The Influence of Recycled Materials on Cold Mix with Foamed Bitumen Properties

Materials (Basel). 2023 Jan 31;16(3):1208. doi: 10.3390/ma16031208.

Abstract

The utilization of recycled materials is an important issue in the context of environmental protection. The large amounts of recycled material recovered from the demolition of asphalt road structures indicate the need to find new ways of utilizing them. In the case of road renovation projects, large amounts of recycled materials are, in most cases, recovered in the form of reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP), reclaimed concrete (RC) and recycled aggregate (RA). To focus on the effects of the use of recovered materials (RAP, RC and RA), the same composition was used for all of the analyzed mixtures in terms of foamed bitumen (FB) and Portland cement (CEM) content. The scope of laboratory tests included the specification of the following parameters: the amount of air void content Vm, the determination of axial compression strength at +25 °C, indirect tensile strength (ITS) at +25 °C, water resistance, TSR, water and frost resistance, WRW+M stiffness modulus (IT-CY) at 13 °C, dynamic dynamicmodulus. The plan of the experiment assumed addition recycled material in quantities between 20% and 80% in increments of 20%. The obtained results indicate that both the type and quantity of recycled material significantly affect the properties of the cold-recycled mixture with foamed bitumen. Using reclaimed asphalt pavement and recycled cement concrete guarantees high levels of stiffness in the recycled mixture. Howeverin the case of recycled aggregate, the authors did not observe any visible changes in the dynamicdynamic modulus, irrespective of the loading conditions. It was also indicated that it is necessary to reduce the quantity of reclaimed asphalt pavement in the composition of the FB-RCM mix to maintain the required air void content.

Keywords: cold recycled mixture; foamed bitumen; reclaimed asphalt pavement; reclaimed concrete; recycled aggregate; recycled material.