Liseane Padilha Thives

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1. Introduction Proper asphalt characterization in virgin and ageing conditions is essential to predict and ensure the asphalt mixture’s mechanical behaviour in the field. The asphalt ageing process during asphalt mixture production and construction (short-term) and the pavement service life (long-term) must be evaluated, considering that it negatively influences pavement performance [1,2,3]. In order to give a good indication of the ageing effects, asphalt is conditioned in the laboratory.

3. Results and Discussions 3.1. Physical Characterization 3.1.1. Penetration presents the average results from the penetration tests conducted on both virgin/original samples at 25 °C. It can be observed that the Warm Mix Asphalt (WMA) additive led to a reduction of approximately 12% in penetration when compared to WMA_Ref (49 10−1 mm) as opposed to HMA_Ref (56 10−1 mm). With more Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement (RAP) content, penetration decreased, indicating an increase in sample stiffness.