under the influence of high environmentaltemperatures, moisture and oxygen. Considering this, one of the ways to extend the service life ofasphalt pavements isto implement procedures to prevent deterioration of the properties of bituminousbinders, which occurs due to its hardening. To solve the problem of hardening, the use of variousrejuvenators becomes widespread in road maintenance around the world. The aim of the researchwork is to analyze the effect of the domestic rejuvenator Lux «ЕD-L» on the properties of roadbitumen and asphalt concrete made with this binder. The effect of the rejuvenator on the propertiesof bitumen is evaluated in three ways: finding the influence of Lux «ЕD-L» on the properties of theoriginal bitumen; finding the ability to restore the properties of RTFOT-hardened bitumen by addingan additive to the hardened binder; finding the effect on the intensity of hardening by hardening ofbitumen, which includes the Lux «ЕD-L» additive in its composition. In addition, according to thisscheme, it is evaluating the effect of the rejuvenator on asphalt concrete mixtures, which areconditioned according to the method of AASHTO R 30-02. Based on the obtained experimental data,it is found that the modification of the RTFOT-hardened bitumen with Lux «ЕD-L» additive improvesbinder’s properties, which results in the returning of the values of standard quality indicators(penetration, softening point and breaking point temperatures) to the initial level of values quality ofbitumen before hardening. Lux «ЕD-L» additive significantly improves the adhesion properties ofbitumen (both original and aged). Evaluation of the impact of the rejuvenator on the properties ofasphalt mixtures after conditioning confirmed its effectiveness. The properties of asphalt concrete made from mixtures after conditioning, which were treated with the Lux «ЕD-L» additive, accordingto obtained quality indicators is equal to the asphalt concrete with the original bitumen. A field testof the effect of the Lux «ЕD-L» additive on the properties of the asphalt pavement is in process. Theresults of field test will be obtained after 3 and 9 months of operation of the treated road section.