Enhancing Pavement Durability: Comparative Rheological Evaluation of Conventional and Rejuvenated Reclaimed Binders under Aging Conditions

Abstract

A drawback of recycled mixtures containing reclaimed asphalt is their increased stiffness, further worsened by the accelerated aging of binders in extreme weather conditions. Previous studies have shown that while rejuvenating agents can mitigate some of these issues by improving flexibility and reducing brittleness, they often present challenges, such as performance variability and the potential for rutting. This study aims to develop an optimal blend of reclaimed bitumen, a rejuvenating agent, and pure bitumen to achieve rheological properties similar to a control 35/50 pen-grade bitumen for road paving. Hence, the rejuvenated binders comprised 30:70 blends of reclaimed asphalt bitumen and 50/70 pen-grade bitumen, adding 0.2% to 0.6% of a rejuvenating agent by mass of the reclaimed asphalt. Sample testing included conventional penetration grade, softening point, and viscosity tests, followed by dynamic shear rheometer tests under unaged, short-term, and long-term aging conditions. The results show that the binder blend with 0.4% rejuvenator closely resembles the rheological properties of 35/50 pen-grade bitumen. This blend exhibits a 20% to 55% stiffness reduction for recycled mixtures with 30% reclaimed asphalt. Notably, the rejuvenated binders exhibited a similar level of aging resistance to the control bitumen, with a marginal difference of less than 5% in aging ratios. Meanwhile, large strain amplitude tests showed the importance of defining maximum rejuvenating incorporation rates in recycled mixtures to avoid rutting problems, where binders with 0.4% rejuvenator doubled the rutting potential (Jnr values). This innovative study highlights the potential for enhancing recycled mixtures’ performance by evaluating rejuvenated reclaimed binders’ rheology subjected to different aging conditions, thus contributing to sustainability in pavement construction.