Cracking Resistance Evaluation of Mixtures with High Percentages of Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement

Abstract

Incorporation of high quantities of reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) in new asphalt pavement construction is a contemporary approach for promoting sustainable roadway systems. Many highway agencies, however, have reported premature cracking and raveling of hot-mix asphalt (HMA) pavements constructed with high RAP content. In this study, cracking resistance of HMA Superpave mixtures with 20–40% RAP from various sources was evaluated by conducting semicircular bending (SCB), Texas overlay (OT), dynamic modulus (DM), and simplified viscoelastic continuum damage (S-VECD) tests. Test outputs were analyzed using a full-factorial two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Tukey’s multiple comparison methods to quantify the effect of RAP quality and quantity on performance characteristics of Superpave mixtures. Although the SCB, OT, and S-VECD tests satisfactorily assessed cracking characteristics of HMA mixtures, results showed that the S-VECD test precisely captured the individual and combined effects of RAP source and RAP content. The DM test was unable to assess HMA mixture stiffness influenced by increased RAP contents or altered using various RAP sources due to the high error associated with the ANOVA model.