Jenny Liu
RAP has been used for several decades in HMA for paving purposes. In Alaska, the new statewide hot-mix asphalt (HMA) highway specification allows up to 15% RAP materials in the wearing course of a roadway pavement, and up to 25% RAP in the binder or base course layer(s). Though projects will see an increased use of these sustainable materials, the performance data on HMA containing RAP for surface course applications is limited. Thus, it is difficult to conduct mechanistic analysis procedures (e.g. AK Flexible Pavement Design software) for pavement design as it requires material engineering properties as input. Therefore, it is essential to properly characterize (i.e. develop/establish engineering properties) these HMA mixes containing RAP material, which is the main objective of this study. Through this study, the characterization of HMA mixes containing RAP material will yield: (1) mix modulus (stiffness) values at different temperatures, to be used in pavement design/analysis procedures, (2) rutting performance at intermediate and high temperatures, and (3) low-temperature thermal cracking performance. This comprehensive characterization can be used for pavement performance prediction and comparisons, using mechanistic empirical pavement procedures.
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