Characterization of Cold Recycled Asphalt Mixtures including Reinforcing Fibers

Abstract

In recent years, cold recycling techniques have been widely used all over the world thanks to their huge environmental advantages. However, their performances are lower than the traditional hot-mix asphalt, both for the longer time to develop the final mechanical properties, which leads to delays in the reopening to road traffic, and for the lower fatigue resistance. The present paper deals with the characterization of cold recycled asphalt mixtures (CRAM), made with 100% reclaimed asphalt pavement, where synthetic fibers were included to improve the fatigue performance. The investigation involved the analysis of the curing time, volumetric properties, stiffness, strength, rheological behavior and resistance to cyclic loading. The results showed that the use of synthetic fiber, with the optimum dosage, determined a higher CRAM performance, especially in terms of fatigue resistance.