Prediction of the Long-Term Performance of an Existing Warm Recycled Motorway Pavement

Abstract

Warm mix asphalt (WMA) technologies allow the production, lay-down and compaction of asphalt mixtures at reduced temperatures and the use of higher amounts of reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) with respect to conventional hot mix asphalt (HMA), leading to significant environmental benefits and energy savings. However, limited data is available on the long-term performance of such pavements. The objective of this study was to predict the long-term performance of an existing warm recycled motorway pavement (made with WMA mixtures containing RAP) constructed in 2016 in central Italy, along with the corresponding hot recycled pavement (made with HMA mixtures containing RAP). For this purpose, cores were taken from the pavements in 2022 to investigate the binder and base courses through dynamic modulus and cyclic fatigue tests, according to the simplified viscoelastic continuum damage (S-VECD) testing approach. The results of the tests were used to predict the service life of the pavements using two pieces of software, KENPAVE and FlexPAVE, based respectively on the elastic design method and the viscoelastic design method in the presence of damage. The FlexPAVE results indicated that the expected service life of the WMA pavement is much longer than that of the HMA pavement, mainly because the WMA mixtures have better damage properties than the HMA mixtures. Conversely, the KENPAVE simulations predicted a similar service life for the two pavements, highlighting the impossibility of the elastic method to catch the actual contribution of high-performance non-standard materials. The promising outcomes of the FlexPAVE simulations further encourage the application of warm recycled pavements.

Feasibility Analysis of Polyurethane-Prepolymer-Modified Bitumen Used for Fully Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement (FRAP)

“…Materials 2023, 16,5686 results in a reduction in asphalt content, which yet impairs the flexibility of binder.…”

“…The WMA technology may have a detrimental influence on the rutting resistance of the mixture, which can be alleviated by increasing RAP content and adding rejuvenators [ 15 ]. Lorenzo I. et al [ 16 ] predicted the long-term performance of an existing warm recycled highway pavement in Italy on the basis of the simplified viscoelastic continuum damage (S-VECD) testing approach. The results demonstrated that the WMA pavement possesses longer service life than the HMA pavement.…”