Comparative Study on Physical Characterization of Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement and Natural Aggregate in Flexible Pavement

Abstract

Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement (RAP) has gained significant attention in recent years as a sustainable alternative to natural aggregate in road construction. This study presents a comparison of the physical attributes of RAP and natural aggregate, with a focus on their potential use as base and subbase materials in flexible pavements. The physical attributes of RAP and natural aggregate were evaluated using standard laboratory tests, including particle size distribution, specific gravity, water absorption, impact value test, Los Angles Abrasion test, flakiness and elongation test. The research concluded that RAP is comparable to natural aggregate in terms of particle size distribution and bulk density but has lower water absorption, impact, and abrasion values. The results shows that RAP is almost 53% more tougher that natural aggregate when tested for Aggregated Impact test and 30% more harder than natural aggregate when compared by Los Angeles abrasion test. Also, heatmap was used to analyse the relationship between physical attributes of natural aggregate and reclaimed asphalt pavement which depicted 93% similarity The findings suggest that RAP has the potential to replace natural aggregate in flexible pavements, further study is required to determine its long-term performance and durability.