Eur. Phys. J. Appl. Phys. (2012) 58: 21001 DOI: 10.1051/epjap/2012110102 THE EUROPEAN PHYSICAL JOURNAL APPLIED PHYSICS Research Article Analyzing the influence of manufacturing conditions of reclaimed asphalt concrete on the characteristics of the asphalt binder: development of a gradual binder extraction method J. Navaro 1,2,3, a , D. Bruneau 1 , I. Drouadaine 2 , B. Pouteau 2 , J. Colin 3 , and A. Dony 3 1 Laboratoire TREFLE (UMR 8508), Arts et M´etiers ParisTech – Bordeaux, Esplanade des Arts et M´etiers, 33405 Talence Cedex, France 2 EUROVIA, Centre de Recherche de M´erignac, 22 rue Thierry Sabine, 33703 M´erignac, France 3 Laboratoire GREMACOR, ´ Ecole Sp´eciale des Travaux Publics, 28 avenue du pr´esident Wilson, 94234 Cachan, France Received: 10 March 2011 / Received in final form: 20 March 2012 / Accepted: 21 March 2012 Published online: 9 May 2012 – c  EDP Sciences 2012 Abstract. When asphalt concrete is manufactured incorporating a high percentage (almost 70%) of re- claimed materials from the deconstruction of road surfaces under renovation, and when the corresponding production device is designed specifically to reduce the energy input need (lowering the production temper- ature), the resulting manufacturing process contributes to the protection of the environment and reduces production costs. However, to meet the quality requirements of the finished product, virgin materials of appropriate quality and quantity must also be added (mineral aggregates and new asphalt binder) and control systems set up to quantify and optimize the parameters involved (thus avoiding the guess work which still often prevails today). It was for this reason that a new experimental technique described here was devised, which will ultimately be used in asphalt concrete production plants. The technique involves lixiviating reclaimed asphalt concrete using a chlorinated solvent; the resulting solute is collected gradually, then the mixture of binders (virgin and reclaimed asphalt concrete) can be characterized and their mass fractions quantified using a combination of UV and IR spectrometry. With this experimental technique we were able to assess the extent to which the reclaimed asphalt pavement binder participates in the agglomeration and cohesion of the reclaimed asphalt concrete. This assessment was made in terms of the main parameters in the production process, temperature of the materials and mixing time. Nomenclature Abbreviations, Latin symbols A Aggregates B Binder (bitumen) C Concentration (–) CI Carbonyl Index (–) Cp Heat capacity (J kg −1 K −1 ) F Cumulated mass fraction of RacB collected during lixiviation process (–) h Height (–) Im Immersed IR Infrared m Mass (kg) n Wave number (cm −1 ) Rac Reclaimed asphalt concrete RacA Rac Aggregates RacB Rac Binder a e-mail: julien.navaro@eurovia.com Rap Reclaimed asphalt pavement RapA Rap Aggregates RapB Rap Binder S Surface (–) Sol i Solution i T Temperature ( ◦ C) T m Mixing temperature ( ◦ C) t Time (s) t m Mixing time (s) UV Ultraviolet VA Virgin Aggregates VB Virgin Binder Subscripts m Mixing Superscripts d Minimum diameter of Rac sample (mm) D Maximum diameter of Rac sample (mm) 21001-p1