Materials and Structures

DOI 10.1617/s11527-014-0332-5

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Evaluation of different recycling agents for restoring aged

asphalt binder and performance of 100 % recycled asphalt
Martins Zaumanis • Rajib B. Mallick •

Robert Frank

Received: 28 November 2013 / Accepted: 14 May 2014

Ó RILEM 2014

Abstract Because of aged binder, high reclaimed by linear amplitude sweep and fracture work density
asphalt pavement (RAP) content mixes are susceptible respectively. Overall, the organic products outper-
to cracking failures and are less workable than virgin formed the petroleum based additives in most tests,
mixtures. The potential of six differently originated which partly can be attributed to un-optimized recy-
recycling agents was evaluated in this study to restore cling agent dose. It was observed that penetration test
the desired binder properties using conventional binder may be a good indicator for initial selection of
test methods and the results were compared with optimum dose since the results provide indication of
performance-related test results of 100 % RAP mix- rut resistance as well as fatigue performance of mixture
ture. Binder test results showed that application of and can be easily predicted using an exponential
organic products require much lower dose to provide relationship that was developed in the research.
the same softening effect as petroleum products. The
workability of binder and mixture was improved Keywords RAP  Rejuvenator  Recycling
compared to RAP, but remained lower than that of agent  Total recycling  Reclaimed asphalt
reference virgin mixture. All rejuvenated mixtures
proved to be very rut resistant. Low temperature
performance of RAP, measured by creep compliance at 1 Introduction
-10 °C, was improved with the application of all
recycling agents and RAP mixes rejuvenated with Not since the years following the 1973 oil crisis has the
waste vegetable products even performed equal or use of or research into recycled asphalt pavements
better than virgin mixture. Organic oil and both waste (RAP) matched current levels. In spite of RAP’s
vegetable products provided the best performance in 40 year history, there remain serious concerns over
binder and mixture fatigue resistance tests as measured properties of aged RAP binder and the best practice for
its rejuvenation. Therefore, it is often degraded for the
use in lower level applications, without fully utilizing
M. Zaumanis (&)  R. B. Mallick
the valuable asphalt binder that is readily available in
Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), 100 Institute
Road, Kaven Hall, Worcester, MA 01609, USA RAP. Proper treating of RAP, appropriate mix design
e-mail: jeckabs@gmail.com procedure, and the use of modern asphalt plants can
URL: http://zaumanis.com significantly increase RAP use, thus saving taxpayer
money without sacrificing the pavement quality. The
R. Frank
RAP Technologies, 217 Belhaven Avenue, Linwood, use of recycling agents is one promising option for
NJ 08221, USA rejuvenating RAP binders and increasing RAP contents
 Materials and Structures

above 50 %, perhaps even up to 100 %. The single for using recycling agents over bumped binder grade
most important factor that has to be addressed is the are:
way to treat the aged RAP binder in order to provide
– Cheap storage, since in most cases they do not
enough cracking resistance without deteriorating the
require heating.
rutting resistance.
– Simple addition to the mixture using pump or
existing liquid additive dosage system.
1.1 Binder aging
– Ability to add the precise required dose based on
the RAP or reclaimed asphalt shingle (RAS)
During the aging process, the ratio of asphaltenes and
binder properties and extent of aging.
maltenes change, which leads to increased stiffness
– Potential ability to dose directly on RAP/RAS.
and viscosity of the binder and decreased ductility [1].
– RAP contents from 0 to 100 % with the same
Chemically the polar resins oxidize, making them
product.
more polar and prone to join asphaltene assemblies. As
– Often lower costs.
asphaltene content increases, maltene oils are lost to
the aggregate and air. A significant portion of asphalt Concerns about recycling agents are mostly associated
aging occurs during mixing, silo storage, transporta- with their ability to diffuse into the binder film and
tion and laying processes due to exposure to high ‘‘activate’’ the aged binder. The diffusion occurs most
temperatures. This is referred to as short-term aging rapidly at elevated temperatures during mixing, stor-
and is caused by [1, 12, 13, 18]: age and compaction, and it can continue during the
service life until equilibrium is reached [3, 15, 20]. It is
– Oxidation of the thin binder film in oxygen rich
very likely that a part of the RAP binder remains as
environments.
‘‘black rock’’ [1, 8]. Incomplete diffusion can cause
– Evaporation of low molecular weight volatile
pavement distresses:
fractions (volatilization).
– Absorption of paraffinic constituents by aggregates. – If the diffusion is not finalized before traffic is
released, the outer layer of binder film will have an
The amount of in-service aging mostly depends on the
increased dose of recycling agent and this soft
void content in the pavement and layer position within
coating might cause plastic deformations early in
the road construction (exposed surface of the road
pavement life.
hardens faster). The long-term aging mechanisms
– If the recycling agent does not fully diffuse into the
have been recognized as [1, 12, 13, 18]:
RAP binder, part of the film will remain as ‘‘black
– Oxidation because of constant supply of fresh air. rock’’. This can effectively lower ‘‘active’’ binder
– Polymerization. content, increasing the risk of cracking failures.
– Photo-oxidation for surface layers.
– Thixotropy due to the formulation of a structure
within asphalt binder over a long period. 2 Objective
– Syneresis due to continued exudation of thin oily
components by aggregate. The objectives of the research reported include
evaluation of recycling agents for restoring the
desirable properties of aged RAP binder and assess-
1.2 Use of recycling agents ment of performance-related properties of 100 %
recycled hot asphalt mixtures.
The methods for compensating for the aged, stiff
binder and ensuring adequate pavement performance
include the use of recycling agents, the use of softer 3 Materials
virgin binder grade, addition of polymers and/or
increase in total mixture binder content [15]. As RAP 3.1 Reclaimed asphalt and mix design
content increases ([50 %) recycling agents offer
many unique benefits to pavements that are difficult The mixture was produced from reclaimed asphalt that
to match with the use of softer binders. The benefits has been milled from pavements in the state of New
Materials and Structures

following sections. The table also includes character-

istics of virgin binder since it was used as a recycling
agent for reference mixture.

3.3.1 Waste vegetable oil (WV oil)

WV Oil is increasingly used for bio-diesel production

and has very strict compositional specifications
including low free fatty acid content (\15 %), less
than 2 % moisture, impusrities, unsaponifiables
(MIU) [10]. Derived from fast and convenience food
Fig. 1 9.5 mm Superpave requirements and 100 % extracted frying oil, it is also referred to as ‘‘yellow grease’’. The
RAP aggregate gradation product used in this study consists predominately of
peanut, sunflower, and canola oils, with large concen-
Jersey, USA. The obtained mixture had been crushed trations of oleic and linolic acids.
to nominal maximum aggregate size of 9.5 mm which
was the likely reason for high dust content (10.5 %). 3.3.2 Waste vegetable grease (WV grease)
The RAP also had a relatively high binder content of
6.2 % (from mass of mixture). In order to re-grade the WV grease is also a food industry organic waste
mixture to meet the gradation requirements of a stream but semi solid at ambient temperatures due to
9.5 mm Superpave design, the RAP was screened on the predominance of saturated lauric and myristic
2.36 mm sieve. A proportion of 85 % remaining on it triglycerides and needs to be heated most of the year.
and 15 % passing the sieve was used for mix design. The product used in this study is also high in free fatty
The final composition of the 100 % RAP aggregates is acids ([40 %) but with its free glycerin and moisture
illustrated in Fig. 1; it had 5.3 % asphalt binder removed industrially.
content of and 7.9 % percent passing the 0.075 mm
sieve. The binder content increased to 5.94 % after the
addition of the recycling agents and was kept constant 3.3.3 Organic oil
for the different mixtures.
Hydrogreen STM is an engineered product from PVS
3.2 Virgin binder Meridian Technologies, Inc. and is designed to be a
binder recycling agent and a low temperature addi-
Typically a PG 64-22 binder is used in the climatic tive. It is composed of fast pyrolysis of pine tree
area from where the RAP was obtained (New Jersey, biomass with other oils added to balance perfor-
USA) and therefore this grade was selected as a mance. The product is free flowing at room temper-
reference binder and it was also used for design of ature, but slight heating may be necessary when used
reference mixtures. This binder has penetration of in cold weather.
68 mm 9 0.1 mm, softening point of 51 °C, and
kinematic viscosity of 425.4 cSt at 135 °C. 3.3.4 Distilled tall oil

3.3 Recycling agents Tall oil is a byproduct of paper manufacture and is

concentrated from kraft liquors. Tall oil is available
Six different recycling agents are used in the study. either in crude form or as refined products. Crude tall
Measured kinematic viscosity and the specific gravity, oil contains fatty acids, resin acids and unsaponifiables
along with some basic characteristics obtained from in varying ratios depending on the tree type used. Tall
manufacturers are included in Table 1. The products oils have a long history of use in hot mix manufac-
have been labeled by generic descriptors that briefly turing with many emulsifiers, anti-strip agents and
define the origin of the product and are described in the warm mix additives.
 Materials and Structures

Table 1 Recycling agent properties and description

Recycling agent Kin. visc. at Specific Engineereda Petroleum Refined Molecular Polarity
135 °C (cSt) gravity or genericb or organic or waste structure

WV oil 5.17 0.924 Generic Organic Waste Ring and strand Nonc
WV grease 4.28 0.924 Generic Organic Waste Ring and strand Mild
Organic oil 5.43 0.947 Engineered Organic Refined Ring and strand Veryd
Distilled tall oil 5.60 0.950 Generic Organic Refined Ring and strand Mild
Waste engine Oil 3.86 0.872 Generic Petroleum Waste Aliphatic Slight
Aromatic extract 9.20 0.995 Generic Petroleum Refined Aromatic ring Very
Virgin binder 474 1.020 Generic Petroleum Refined Ring and strand Mixede
a
A proprietary formulation to optimize performance available through controlled sales network
b
A non-proprietary oil with established properties available globally from a wide variety of suppliers and manufacturers
c
Products with very few if any polar compounds
d
Products with high percentage of polar compounds
e
Reference to the mixture of oil fractions with different degrees of polarity comprising asphalt cement

3.3.5 Aromatic extract engine oil bottoms which is the residue from re-
refining.
An aromatic extract is a traditional recycling agent
with dominant polar aromatic rings. Recent findings
show concern with unsaturated polar aromatic ring 4 Methods
structure that has been shown to be carcinogenic [16].
Therefore, most industries worldwide are moving 4.1 Experimental plan
away from polar aromatics oils and finding less polar
substitutes. This research is not intended to promote The experimental plan of the study including mixture
the use of aromatic extract, but rather to allow for the and binder test methods as well as respective standards
comparison of other products to a recycling agent that is summarized in Fig. 2. The results are linked to
has been used historically and has demonstrated performance-related properties. Six different recycling
acceptable long term performance. agents were added to extracted RAP binder at 12 %
Aromatic extracts contain approximately 75 % dose and changes in consistency as well as fatigue
aromatic oils and resin compounds with balance characteristics using the linear amplitude sweep (LAS)
saturate oils. Proponents claim that polar aromatics test were determined and compared to those obtained
associate with asphaltene molecules and in the process from tests on the virgin binder. However, verification
make binder less brittle, by balancing the chemistry of of binder conformity to the specification requirements
the oxidized aged binder. alone is not sufficient to conclude successful rejuve-
nation of RAP binder. Blending of recycling agents
with extracted RAP bitumen simulates 100 % binder
3.3.6 Waste engine oil (WEO)
and recycling agent mixing, while in asphalt produc-
tion the amount of blending depends on the diffusion of
Engine lubricating oil is produced from paraffinic
recycling agent into the binder film. Therefore,
base oils with small dose of specialty compounds
performance-related tests were conducted on 100 %
added to improve viscosity characteristics, stability,
RAP mixture after addition of the same 12 % recycling
cleaning, and flammability. WEO may also contain
agent dose from binder mass. In this case there are two
short chain polar molecules that break apart during
reference mixtures:
lubricating service. Recent interest in waste engine oil
re-refineries around the world is making WEO – To evaluate benefit of simply increasing binder
increasingly difficult to obtain and more costly [14]. dose rather than adding recycling agents, virgin
Waste engine oil should not be confused with waste binder was added to the RAP at 12 % from binder
Materials and Structures

Fig. 2 Experimental plan

mass (equal to dose of recycling agents). This ASTM D2170 at 135 °C and softening point—
mixture is named ‘‘RAP mix’’. according to ASTM D3461.
– To quantify performance of this 9.5 mm gradation
as a virgin mixture aggregates were mixed with
4.2.1 Linear amplitude sweep (LAS)
5.94 % of virgin bitumen which is equal to that of
the rejuvenated samples (binder ? recycling
The LAS (AASHTO TP-101) test has been proposed
agent). The aggregates for this mixture were
as a replacement to currently used PG grading
obtained by removing binder from the re-graded
intermediate temperature parameter G*sind (complex
RAP in an ignition oven. This mixture is named
shear modulus viscous portion according to AASHTO
‘‘Virgin Mix’’.
M 320). The LAS procedure uses conventional DSR
testing unit with 8 mm plate and 2 mm gap setting, but
4.2 Binder tests in contrast to the existing fatigue parameter, the test is
performed by means of cyclic loading employing
Binder was extracted from RAP using toluene accord- increasing load amplitude to characterize the non-
ing to ASTM D2172, method A and recovered using a linear strain response of binder. To allow direct
rotary evaporator, according to ASTM D5404. Since comparison to G*sind the test was performed at the
the extraction results are very operator sensitive [12] Superpave intermediate temperature for PG 64-22 of
and residual solvent may be present [11] all extraction 25 °C after short plus long term aging.
was performed by the same individual. To further The test is conducted in two steps. First, a frequency
ensure equal properties all extracted binder it was sweep is run from 0.1 to 30 Hz at a strain level of
mixed together before batching for blending with 0.1 % to determine undamaged linear viscoelastic
12 % of each recycling agent after 40 min heating at properties of asphalt binder (complex shear modulus
140 °C temperature. To determine the softening and phase angle). This data is used to calculate the
efficiency of these products, penetration was deter- slope m of the best-fit linear log–log plot of storage
mined according to ASTM D5 at 25 °C and addition- modulus versus frequency. The material constant a is
ally at 4 °C to calculate the penetration index (PI). then calculated. Secondly, a strain sweep test is
Kinematic viscosity was determined according to performed in strain-controlled mode at a constant
 Materials and Structures

RAP aggregates was determined according to ASTM

C127 (coarse aggregates) and ASTM C128 (fine
aggregates) after burning the binder in an ignition
oven according to ASTM D6307. The same procedure
was used to obtain RAP aggregates for the reference
virgin mixture. The mean value of three test samples
(two for rutting test) along with one standard deviation
is presented for each test for every sample set. The
creep compliance was determined according to the
standard procedure, which stipulates using trimmed
mean from all three sample (dropping the maximum
and minimum) displacement values before calculating
the result; thus the standard deviation cannot be
expressed.
Fig. 3 Example |G*|sind at time t divided by initial |G*|sind
versus damage plot for linear amplitude sweep test (AASHTO
TP 101)
4.3.1 Hamburg wheel tracking test (WTT)

Hamburg wheel tracking test samples were prepared

frequency of 10 Hz with linearly increasing strain by gyratory compactor using 150 mm molds to
from 0.1 to 30 %. At each strain level mean G*, phase approximately 60.5 mm height. Four samples (two
angle, and oscillatory shear stress is recorded. A pairs) are necessary to perform the WTT according to
typical plot of damage accumulation is illustrated in AASHTO T324 in water. 50 °C test temperature was
Fig. 3. It is used to calculate the curve fit coefficients chosen based on the test procedure of Texas DOT,
for calculation of damage accumulation in the spec- where the test is used for acceptance of mixtures. The
imen at any strain level using the viscoelastic contin- samples prepared for Hamburg WTT were also used
uum damage (VECD) approach. The results are for evaluation of the mixture workability by calculat-
expressed as cycles to failure (Nf), where the failure ing the number of gyrations to 8 % air voids according
is defined as 35 % reduction from undamaged ASTM D6925.
G*sind. Any strain level can be used for calculation
of Nf, accounting for the differences in pavement 4.3.2 Creep compliance and tensile strength
structure or traffic loads (higher loads or thinner
pavements will generate higher strain). Creep compliance and tensile strength at indirect tension
configuration was determined at -10 °C according to
4.3 Mixture tests AASHTO T322 on saw-cut samples having 46.5 mm
height and 150 mm diameter. These tests have been
The mixtures were heated to 145 °C and blended with proposed for predicting mixture thermal cracking
12 % of each recycling agent (from binder mass) using potential [4, 5]. Creep compliance is measured by
a planetary mixer. Short term conditioning of 4 h was applying static load to initiate asphalt deformation in the
conducted before compacting with gyratory compac- viscoelastic range (0.00125–0.0190 mm horizontal
tor according to ASTM D6925. The air voids for all deformation at 1,000 s). Vertical and horizontal dis-
mix samples were kept to 7 ± 0.5 %. For the different placement transducers were glued to the saw-cut
recycled mix samples, the average VMA was (cutting improves the consistency of results) surfaces
17.4 ± 0.5 % and VFA was 59.5 ± 1.8 %. Auto- of the samples. Sample displacements were measured
matic vacuum sealing method (CorelockTM) was used for 1,000 s to determine the time dependency of strain
for determining the bulk specific gravity of compacted resulting from stress.
samples according to ASTM D6752/D6752M and the Indirect tensile (IDT) strength was determined on
maximum specific gravity of loose RAP was deter- creep compliance samples with applying 12.5 mm/
mined according to ASTM D6857. In order to perform min vertical loading rate. Only the vertical ram
volumetric calculations, the bulk specific gravity of movement was measured without horizontal
Materials and Structures

Fig. 4 Schematic diagram of fracture work Fig. 5 Penetration of RAP binder at three doses of recycling
agents

deformation measurements and the IDT strength was

softening efficiency according to penetration test.
derived from the maximum load.
The results in Fig. 5 show that all recycling agents
can be used to soften the stiff extracted binder
4.3.3 Fracture work density (FWD)
(penetration of 19 mm 9 0.1 mm) to the target level
of virgin binder having penetration of 78 mm 9
Mixture bottom-up fatigue resistance was evaluated
0.1 mm. It can be seen that organic oils allow to reach
by determining the FWD using indirect test method on
this target at 8–11 % dose, while for petroleum based
150 mm diameter samples with 50 mm height as
oils this would require 14–21 % dose. Based on these
described by [17]. The test is conducted at a constant
results the recycling agent dose was selected 12 %
ram movement of 50.4 mm/min at 19 °C temperature.
from binder mass for all further experiments as a
Since fatigue damage is likely to occur later in
compromise between the different products. This
pavement life, before testing FWD, additional long
dose is slightly higher than the optimum for the
term aging at 85 °C for 5 days was conducted.
organic oils, but on the lower side for petroleum
The fracture work is determined by measuring the
products.
area under the load-vertical deformation curve until
Figure 5 also illustrates that a simple exponential
the load returns to zero as illustrated in Fig. 4. The
function (Eq. 1) can be fitted extremely well on the
work done by the machine ram is dissipated by the
data points with R2 values of more than 0.99.
specimen, and therefore the fracture work can be
Transformation of this equation allows to calculate
determined based only on the load and vertical ram
the dose to reach target penetration as demonstrated by
movement. The FWD is then calculated by dividing
Eq. 2 meaning that only the penetration test result of
the fracture work by the volume of the specimen.
extracted binder and one recycling agent dose is
According to [17] the FWD results correlated well
required for calculation of optimum dose. This
with the number of passes to 3 % cracking at FHWA
provides a practical tool to adjust recycling agent
accelerated load facility.
dose as RAP binder properties change with source and
age of RAP stockpiles.
5 Results and discussion PEN ¼ A  eBDose ; ð1Þ
loge PEN
A
5.1 Binder test results Dose ¼ ; ð2Þ
B
5.1.1 Penetration and dose selection where PEN is the penetration, 90.1 mm, Dose is the
dose of the recycling agent, %, A is the penetration at
Based on the previous study of authors [21] two 0 % dose (y-intercept of the exponential function),
different doses of each recycling agent were added to 90.1 mm, B is the constant calculated by least squares
the extracted RAP binder for determining their fit through data points.
 Materials and Structures

5.1.2 Penetration index viscosity equal to virgin binder. The kinematic

viscosity (also illustrated in Fig. 7) was also calculated
Penetration index (PI) was developed to describe the using Refutas equation (5–7) [9] based on the viscosity
temperature susceptibility of binder. However, Burke of recycling agents and binder. This equation which
and Hesp [2] in their research on field performance of has been previously used to estimate the viscosity of
binder that has been modified with re-refined waste blends of petroleum products.
engine oil residue suggested the use of PI for   
VBIblend  10:975
evaluation of binder in respect to its expected thermal mblend ¼ exp exp  0:8; ð5Þ
14:535
and fatigue cracking performance. Their research
proposes PI as a good measure of steric hardening X
N

(asphaltene structure formulation over time) that VBIblend ¼ fi VBIi ; ð6Þ

i¼1
promotes accelerated oxidative hardening and gel-
type structure that retain higher stress levels at low VBIi ¼ 14:354  ln½lnðmi þ 0:8Þ þ 10:975; ð7Þ
temperatures. According to their research an increase
VBI is the viscosity blending index of the compo-
in PI compared to source bitumen, despite correspon-
nents i, m is the kinematic viscosity, cSt (Table 1), fi
dence to the required low temperature superpave
mass fraction of component i (specific gravity in
performance grade (PG), indicates low temperature
Table 1)
cracking susceptibility [21] later confirmed that PI
The measured and estimated results show good
calculated from penetration 4 and 25 °C was an
correlation, meaning that the viscosity of the blend can
indication of mixture low temperature performance
be predicted with reasonable precision, without the
and therefore these test temperatures were used.
need to perform extensive amount of extraction and
To replicate the study by Burke and Hesp the PI was
testing. This can allow screening the recycling agents
calculated from penetration test results at two tem-
that cannot soften the RAP binder enough to produce
peratures according to Eqs. 3 and 4 [12].
workable mixture. The results also demonstrate an
20ð1  25  AÞ interesting trend: petroleum products have aligned to
PI ¼ ; ð3Þ
1 þ 50  A the left of 45° line while organic products are located
ðLog PEN at T1 Þ  ðLog PEN at T2 Þ to the right of this line. This may demonstrate
A¼ ; ð4Þ compatibility of the different types of oils with the
T1  T2
specific asphalt binder but has to be verified in further
where T1, T2 is the test temperatures one (4 °C) and studies.
two (25 °C), PEN is the penetration, 90.1 mm.
Figure 6 shows that in all cases the PI has been
lowered compared to the extracted binder, suggesting 5.1.4 Workability
that low temperature performance has been in fact
improved. The PI level of the virgin binder was not Kinematic viscosity, softening point and penetration
reached, but this might be a result of a differently results are summarized in Bitumen test data chart
originated bitumen. The PI was also calculated for (BTDC) [6]. BTDC was designed to determine the
the other recycling agent dose used for penetration optimum mixing and compaction temperature range
tests (see Fig. 5) and in all cases higher dose that corresponds to the viscosities that are generally
provided lower PI with reduction between 0.01 and recommended for good workability [12]. The results
0.88. in Fig. 8 demonstrate that, by addition of recycling
agents, the production and compaction temperature
5.1.3 Kinematic viscosity can be reduced by around 20 °C from that of the RAP
binder (as example, this lower plant energy consump-
The measured kinematic viscosity of all recycled tion by 7 % [19]). None of the recycling agents,
binder samples is demonstrated in Fig. 7. All recy- however, have quite improved the binder workability
cling agents have significantly decreased the viscosity to the level of virgin binder at the 12 % dose used in
or RAP binder but at 12 % dose none provides this study.
Materials and Structures

Fig. 6 Penetration index

5.1.5 Fatigue

The binder LAS test results in Fig. 9 on a logarithmic

scale demonstrate cycles to failure at four different
strain levels. Interestingly at the lowest strain level,
RAP binder has the highest fatigue life compared to
other samples but as the strain increases its perfor-
mance gradually decreases until it has the lowest cycles
to failure at 10 % strain. Virgin binder has the opposite
trend: at high strain level it performs better than at low
strain level relative to most other samples. Since the
strain level can be attributed to pavement response, this
suggests that RAP binder would perform better at
Fig. 7 Measured and calculated kinematic viscosity
lower loads or thicker pavements while the virgin
The BTDC results were also used for determining binder would be superior at higher loads or thinner
the laboratory compaction and mixing temperature for pavements.
the study and 145 °C was chosen since it is within Research by Tran et al. [15] found that 5 % strain
acceptable range for all products tested. has the best correlation with mixture fatigue (using

Fig. 8 Bitumen test data

chart
 Materials and Structures

Fig. 10 Hamburg wheel tracking test results

Fig. 9 Linear amplitude sweep test results temperature is included in parentheses by each sample
name. It is clear that all recycled mixtures show high
rutting resistance and only the ‘‘virgin mix’’ fails the
energy ratio test) and research by Hintz et al. [7] requirement. Since none of the rejuvenated mixtures
showed that 4 % strain correlates reasonably with has rutting problem, while some of them do have
cracked area from field sections evaluated through similar penetration and only slightly higher softening
long-term pavement performance (LTPP) program. point, it is possible that other factors are contributing
Based on these considerations, the performance at 5 % to the unsatisfactory performance of the virgin mix.
strain is discussed for evaluation of recycling agents. This sample was prepared by burning off the RAP
At this strain level, unexpectedly, WEO and aromatic binder and replacing it with virgin binder at 5.94 %
extract have almost no effect compared to RAP binder. dose to provide equal gradation and binder content to
This is surprising considering that these products have the rejuvenated samples. However, it is possible that
been extensively used for rejuvenation and provided part of the finer RAP aggregates were lost during
good field performance. Addition of tall oil and binder ignition resulting in higher binder to aggregate
organic oil has increased the number of cycles to surface area ratio compared to rejuvenated mixtures.
fatigue failure compared to extracted binder, but the Thus, the binder content of this mixture might be
result is lower than that of virgin binder. The use of higher than that of the rejuvenated mixes which would
WV grease and WV oil provides performance that is result in higher rutting.
similar to the virgin mix. These are the recycling The correlation between binder penetration from
agents that along with organic oil also provided the and Hamburg WTT rut depth at 10,000 passes is
lowest binder consistency and relatively higher rut illustrated in Fig. 11. The virgin mixture is not
depth (discussed later) compared to the other recycled included in the figure since it exceeded the maximum
mixtures. Predictably this confirms that a reduced rut depth before reaching 10,000 wheel passes. The
binder viscosity provides longer fatigue life. The high correlation (R2 = 0.97) with exponential regres-
unsatisfactory performance of WEO and aromatic sion suggests that excessive rutting due to binder
extract can therefore be partly attributed to recycling softening should not be an issue if the recycling agent
agent dose, which did not provide sufficient reduction dose is calculated according to penetration results.
in consistency at 12 % dose.
5.2.2 Workability
5.2 Mixture test results
Mixture workability was evaluated by the number of
5.2.1 Rutting gyrations to reach 8 % air voids the results are
illustrated in Fig. 12. As expected from the bitumen
Hamburg WTT results are illustrated in Fig. 10 along viscosity results (BTDC in Fig. 8), virgin mix has
with Texas DOT requirement for maximum rut depth the highest workability and all the rejuvenators have
for the binder grade used in the study (12.5 mm at increased mix compactability compared to RAP mix.
10,000 passes). Ring and ball (R&B) softening point However, the correlation of rejuvenator viscosity
Materials and Structures

5.2.3 Low temperature cracking

Neither stiffness nor strength determines when a

mixture will crack. A stiff mixture will not crack if its
strength is high enough; and a weaker mixture will not
crack if it is sufficiently flexible. Creep compliance
can be characterized as the reverse property of asphalt
stiffness and evaluation of this property at low
temperature shows the pavement’s potential to creep
in thermal load stress at low temperatures. The less
stiff the pavement at low temperature, the lower the
possibility of cracks. Figure 13 thus demonstrates
Fig. 11 Hamburg WTT passes to 12.5 mm depth versus binder
penetration both stiffness (illustrated with bars) and strength
(rhombs). The strength results are visually fitted
relative to the virgin mix to allow easy comparison
of performance of the different mixes.
As expected RAP mixture has the highest stiffness
(lowest compliance) due to aged RAP binder. Com-
pared to this source mix, all recycling agents have
reduced the stiffness and vegetable oil products even
provide stiffness similar to the level of virgin mixture.
The virgin mixture has higher creep compliance
(lower stiffness) than most rejuvenated mixes, how-
ever, as shown by the rutting test, the effective binder
content of virgin mix is likely too high. Balanced mix
design procedure would require reduction of binder
content and hence likely cause reduction of creep
compliance. On the other hand the dose of recycling
agents may be increased for most cases without failing
the rutting requirement. This would likely reduce
Fig. 12 Gyratory workability stiffness.
The tensile strength (rhombs) in Fig. 13 demon-
strate that WEO and both waste vegetable oil products
and gyratory workability is very poor. For example, have reduced the strength of the source RAP. This can
viscosity results in BTDC show that binders mod- be attributed to possible changes in binder adhesion/
ified with waste vegetable oil and grease have cohesion with aggregates or increased compliance.
almost equal consistency, but the mixture compac- Other rejuvenated mixtures have either maintained or
tability demonstrates distinct differences between slightly increased the tensile strength in respect to both
these mixtures. These evidences suggest that viscos- virgin mix and the RAP mixture.
ity is not the only factor contributing to the
workability. Incomplete diffusion of the rejuvenator 5.2.4 Fatigue
at the time of compaction may be one of the
explanations resulting in (1) various amounts of The mixture FWD results in Fig. 14 demonstrate that
effective binder content, and (2) different rejuvena- most recycling agents provide FWD similar or slightly
tor concentration at the outer layer of the binder film higher than that of the RAP mix. The only exception is
(increased lubricity). These results suggest that the WEO, thus suggesting negative effect on bottom-up
workability, when using rejuvenators, should not be fatigue resistance. The virgin mix has the highest
evaluated based on the viscosity of binder alone, like FWD which is a result of high strain before failure.
for virgin mixtures. However, just like discussed with low temperature
 Materials and Structures

Fig. 13 Creep compliance

and tensile strength at -
10 °C

Fig. 14 Fracture work

density

performance, total binder content optimization would summarized in Table 2. The pass/fail criteria is
likely lower the result. applied to the binder softening (penetration and
Although both are designed to demonstrate fatigue softening point) and rutting since these tests have
performance, the binder LAS tests results correlate been established as specification requirements. The
poorly with FWD results. This is likely due to the very other test methods do not have recognized require-
different loading modes between the tests methods. ments thus they were compared to the respective
reference binder/mixture test result (the numerical
value is indicated in the table). Four arbitrary levels of
6 Summary recycling agent performance are adopted in the table:
– (-1): sample performs worse than the RAP.
The study focused on evaluating the effect of six
– (±0): sample performs equal to RAP.
different recycling agents on softening the aged binder
– (?1): sample performs better than RAP.
and improving the performance-related properties of
– (?2): sample performs better than RAP and virgin.
100 % RAP mixture based on uniform 12 % recycling
agent dose rather than optimum for each product. The overall performance of each recycling agent is
The test results according the pass/fail requirements or expressed as sum of mean result from each test
in respect to the reference binder/mixture are parameter.
Materials and Structures

Table 2 Summary of recycling agent performance

Virgin RAP
WV Organic Distilled Aromatic
Parameter Test method mix/ mix/ WV Oil WEO
Grease Oil Tall Oil Extract
binder binder
Binder
Pen., R&B, Kin. visc. pass fail pass pass pass pass pass pass
softenin g
Ru t tin g Hamburg WTT fail pass pass pass pass pass pass pass
LAS @5 % strain, cycles 1078 593
Fatigue
FWD, kPa 8.0 5.5
Creep compliance, 1/GPa 0.253 0.067
Low temp.
Tensile strength, kPa 3650 3919
cracking
Penetration index -1.29 2.55
Viscosity, cSt 425 2597
Workability
Mix compactability, gyr 10 39
Overall (sum of mean parameter results) - - 2.67 3.17 3.33 2.83 2.33 0.33
Legend: (-1): sample performs worse than the RAP
(±0): sample performs equal to RAP
(+1): sample performs better than RAP
(+2): sample performs better than RAP and virgin

7 Conclusions 6. Rutting resistance of recycled mixtures was high.

This was true even when recycling agent dose was
The following conclusions can be drawn from the above optimum according to penetration test
research: results.
7. As measured by LAS test at 5 % strain the fatigue
1. All six products can reduce the binder viscosity to
performance of the aged binder was improved by
the level of virgin binder at intermediate temper-
all of the organic products compared and vegeta-
ature (25 °C), but at increased temperature as
ble oil products provide fatigue life similar to that
measured by softening point and kinematic
of virgin binder. The petroleum products, surpris-
viscosity tests, the binder viscosity remains higher
ingly, did not affect the binder fatigue life by
than that of a virgin binder.
much. Mixture fatigue results indicate that all
2. The organic additives require lower dose than the
recycling agents except WEO have maintained or
petroleum additives to provide similar softening
increased FWD compared to the source RAP.
effect on RAP binder.
8. Overall at 12 % dose the organic oil, and WV
3. Penetration test is a good measure of predicting
grease showed the most rejuvenation potential for
rutting resistance of rejuvenated mixture due to
the particular RAP material.
binder softening. Thus it can be used as a
9. It must be noted the performance-related test
reference point to determine the optimum dose
results only reflect the 12 % dose. The authors
of recycling agent for designing rut resistant
believe that optimization of the dose would likely
mixtures. Another advantage of the penetration
improve the overall rejuvenated mixture perfor-
test is that results can be predicted by only two
mance in most cases.
data points using a simple exponential equation as
shown in the study.
4. Kinematic viscosity of binder and recycling agent
blend can be predicted using Refutas equation. 8 Further research
5. The recycling agents improved the workability of
RAP mixture, but at 12 % dose none of them Further research is intended to evaluate the corre-
ensured workability equal to virgin mix. spondence of the rejuvenated binder to the Superpave
 Materials and Structures

specifications. A method for finding an optimum 9. Maples RE (2000) Petroleum refinery process economics,
rejuvenator dose to balance between rutting and 2nd edn. PennWell, Tulsa
10. National Renderers Association (2009) A buyer’s guide to
cracking performance without increasing susceptibil- rendered fats. render. The International Magazine of Render-
ity to adhesion and cohesion failures is necessary. ing. http://www.rendermagazine.com/. Accessed 27 Nov 2013
Finally, the ability of recycling agents to diffuse into 11. Pratico FG, Dattola V (2009) Factors affecting recovered
and activate RAP binder must be evaluated. Research asphalt binder properties: A theoretical and experimental
study. Advanced testing and characterization of bituminous
by the authors have been initiated to try answer these materials. Taylor & Francis, London
questions. 12. Read J, Whiteoak D (2003) The Shell Bitumen handbook,
5th edn. Thomas Telford, London
13. Roberts F, Kendhal P, Brown ER, Lee DY, Kennedy T
(2009) Hot mix asphalt materials, mixture design and con-
struction, 3rd edn. National Asphalt Pavement Association
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