Construction and Building Materials 77 (2015) 5058

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Construction and Building Materials

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/conbuildmat

The inuence of warm mix asphalt on binders in mixes that contain

recycled asphalt materials
Ashley Buss a,, R. Christopher Williams b, Scott Schram c
a
Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering, Iowa State University, 394 Town Engineering Building, Ames, IA 50011, United States
b
Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering, Iowa State University, 490 Town Engineering Building, Ames, IA 50011, United States
c
Iowa Department of Transportation, Ofce of Materials, 800 Lincoln Way, Ames, IA 50010, United States

h i g h l i g h t s

 Field production and evaluation of warm mix asphalt (WMA) using three technologies.
 Similar performance for HMA and WMA, with WMA having lower air voids on average.
 Evaluation of WMA/HMA using recycled asphalt materials via extraction and recovery.
 After recovery, no measurable long-term inuences from WMA additives in binders.
 Reduced production temperatures do not show long term impacts on binder properties.

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Rheological effects of warm mix asphalt (WMA) additives have been carefully studied in the laboratory
Received 5 August 2014 since their introduction. Research has shown that reduced plant temperatures decrease the aging of the
Received in revised form 12 December 2014 asphalt binder. It is important to determine if the reduction in the asphalt binder grade is still detectable
Accepted 13 December 2014
after in-service aging. Each pavement represents one of the three predominate types of WMA technolo-
Available online 2 January 2015
gies: chemical modiers, wax modiers and a foaming process. All mixes in the study included RAP and
some with recycled asphalt shingles (RAS). The performance grade (PG) was determined for virgin bind-
Keywords:
ers. Field-cores were measured for density. Binder from cores was extracted and recovered to compare
Warm mix asphalt
Recycled asphalt pavement
between the HMA and WMA. Field performance surveys compared HMA and WMA test sections. Findings
Recycled asphalt shingles show little evidence to suggest WMA facilitates the incorporation of higher amounts of recycled asphalt
materials. The recycled binder had a larger inuence on binder properties compared to WMA additives.
Performance surveys for HMA and WMA mixtures were comparable. Recovered binder from eld cores
showed similar performance in both HMA and WMA binders. All three mixtures comparing WMA and
HMA mixes show evidence that the reduced production temperatures do not have long term impacts
on the binder properties.
2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction industry, multiple benets were exhibited and discussed including

Warm mix asphalt (WMA) technologies are being increasingly
used to reduce mixing and compaction temperatures of hot mix
asphalt (HMA). The WMA technologies are available in the form
of additives or asphalt plant modications. The use of warm mix
asphalt with recycled asphalt materials has added another layer
of complexity to quality control and quality assurance practices
in the asphalt industry. During the introduction of WMA to the
Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: abuss@iastate.edu (A. Buss), rwilliam@iastate.edu (R.C.
Williams), Scott.Schram@dot.iowa.gov (S. Schram).
the combined use of WMA and recycled asphalt material but little
research has been done to investigate the inuence of WMA binder
on mixes containing recycled asphalt materials that have under-
gone some in situ aging. This research focuses on measuring the
effect of using a warm mix asphalt additive in conjunction with
recycled asphalt materials that include recycled asphalt pavement
(RAP) and/or recycled asphalt shingles (RAS). WMA works in two
ways that are synergistic to using recycled asphalt materials. First,
the WMA reduces the mixing/compaction temperatures which will
reduce aging of the virgin binder, creating an overall softer binder
compared to a mix that is produced at a higher temperature. This
effect is measured in this research by collecting virgin binder and

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2014.12.023
0950-0618/ 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 A. Buss et al. / Construction and Building Materials 77 (2015) 5058
eld cores. The binder from the eld cores is then extracted and
recovered to compare WMA/HMA differences for both virgin and
recovered binders. The second reason WMA works well in mixes
using recycled asphalt materials is due to the improved compacta-
bility. Compaction improvements allow for a stiffer mixture, which
is characteristic of mixes with recycled asphalt materials, to reach
target density. In this research, eld cores were collected after
2 years of trafc for WMA and HMA sections and comparing the
densities of the eld cores will determine if WMA and HMA show
differences in the compactability.
The purpose of this paper is to measure the impact of WMA
technologies on mixes with various amounts and types of recycled
asphalt materials and measure the inuence of WMA on the bin-
der, compaction and pavement performance after 1 or 2 years of
in situ aging in the eld. This will evaluate the collective use of
WMA with recycled asphalt materials. The detailed objectives are:
 to determine if any reduction in the continuous asphalt grade is
still detectable after some in-service aging,
 determine the inuence shingles have on WMA binder com-
pared with RAP and show how the differences change with
additional shingles added to the mixture,
 determine if there is evidence to support the premise that WMA
may allow for additional RAP,
 observe pavement performance for two consecutive years, and
 compare eld core density to determine if WMA binders play a
role in the densication process of WMA.
2. Background
Within the last 15 years, a great deal of asphalt research has
focused on sustainable practices and developing warm mix asphalt
materials. The research of warm mix asphalt began in the 1950s
with foamed asphalt [1]. Further studies on foamed asphalt were
conducted in the 1980s and found that curing temperature, length
and moisture conditions dramatically affect the strength of foamed
asphalt mixtures that contain sand and RAP [2]. In addition to
foaming asphalt with water via plant modications, synthetic zeo-
lite additives were also developed for the purpose of foaming
asphalt. Chemical and wax modiers were also developed as warm
mix asphalt additives. Driving the development of the WMA tech-
nologies are the production benets such as reduction in fuel cost,
reduced emissions, improved compactability, a longer paving sea-
son, longer haul distances and the use of WMA with recycled
asphalt materials [35].
The commercially available additives used in this study
included a wax additive, a forestry products chemical additive,
and a foaming plant modication. The wax additive is a Fischer
Tropsch parafn wax. The FischerTropsch (FT) process produces
the ne crystalline, long-chain aliphatic hydrocarbon that makes
up the wax. The wax allows for a reduction in production temper-
atures of 1030 C and is added at 3% by weight of the mix to gain
the desired temperature reduction but should not exceed 4% due to
potential impact to the binders low temperature properties [6].
The chemical additive used in this study is derived from the forest
products industry and is commercially available. This additive con-
tains surfactant properties that emulsify the asphalt [7,8]. A plant
modication was used to produce foamed asphalt at reduced plant
temperatures. The foaming of the asphalt is controlled by injecting
water to the asphalt through nozzles that create small water drop-
lets as the binder is being mixed with hot aggregates. Studying dif-
ferences in the HMA and WMA eld binders after in-service aging
will help to detect long-term differences between HMA and WMA
in the various WMA technologies.
Laboratory studies have shown that measureable differences do
occur in mixture properties between WMA and HMA mixes [9,10].
51
A study which used laboratory aged binders demonstrated how
certain WMA modiers will signicantly change the rheological
and failure properties of the binders. Investigation of articially
aged binders helps to identify where potential changes in the eld
may occur as a result of using WMA technologies. Measuring the
differences in viscosity between WMA and HMA in laboratory
studies provides evidence for what will likely occur in the eld.
Another WMA study suggests some of the laboratory differences
between binders may be due to variability in oxidative stability
or due to viscosity effects [11]. A laboratory study focused on quan-
tifying the long-term effects of WMA additives on binders aged in
the laboratory at set time intervals. This study found that the WMA
binder had the lower shear modulus which is likely due to the
20 C reduction in rolling thing lm oven (RTFO) aging [12]. As
other variables in the eld are added, such as recycled asphalt
materials, it is important to investigate the impacts of WMA addi-
tives and processes on rheological properties, pavement density
and performance.
In general, studies have shown good performance of WMA
pavements and WMA technologies do achieve reduced mixing
and compaction temperatures [13]. The incorporation of moderate
to high amounts of RAP in WMA is hypothesized to work well
because the reduction in temperature allows for less stiffening of
the binder compared to a conventional mixture and a national
study showed that using RAP with WMA exhibited adequate bin-
der blending [5]. A study looking at high RAP mixes in Europe
found no differences between a WMA and conventional mixture
with the exception of a signicant reduction in production temper-
ature. The mixture performance test indicated that the WMA addi-
tive did not affect the stiffness nor the fatigue life [14]. In a WMA-
high RAP eld trial in Florida, mixture testing indicated a softer
material response in WMA pavement with a high RAP content of
45%. Dynamic modulus values were similar but the Hirsh and
Witczak models under estimated the E values. An explanation
for the differences between the HMA and WMA test results pre-
sented in the study is the incomplete blending of virgin and recy-
cled binder in the WMA mixture, due to the lower production
temperatures [15]. Since differences were detectable, further stud-
ies are needed for mixes with both high and typical amounts of
RAP. A synthesis review of WMA suggested selecting slightly
higher temperatures when WMA is used with high RAP amounts
[16].
Identifying differences in WMA and HMA mixes is complicated
by the multiple technologies available. Some changes in mixture
properties may exist with a particular additive where another
additive may indicate no detectable difference between WMA
and HMA properties. For example, studies have shown that a
FischerTropsch wax increases the viscosity of binders at 60 C
[17]. The variety of technologies can inuence mixture properties
in different ways. The focus of this research is to examine the inu-
ence of multiple WMA additive types in eld projects that contain
various amounts of recycled asphalt materials over time.
3. Mixture and material information
Three pavement projects were selected to be constructed with
both hot mix asphalt and warm mix asphalt test sections. Each pro-
ject used a different type of WMA technology and all three were
constructed during the same construction season. The following
construction season, three additional WMA projects were con-
structed. At the time of production, virgin binder was collected
from the tank at the asphalt plant for each project. The virgin bin-
der was tested to verify the performance grade (PG) and compare
HMA and WMA binders. Testing of the virgin binder also estab-
lished a baseline from which to compare recovered binder samples.
52 A. Buss et al. / Construction and Building Materials 77 (2015) 5058

The projects were selected in different regions within the State of
Iowa. Fig. 1 displays the location for each pavement included in
this research and shows each of the major types of WMA, chemi-
cal/wax/foaming, which were added to the mixture by the contrac-
tor or supplier. Table 1 shows the project name, location, HMA/
WMA technology and important mixture details. The mixture
designs range from 300 thousand (K) to 10 million equivalent sin-
gle axle loads (ESAL) and the binder grades include PG 64-22, PG
64-28, and PG 58-28. Most of the pavements contain approxi-
mately 20% RAP with the exception of Hwy 13 in Clayton County
which contained 5% RAP. The limited amount of recycled asphalt
material in this pavement helps to compare the difference between
using only 5% and 20% RAP in a WMA mixture. The US 61 (Musca-
tine) project studies the use of shingles with WMA and includes 0%,
5% and 7% recycled asphalt shingles (RAS).
4. Experimental plan and test methodology
Fig. 2 shows the experimental plan that was developed to com-
pare the asphalt binders and eld cores. Original binder properties
were evaluated to measure initial differences between the WMA
binder and the HMA binder. Table 2 shows the full testing plan
for the binders. The testing plan allows for comparison of WMA/
HMA binder in the eld with the WMA/HMA virgin binder proper-
ties. Rheology testing for virgin and recovered binders were per-
formed in the same way except binders were not RTFO aged
since the aging that occurs during construction is assumed to have
already taken place. It is also expected that recovered binder will
be stiffer than the virgin binder because of the recycled asphalt
materials used in the pavements and the natural aging that occurs
in the top layer of asphalt pavements due to oxidation and ultra-
violet light exposure in the eld.
4.1. Performance grade binder tests
The binder testing for original and recovered binders followed
Superpave standard specication for Performance Graded Asphalt
Binders, American Association of State Highway and Transporta-
tion Ofcials (AASHTO) M320. The AASHTO M320 test provides
each binders performance grade and gives detailed information
about the rheological differences between the binder groups
shown in Table 2. First, virgin binders were tested in a dynamic
shear rheometer (DSR) manufactured by TA Instruments, model
AR1500ex, shown in Fig. 3(a). Testing was performed according

Fig. 1. Project locations for mixes included in study.

Table 1
Mixture summary.

Code Year Road name Project location Project number WMA technology ESAL level Binder RAP RAS
grade (%) (%)
Floyd 2009 U.S. Route 218 Charles City, IA Bypass NHSX-218-9(129)3H-34 Chemical additive HMA 10M 64-28 17
Marcus 2009 Iowa Hwy 143 North of Marcus, IA STP-143-1(4)2C-18 FischerTropsch HMA 3M 64-22 20
wax
Warren 2009 U.S. Route 65 SB Lanes of US 65 STP-065-3(57)2C-91 Foaming HMA 3M 64-22 20
North of Indianola, IA
Tama 2010 County Hwy East of Laurel, IA STP-S-C064(110)5E-64 Chemical additive HMA 64-22 20
E67 300K
Clayton 2010 Iowa Hwy 13 South of Strawberry MP-013-2(704)5976-22 Chemical additive HMA 1M 64-22 5
Point, IA
Muscatine-0 2010 U.S. Route 61 Northbound lanes HSIPX-061-4(107)3L-70 Chemical additive HMA 1M 58-28 20
Muscatine-5 2010 U.S. Route 61 between Muscatine, IA HSIPX-061-4(107)3L-70 Chemical additive HMA 1M 58-28 13 5
Muscatine-7 2010 U.S. Route 61 and Blue Grass, IA HSIPX-061-4(107)3L-70 Chemical additive HMA 1M 58-28 6 7
 A. Buss et al. / Construction and Building Materials 77 (2015) 5058 53

The rotary evaporator system uses nitrogen gas as a blanket

Fig. 2. Experimental plan overview.
to AASHTO T-315 where the high temperature failure parameter of
G/sin(d) is equal to 1.0 kPa. Virgin binder was then short-term
aged in an RTFO, model CS325-B, manufactured by James Cox &
Sons, shown in Fig. 3(b). RTFO simulates the aging that occurs dur-
ing the construction process. The RTFO aged binder is tested in the
DSR with a failure parameter of G/sin(d) equal to 2.2 kPa. The
remaining RTFO binder is placed in the PAV for long term aging
at 100 C at 2.1 MPa for 20 h according to AASHTO R28. This simu-
lates aging in the eld that occurs over 710 years in service. The
PAV used in this testing was manufactured by Applied Systems,
Inc. After PAV aging, the binder is degassed and bending beam rhe-
ometer (BBR) beams are prepared. The BBR, manufactured by Can-
non Instrument Company and shown in Fig. 3(d), measures low
temperature properties according to AASHTO T-313. The binder
properties of stiffness and the rate of change in stiffness (m-value)
are measured in the BBR. The binder stiffness properties impact the
amount of recycled materials that can be added to a mix. WMA
may allow for higher incorporations of recycled asphalt materials
if a binder stiffness reduction is detectable in WMA pavements.
4.2. Extraction and recovery
Extraction and recovery was performed according to ASTM
D2172 and ASTM D5404, respectively. A tolueneethanol blend
was used as the solvent to avoid using harsher chemicals. Two cen-
trifuges were used in the extraction process. The rst centrifuge
uses an aluminum bowl and lter paper to lter out the aggregates
from the asphalttoluene solution. The very ne particles were
then removed using the second high speed centrifuge where the
mineral ller is separated from the solventbinder solution. Once
the binder is fully separated from the aggregate, the solution is
placed in the rotary evaporator system for distillation.
over the solution so no oxidation of the asphalt will occur during
recovery. Once the solvent is fully distilled, the binder will be ready
for subsequent performance grade binder tests. Prior to performing
extraction and recovery on eld cores, the recovery process was
calibrated by using a binder that had already been tested. The bin-
der was dissolved in solvent and then recovered using the same
process that was used for the cores. The recovered binder was
tested in the DSR to ensure that the rheological properties were
similar to the original binder properties. Binder properties were
matched only when glass marbles were used in the rotary evapo-
rator to ensure all of the solvent was distilled off. When marbles
were not used, the binder displayed a signicantly reduced stiff-
ness. At least three marbles were used for each recovery.
This testing study series found that the tolueneethanol solvent
does not work with the wax additive. The recovered wax-modied
binder was extremely soft and was not able to be tested at typical
DSR temperatures. This indicated that the wax additive had
trapped solvent in the binder. The rst sample was discarded and
a second sample of the wax-modied mixture was prepared for
extraction and recovery using normal propyl bromide. The recov-
ery was successful with the normal propyl bromide solvent.
4.3. Collection of eld cores and eld performance surveys
Studying binder properties allows for material characterization
at the micro-level but WMA additive impacts should be studied at
a system performance level as well. Each of the mixes studied have
physical pavement locations in Iowa which allows for annual pave-
ment condition surveys. Field cores were collected allowing for 1
or 2 years of eld aging and trafc densication, depending on
the project date of construction. Density of eld cores was mea-
sured using the CoreLok system according to AASHTO T331. Binder
from pavement cores was extracted and recovered to evaluate the
impact of WMA additives after at least 1 year of aging in the eld.
The extracted binder properties will also help to show how RAP
inuences the performance grade and whether there are detectible
benets from using warm mix asphalt additives. The binder recov-
ery was performed on only the surface layer which consisted of the
mixtures used in this study.
The pavement condition survey information is used to compare
overall performance of each pavement section and to investigate
any differences between the HMA and WMA sections. The projects
were too large to survey the entire pavement so three 500 ft
(152.4 m) sections were selected randomly within the stationing
for each mixture. The survey occurred on those sections. The sur-
veyed areas were marked with roadway marking paint and were
surveyed the following year. Primary measurements include the
length and severity of transverse, longitudinal, edge cracking, rut-
ting and popouts. Studying this evidence will show if WMA and
HMA have similar performance in the eld.

Table 2
Testing plan for original and recovered binders.

Binder Virgin binder DSR RTFO DSR Recovered binder DSR PAV DSR Recovered PAV DSR BBR Recovered BBR
Floyd WMA XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX
Floyd HMA XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX
Marcus WMA XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX
Marcus HMA XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX
Warren WMA XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX
Warren HMA XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX
Tama WMA XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX
Clayton WMA XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX
Muscatine-0% XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX
Muscatine-5% XXX XXX XXX
Muscatine-7% XXX XXX XXX
54 A. Buss et al. / Construction and Building Materials 77 (2015) 5058

Fig. 3. Binder testing equipment. (a) Dynamic shear rheometer. (b) Rolling thin lm oven. (c) Pressure aging vessel. (d) Bending beam rheometer (Photos by Ka Lai Ng Puga).

5. Results

5.1. Binder results

The binder data for each mixture is graphed in the same chart
for easy comparison. All tests were run in triplicate and the graphs
show the average of the three test results. The error bars in each
gure show the 95% condence interval. The important compari-
sons are the observed differences between HMA and WMA binder
properties in the original binders and in the cores. Comparing the
original binder measures the inuence WMA has on the binder at
the beginning of a pavements life and the cores measure the dif-
ferences in the binder after the pavement has undergone aging in
the eld. The binders will also show different low temperature
properties. The lower mixing and compaction temperatures reduce
aging of the asphalt binder [4] and it is important to see if there are
any measureable low-temperature benets in the WMA binders
extracted from the eld cores. Similarly, the high temperature Fig. 4. Binder results for Floyd mixture containing 17% RAP.
comparison will ensure that no negative effects are occurring due
to WMA technologies. Figs. 47 display the failure temperatures
of the binders tested and serve as a visual representation of the for HMA and WMA shows almost identical results indicating that
performance grade range for binders at both high and low there is little difference between the two binders after 2 years in
temperatures. the eld and binder recovery. The PAV test results showed slightly
Fig. 4 displays the binder test results for the Floyd mixture. The higher failure temperatures for the WMA binders at intermediate
binder for the Floyd mixture is a PG 64-28 and the WMA technology temperatures for both original and recovered binders. The similar-
is a forest products chemical modier. Seventeen percent RAP was ities in the intermediate failure temperatures suggest no evidence
added to the mixture and the increased stiffness is reected in the of long term benets for adding the chemical-based WMA additive
recovered binder properties. The virgin HMA binder has a slightly for fatigue cracking. The BBR data in Fig. 4 shows both binders
higher failure temperature compared with the WMA, indicating meeting the 28 C minimum with the WMA original binder hav-
reduced stiffness in the WMA binder. The WMA has a slightly lower ing the lowest failure temperature followed by the HMA failure
failure temperature for the RTFO aged binder. Field cores were temperature with just under a 0.5 C difference. Comparison of
obtained after 2 years of in-service aging and the recovered binder the recovered binders for HMA and WMA show the same low fail-
 A. Buss et al. / Construction and Building Materials 77 (2015) 5058
Fig. 5. Binder results for Marcus mixture containing 20% RAP.
Fig. 6. Binder results for Warren mixture containing 20% RAP.
ure temperature with only a 0.2 C difference. The BBR binder tests
indicate that the inclusion of RAP and in-eld aging increased the
low temperature grade of the binder and reduced the inuence of
the WMA additive. The RAP benets the high temperature by stiff-
ening the binder to exceed the high temperature requirements.
There is 17% RAP in this mix and the recovered binder grade reects
the changes due to RAP and 2 years of in-service aging.
Fig. 5 shows the Marcus mixture binder testing. The HMA and
WMA binders have similar original binder properties when com-
pared for virgin, RTFO and PAV aged material. The binder grade
for the Marcus mixture is a PG 64-22 and the WMA additive is a
wax additive. Twenty percent RAP was used in this mixture and
the inuence on binder stiffness is evident in Fig. 5, showing an
increase in the recovered binder stiffness. The WMA and HMA
binders recovered from eld cores show similar increases with
HMA being slightly stiffer. The stiffness differences are approxi-
mately 3 C. The wax-modied WMA binder was initially extracted
with a tolueneethanol blend which left a soft sticky binder that
failed immediately in the DSR. The toluene was an adequate sol-
vent for other WMA mixes, but did not perform well as a solvent
for the wax-modied binder. One hypothesis is that the wax and
binder structure trapped the solvent within the molecular struc-
ture. The binder was subjected to a long period of time in the
rotary evaporator without any success in removing additional sol-
vent. Extraction was repeated on additional cores using a normal
55
propyl bromide based solvent. The n-propyl-bromide appeared to
adequately dissolve and be extracted from the wax modied bin-
der. The PAV data for Marcus, shown in Fig. 5, displays the same
trends that were observed in the chemical WMA additive in the
Floyd mixture. No apparent differences are shown at intermediate
and low failure temperatures for the recovered WMA binders.
The nal HMA/WMA comparison is the Warren mixture, Fig. 6,
which uses a foaming additive to achieve WMA characteristics. The
virgin binder is a PG 64-22 and the mixture contained 20% RAP. The
original binder results actually show the same binder because the
foaming occurred on a plant modication but testing the virgin
binder collected on the date of construction was important because
there was a 9 day time lapse between the HMA and WMA mixture
production due to inclement weather. The additional testing
ensures that each tank binder had the same properties. The binder
results show the same properties for the WMA and HMA produc-
tion days. The recovered binder also shows similar high failure
temperatures grades for WMA and HMA. This is expected because
it would be unlikely as the foaming process should leave no long-
term impacts on the binder. The intermediate and low failure tem-
peratures are the same for the recovered HMA and WMA. Overall,
the binder grade will be inuenced by the addition of RAP and
aging in the eld and the binder testing results show no long-term
inuences from the WMA foaming production process for high,
intermediate and low temperatures. All three mixtures use differ-
ent WMA technologies and all show evidence that the reduced pro-
duction temperatures do not have long term impacts on the binder
properties.
The remaining mixes in the binder study incorporate WMA
binders modied using a chemical additive. The parameter of
interest is the comparison of high and low temperature binder
properties of these WMA mixes as higher amounts of binder are
replaced by different amounts and types of recycled asphalt
materials.
The Tama mix contains 20% RAP and the Clayton mixture con-
tains only 5% RAP and results are shown in Fig. 7. Comparatively,
the recovered binders show a higher increase in binder stiffness
for the Tama mixture due to the higher RAP content but the bene-
ts of using recycled material may be worth the slight increase in
stiffness. The difference between the virgin and recovered high
temperatures was an increase of 7.6 and 10.4 C for Clayton (5%
RAP) and Tama (20% RAP), respectively. The difference between
the virgin and recovered low temperatures was an increase of 1.6
and 6.31 C for Clayton (5% RAP) and Tama (20% RAP), respectively.
The limitations of this comparison is that these are two different
mixes produced at different plants; however, both mixes use a
PG 64-22 binder and in situ aging conditions are similar as the
pavements are located within 125 miles of each other. Comparing
the two mixes shows that the extra 15% of RAP will likely increase
the low temperature grade but provides a more sustainable mix-
ture. Continuation of pavement surveys will show if measureable
differences in performance is evident.
The Muscatine WMA mixture used a combination of RAP and
RAS to investigate the effects of using RAP and RAS on WMA binder
properties. The Muscatine mix used a PG 58-28 virgin binder and
was produced in three variants with different amounts of recycled
asphalt material. Muscatine 0% RAS contained 20% RAP, Musca-
tine 5% RAS contained 13% RAP and Muscatine 7% RAS contained
6% RAP. Binder replacement was approximately 20%, 30% and 30%,
respectively. The overall binder replacement of 30% is the same for
the 5% and 7% shingle mixes but the binder in the RAS is stiffer than
the RAP binder. Since the 30% binder replacement uses different
amounts of RAP and RAS, the mixes will have different resultant
PG grades which will inuence the mixture performance. The Mus-
catine binder results are shown in Fig. 8. The virgin binder grade
met PG 58-28 requirements. The binder grade increased as more
56 A. Buss et al. / Construction and Building Materials 77 (2015) 5058
Fig. 7. Binder results for Clayton and Tama mixtures.
binder replacement occurred with the recycled binder and as
higher amounts of shingles were added. This trend is also reected
at intermediate and low temperature testing with the stiffness
increasing from 0% RAS to 7% RAS. The 5% RAS mixture increased
the low temperature by approximately 6.5 C and the 7% RAS
increased the low temperature by 13 C compared to the Musca-
tine 0% RAS mixture. The low temperature grade increases are
expected due to the relatively high stiffness of binders in RAS.
The primary limitation of RAS is the increase in stiffness docu-
mented in the binder testing. RAS should be used with caution in
cold regions that are prone to thermal cracking. The low tempera-
ture grade increase was 6.5 C as a result of increasing shingles
from 5% to 7%. The recommended best practice is to verify the
resultant PG of a mixture that uses high amounts of RAS.
5.2. Field core density and pavement performance surveys
Studying control and experimental WMA mixes in the eld pro-
vide an opportunity to compare densities of constructed pave-
ments. Density and air voids are dependent on the aggregate
gradation curve, the amount of asphalt and construction practices.
Trafc on an asphalt pavement over time will also increase the
density. Core air voids obtained by AASHTO T331 are shown in
Fig. 8. Binder results for Muscatine mixture. High temperature estimated by
extrapolation due to temperature being too high for current DSR measurements.
Fig. 9 and each bar represents the average of seven core air voids
and the error bars represent the 95% condence interval. The cores
for Floyd, Marcus and Warren were collected after 2 years of den-
sication from trafc and the cores from Tama, Clayton and Mus-
catine were collected after 1 year of service. Floyd, Marcus and
Warren (the mixes where HMA and WMA were studied) show
increased average density for all three WMA mixtures. The Musca-
tine mixture, which studied the inuence of RAP and RAS, shows
that increased levels of recycled asphalt materials did not nega-
tively inuence the eld air voids. The largest difference in HMA
and WMA air voids is the Warren mixture where the foamed
asphalt had an approximate average of 4% air voids and the HMA
mix had an average of 5.8% air voids. Overall, the average WMA
air voids were lower for WMA mixes compared to HMA mixes
but statistical differences were not observed at the 95% condence
interval.
The pavement surveys were performed for 2 years. Pavement
surveys were conducted according to the long-term pavement per-
formance (LTPP) program guidelines [18]. The full project length
was too long to survey so three 500 ft (152.4 m) sections were
selected at random. Floyd, Marcus and Warren pavements were
surveyed 2 and 3 years following construction. Tama, Clayton
and Muscatine were surveyed 1 and 2 years following construc-
tion. No fatigue cracking was present on the pavement sections
surveyed. The most prevalent pavement distresses were transverse
cracking and rutting. Transverse cracking will sometimes be
caused by low-temperature cracking but may also be caused by
reective cracking. Rutting depth was measured at three locations
in the wheel path and an average is reported in Fig. 10. Rutting
measurements are not available for Clayton and the rutting for
the Muscatine mixtures is not reported because it is located on a
shoulder and does not see trafc loads that would cause rutting.
Overall, rutting measurements were comparable between HMA
and WMA mixes with the Marcus WMA showing an average lower
rutting for WMA compared to the HMA control in year 3. The trans-
verse cracking was measured using a measuring wheel transverse
within the 500 ft (152.4 m) survey sections. The transverse crack
spacing is presented in Fig. 11 and the pavements included in this
graph are overlays on concrete pavement. All mixtures except
Floyd and Tama were HMA overlays on PCC. Floyd and Tama mixes
were an HMA on HMA. The crack spacing measured will be depen-
dent on overlay properties as well as the underlying condition of
the PCC. Underlying pavement condition can greatly inuence
the performance of an overlay. The Floyd, Tama and Muscatine
pavements exhibited no transverse cracking and were not included
in Fig. 11. The lower spacing of the transverse cracks indicates
more cracking of the test section. The WMA section of the Warren
mixture has the highest amount of transverse cracking the rst
year of pavement surveys but the Warren HMA/WMA sections
showed similar transverse crack spacing the following year. The
transverse cracking is likely due to reection cracking but cracks
appeared faster in the WMA section. There was no transverse
cracking for the Floyd, Tama and Muscatine mixes. When compar-
ing the Tama (20% RAP) and Clayton (5% RAP) pavement perfor-
mance, it is important to look at transverse cracking because this
is the failure mode that is most likely inuenced by the additional
of RAP. The Tama mixture exhibited no transverse cracking while
the Clayton mixture developed transverse cracking after the rst
year but did not show additional cracking the second year the
pavements were surveyed. The Tama mixture was an asphalt over-
lay over an asphalt pavement and the Clayton mixture was an
asphalt overlay over a jointed reinforced concrete pavement. The
performance data shows that the additional 15% RAP in the Tama
mixture did not negatively inuence the mixture performance
because no transverse cracking was observed.
 A. Buss et al. / Construction and Building Materials 77 (2015) 5058 57

Fig. 9. Field core air voids comparing HMA and WMA.

Fig. 10. Rutting measurements from pavement surveys.

Fig. 11. Spacing between transverse cracks in pavement survey sections.

58 A. Buss et al. / Construction and Building Materials 77 (2015) 5058
6. Conclusions and recommendations
Binder research of WMA technologies helps to predict the inu-
ence of WMA on mixture properties but outside factors such as
recycled asphalt materials, pavement structure and pavement den-
sity also have system-wide implications. The purpose of this
research is to investigate the in situ performance/inuence WMA
technologies have on binder properties, pavement density/air
voids and pavement performance. Studying control and experi-
mental mixes help to better evaluate the role WMA plays in the
recovered binder properties. Three WMA additives, a chemical
modier, wax additive and foaming process were investigated in
multiple pavement projects located in different regions throughout
the State of Iowa. These various projects used different amounts of
recycled asphalt materials which allowed for the measurement
WMA additives/processes have on mixes using recycled asphalt
pavement and recycled asphalt shingles. Testing of virgin and
recovered binders helped to compare and contrast the ways in
which WMA inuences binder properties in the presence of recy-
cled asphalt materials in the mixture.
The wax modied binder could not be adequately separated
from the tolueneethanol blend solvent. The use of toluene as a
solvent is a less toxic alternative to normal propyl bromide and tri-
chloroethylene. The effect of solvent type when extracting binder
containing waxes should be further evaluated because of the qual-
ity control and quality assurance implications.
Field cores were collected and pavement density was compared
for HMA and WMA mixtures. Field surveys were conducted in con-
secutive years following construction and primary distresses were
rutting and transverse cracking. The pavement performance sur-
veys for HMA and WMA mixtures were comparable. Pavement
air voids was slightly lower for the WMA mixes on average and
the foamed asphalt mixture showed the largest difference. The
Tama mixture had high air voids and was the only mix that
appeared to contain too high of air voids (above the average accep-
tance value of 8%) but since other WMA mixtures did not exhibit
the same problems, it is likely there were other causes for the high
air voids measured in the core samples.
The WMA additives allow producers to reduce the mixing and
compaction temperatures of asphalt production. There was little
evidence to suggest WMA facilitates the incorporation of higher
amounts of recycled asphalt materials because the recycled binder
had a much larger inuence on measured binder properties com-
pared to the lesser inuence from the WMA additives. As would
be expected, the recovered foamed asphalt gave the most similar
binder results to the HMA control mixture due to the release of
the entrapped water. Interestingly, the foamed asphalt pavement
sections exhibited the highest pavement density indicating
improved compactability.
Recovered binder from eld cores showed similar performance
in both HMA and WMA binders. Field densities for HMA and
WMA pavements were similar in most cases and the eld perfor-
mance results were similar as well. WMA pavement densities were
higher on average indicating that WMA technology does comple-
ment the use of recycled asphalt materials. The recovered binders
showed an increase in the low temperature performance grade
due to oxidative aging and the addition of recycled asphalt materi-
als. The binder stiffness was particularly sensitive to the amount of
RAS in a mixture. To ensure low temperature performance, even
when using WMA, the nal mixtures performance grade should
be evaluated through extraction and recovery. Future studies
should investigate the use of WMA technologies combined with
recycled asphalt materials and rejuvenators. The rejuvenators
may help to reduce the increased stiffness in recycled binders and
if used in conjunction with WMA at reduced temperatures, may
work toward creating superior-performing sustainable mixtures.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank the Iowa Department of Trans-
portation for sponsoring the demonstration projects. The authors
would like to thank the Iowa Highway Research Board for funding
this research. Special thanks are due to Paul Ledtje at Iowa State
University and to Ka Lai Ng for the pictures of binder testing equip-
ment. The authors would also like to thank Bill Rosener and the
members of the Asphalt Paving Association of Iowa.
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