Appraising the synergistic use of recycled asphalt pavement and recycled concrete aggregate for the production of sustainable asphalt concrete

Abstract

Material obtained from the demolition of concrete structures and milling of flexible pavements has the highest potential for recyclability. This study aimed to evaluate the performance of hot mix asphalt with the concurrent use of recycled asphalt pavement (RAP) and recycled concrete aggregate (RCA). Contents of RAP and RCA were varied from 0% to 50% by fixing the total recycling materials percentage to 50%. Penetration grade 40/50 virgin binder and waste engine oil (WEO) as rejuvenator were used in the present study. A series of tests, such as Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Marshall stability, indirect tensile strength test, IDEAL CT, uniaxial compression test, and resilient modulus test, were carried out to assess the performance of the prepared recycled asphalt mixtures. SEM images revealed the presence of the medium to fine particles on RCA indicating the rough surface texture. Except RAP10 (10% RAP plus 40% RCA) and RAP50 (50% RAP) mixes, all mixes had Marshall stability value greater than the control mix, the highest for RAP40 (40% RAP plus 10% RCA) mix followed by RAP0 (50% RCA) mix. In the case of resilient modulus, the effect of RAP is more pronounced till 40% resulting in an almost linear increase in values. Also, RAP40 exhibited the highest rutting and fatigue resistance. As far as moisture sensitivity is concerned, all the mixes performed satisfactorily as the tensile strength ratio (TSR) was greater than 80%. Overall, the major factors affecting the performance of recycled mixes were surface roughness, stiffness of the aged binder and rejuvenator.