Evaluation of mechanical properties of recycled material for utilization in asphalt mixtures

With an expanding world, the demand for extensive road networks is increasing. As natural resources become scarce, the necessity of finding alternative resources has led to the idea of applying recycled material to pavement construction including asphalt pavements. Amongst all asphalt components, aggregate constitutes the largest part of asphalt mixtures. Therefore, the utilization of recycled material for aggregate will represent an important opportunity to save virgin material and divert material away from landfills. Because of the large amount of construction waste generation around the world, using recycled construction aggregate (RCA) in asphalt mixtures appears to be an effective utilization of RCA. However, as aggregate plays an important role in the final performance of the asphalt mixture, an understanding of their properties is essential in designing an asphalt mixture. Therefore, in this research, the properties of RCA have been evaluated through laboratory investigations. Based on the test results, it is required that combination of RCA with some other targeted waste materials be considered in asphalt mixture. This paper presents the results of an experimental study to evaluate the RCA properties as an alternative for virgin aggregate in asphalt mixture under different percentages and combination with other aggregates, such as reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) and basalt.