3D Finite Element Model for Recycled Asphalt Mixtures with High Percentages of Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement Rutting Simulation

The rising cost of asphalt pavements reconstruction, the discussion of non-renewable resources maintenance and reducing the harmful impacts caused by reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) disposal have led to reusing RAP material and studying its effects on asphalt mixture performance. In this paper, recycled asphalt mixtures with higher contents of RAP were investigated, and a method was defined for evaluating the rutting behavior of conventional and recycled asphalt mixtures. Rutting is one of the major distresses in flexible pavements, commonly caused by the accumulation of permanent deformation in the asphalt layer of the pavement structure during its service life. For study purpose, conventional and recycled asphalt samples (containing 50% and 80% RAP + rejuvenator agents) were prepared. Then indirect tensile and uniaxial repeated loading tests were conducted to obtain elastic and creep properties of the studied mixtures. The available creep power-law model in ABAQUS finite element program was used to simulate rutting. After developing models, fairly acceptable outputs have been achieved regarding wheel track test results. Moreover, results showed that the addition of 50% and 80% RAP decreased rut depth by 33% and 47%, respectively.