Effect of Blending Behavior on the Performance of Hot Recycled Asphalt Mixtures

Blending behavior is the main factor influencing hot recycled asphalt mixtures’ actual and design performance. The following steps were taken to investigate the above issues. Firstly, the component changes of asphalt mixtures were studied by thin-layer chromatography, with flame ionization detection to obtain the mechanism of asphalt aging and recycling. Secondly, according to the difference in the recycled asphalt components, the hot recycled asphalt mixtures were optimized based on the Marshall design method. Lastly, the hot recycled asphalt mixtures for the three mixing processes were prepared using the optimized design method described above. Laboratory tests were conducted to evaluate the correlation between the degree of blending (DoB) and the high-temperature stability, low-temperature crack resistance, water stability, and fatigue performance. The test results indicate that reducing light components (saturates and aromatics) and increasing heavy components (asphaltenes and resins) are the main reasons for asphalt aging, and asphalt recycling is an inverse process. Additionally, the performance of hot recycled asphalt mixtures is improved with an increase in DoB. Specifically, the DoB is only 50% to 60% under a normal mixing process, but by adjusting parameters the DoB will increase to 80% to 90%.