Modeling of the rheological properties of asphalt binder and asphalt mortar containing recycled asphalt material

The use of recycled materials in asphalt pavements increased significantly over the years, determining well known environmental and economic benefits. Many research agencies and road authorities evaluated the impact of Recycled Asphalt Pavement (RAP) on pavement performance. Nevertheless, the mechanism governing the interaction between virgin asphalt binder and aged RAP binder is not well understood. In this paper, the effect of RAP on the rheological properties of asphalt binders and mortars is experimentally evaluated, and theoretically modeled with the objective of defining a relationship between the linear viscoelastic (LVE) properties of binders and those of the corresponding mortars.Three asphalt binder types, obtained by blending a hard and a soft binder at three different percentages, were mixed with three different contents of a Selected fraction of Recycled Asphalt Pavement, called SRAP, for preparing the asphalt mortar samples. Dynamic Shear Rheomether tests were performed on binders and mortars to determining the complex modulus over a wide range of temperatures and frequencies. The rheological properties of the compound of virgin and RAP binder were evaluated by using a new approach based on a modified version of the Nielsen model, avoiding the extraction and recovery method.The results were then modelled by using the analogical 2S2P1D model, consisting of one spring, two parabolic and one-dashpot elements combined in series and then assembled together with a second spring in parallel. Based on test results, a simple experimental relationship between the characteristic times of the binder and the percentage of RAP in the mortar was found.