Preliminary Evaluation of Hot Mix Asphalt Containing Reclaimed Epoxy Asphalt Materials

Abstract

Designing long-life pavements and pavement recycling with reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) are two important strategies for improving the sustainability of asphalt pavements. Epoxy asphalt, as a proven long-life pavement material, is attracting attention from the pavement community for its use in road pavements. The recyclability of epoxy asphalt mixtures, however, has never been studied and has now become one concern in promoting the use of epoxy asphalt in road pavements. This study attempts to explore the performance of hot mix asphalt (HMA) containing reclaimed epoxy asphalt materials. Reclaimed epoxy asphalt was fabricated in the laboratory and incorporated into regular asphalt mixtures at various contents. Specimens were prepared and tested for their performance in comparison with mixtures without RAP. It was found that replacing the coarse aggregates in HMA with epoxy RAP up to 80% did not negatively affect its Marshall stability, tensile strength, and moisture resistance. The plastic deformation at failure of HMA, however, may increase with the increase in epoxy RAP content. At the current stage, the results from this study do not provide evidence to invalidate the use of epoxy RAP in HMA, at least at a coarse aggregate replacement rate of less than 40%.