Laboratory Observation and Evaluation of Asphalt Blends of Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement Binder with Virgin Binder using SEM/EDS

Abstract

In this paper, microscopic technique tests were carried out to observe and evaluate the degree of blending between reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) binder and virgin binder in hot mixed asphalt mixture. To this end, titanium dioxide (TiO₂) was selected as a tracer to tag virgin binder. Scanning electron microscope/energy dispersive spectrometer (SEM/EDS) experiments were conducted on compacted recycled asphalt mixtures and virgin asphalt mixtures. The element mass ratio of titanium over sulfur (Ti:S) was proposed as an quantitative indicator of blending ratio to accurately evaluate the degree of partial blending between RAP and virgin binders. The SEM/EDS images visually displayed the partial blending in high RAP mixtures. Different partial blending patterns were observed under different handling processes. The results of EDS tests indicated that with the increase of the RAP content, the blending degree of virgin and aged binder decreased rapidly, and the homogeneity of blended binder became weakened. In addition, aging process and recycling agent could improve the efficiency of RAP binder as it is blended with virgin one, and it should be noted that the inter-diffusion of old and new binders need enough time. This methodology provides a systemic approach to determine the degree of binder blending in RAP mixture.