Relationship between Rheological Indices and Cracking Performance of Virgin, Recycled, and Rejuvenated Asphalt Binders and Mixtures

Abstract

Long-term cracking performance of asphalt mixtures is heavily influenced by asphalt binder rheology, and changes in binder stiffness, ductility, and aging condition significantly affect the cracking resistance of the corresponding asphalt mixture. This study evaluated the effectiveness of several common and recently developed binder rheological indices in capturing the effects of binder performance grade (PG) and source, recycled binder content, recycling agent (rejuvenator) dose, and long-term aging. These binder rheological indices included the Superpave intermediate-temperature PG (PGI), the Glover-Rowe (G-R) parameter, the crossover temperature (Tδ = 45°), the rheological index (R-value), and ΔTc. This study also directly compared the binder rheological indices with the cracking performance of corresponding asphalt mixtures to explore possible correlations and their robustness. Asphalt mixture cracking performance was evaluated using the Illinois Flexibility Index Test (I-FIT) for intermediate-temperature cracking, and the disk-shaped compact tension (DCT) test and the uniaxial thermal stress and strain test (UTSST) for low-temperature cracking. Results indicated that all the binder rheological indices (except PGI) consistently captured the effects of binder blend composition and proportions and aging condition, with a few exceptions. Results also showed that the G-R parameter, the crossover temperature (Tδ = 45°), and ΔTc had the best correlation to asphalt mixture and field core cracking performance as compared with other rheological indices (PGI and R-value), with ΔTc demonstrating the overall best correlation to mixture cracking performance.

Performance Evaluation and Characterization of Extracted Recycled Asphalt Binder With Rejuvenators

“…As mentioned previously from literature, there is a strong relationship between premature asphalt binder cracking and the binder's susceptibility to aging (20,24,29). Therefore, statistical relationships were developed to assess the correlation between common performance measures-R-value, LPG cont , DT c , and G-R-and the chemical properties of each asphalt binder combination.…”

“…They found a significant improvement in the fatigue life and durability of rejuvenated asphalt binders. Kaseer et al ( 24 ) evaluated the effect of PG grade, binder source, RAP and rejuvenator contents, and long-term aging on the rheological parameters of the asphalt binder containing recycled materials. In this study, PG grade, G-R, T c , R-value, and ΔT c were evaluated.…”

Research on thermal stress fracture performance of low-temperature asphalt concrete in castel high altitude area

“…The parameters of asphalt mixture, for example, asphalt amount, VV, VMA, and VFA, had a low or frail relationship with the test indexes. This suggests that asphalt mixture parameters have less of an impact on asphalt mixture's low-temperature performance Frontiers in Earth Science frontiersin.org than do asphalt parameters (Hannele et al, 1996;Kaseer et al, 2021). As a result, test indexes change with the asphalt type with good regularity.…”