Research of Temperature Change of Pavement Heating in the Process of Hot In-Place Recycling of Asphalt Concrete

Abstract

The object of research is the technology of hot asphalt concrete regeneration by the in-place method. Temperature regimes for heating asphalt concrete pavement are one of the key technological parameters that affect the quality of the output regenerated asphalt concrete. In order to establish the dependence of the temperature of the pavement heating at different depths on the heating time, field studies are carried out directly when performing work on the hot regeneration of asphalt concrete using the Reshape method. The work is carried out at an ambient temperature of 25–30 °C and calm weather. The regenerated hot asphalt mix, which is used when conducting studies on the grain composition and bitumen content, corresponded to a hot, fine-grained mixture, dense asphalt concrete, type A, continuous granulometry, grade II, in accordance with DSTU B V.2.7-119:2011. Content of residual bitumen loosened asphalt crumb is 6.0 %. During the research, measurements are carried out at different speeds (1.8 m/min and 2.1 m/min) of the thermal installation for heating the Wirtgen HM 4500 asphalt concrete pavement (country of origin is Germany). The obtained graphical dependencies and mathematical models make it possible to determine that the most optimal pavement heating mode is gradual heating. This mode will allow avoiding the burning of bitumen and provide pavement heating at the level of the base of the regenerated layer, which is very important when determining the temperature of mixing the mixture. Analysis of graphs and mathematical models suggests that a decrease in the temperature of the pavement heating by at least 10–20 °C will lead to an increase in the performance of the thermal device. In this case, the increase in productivity can be from 20 % to 25 %, which will reduce the gas consumption and, accordingly, the cost of work. Thus, the obtained dependencies can be used to optimize the process of hot asphalt concrete regeneration by the in-place method.