Date of Award

Winter 2006

Project Type

Thesis

Program or Major

Civil Engineering

Degree Name

Master of Science

First Advisor

Jo Sias Daniel

Abstract

As the space available in landfills and the amount of high quality virgin aggregate has declined, the use of recycled asphalt pavement (RAP) in new asphaltic concrete mixtures has become common. This research examines how RAP affects virgin mixtures. A Superpave 19 mm mixture containing 0% RAP is used as the control for evaluating properties of mixes containing 15%, 25%, and 40% RAP. Volumetric analyses identified increases in both voids in the mineral aggregate (VMA) and voids filled with asphalt (VFA) at the 25% and 40% RAP levels, and that the amount of pre-heating of RAP prior to mixing influenced volumetric properties. Mechanistic testing showed the 15% RAP mixture to behave more stiffly than the control, equating to increased resistance to rutting and fatigue cracking in service. The 25% and 40% mixtures exhibited mechanistic testing results similar to the control mixture, which is attributed to a combination of grading, higher binder content, and increased VMA and VFA.

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