Characterization of asphalt binders extracted from field mixtures containing RAP and/or RAS

The use of reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) and/or recycled asphalt shingles (RAS) in the asphalt mixtures is a common practice in the U.S.A. However, there is a controversy to date on how RAP/RAS interact with virgin asphalt binders (VABs) in asphalt mixtures. For mixtures containing RAP/RAS, the aged asphalt binders in RAP and air-blown asphalt binders in RAS alter the performances of the extracted asphalt binders (EABs). Thus, the rheological properties of EABs from these mixtures require more investigation. The focus of this paper was relating the high-temperature properties of EABs from field cores to the corresponding rolling thin film oven aged virgin asphalt binders (RTFO AVABs). Furthermore, a comparison of the effect of RAP and RAS on the high-temperature rheological properties of EABs was another objective. Different asphalt cores were collected from the field within two weeks after the pavement construction process in 2016. These cores represented eight asphalt mixtures with different asphalt binder replacement percentages by RAP, RAS, or both. The asphalt binders were extracted from these mixtures and considered as RTFO AVABs. The high-temperature rheological properties included the temperature sweep and frequency sweep testing and the multiple stress creep recovery testing. The EABs had higher stiffnesses and elasticates than the corresponding RTFO AVABs because of the aged binders in RAP/RAS. The binders in RAP interacted more readily with VABs than RAS binders.