Effectiveness of rejuvenator seal materials on performance of asphalt pavement

• The method for evaluate the effectiveness of rejuvenator seal materials (RSM) is provided.
• Diffusion process between RSM and aged asphalt is studied.
• Effective penetration depth of RSM was determined by carbonyl area index and predicted ductility of extracted binder.

The objective of this paper is to investigate the effectiveness of Rejuvenator Seal Materials (RSM) on the behavior of Hot Asphalt Mixtures (HMA). Firstly, temperature sweep test was conducted to determine the effectiveness of extracted process. Secondly, the penetration depth of RSM on HMA was studied by means of rheology test and FTIR test. Lastly, the diffusion test of RSM on aged asphalt binder was also performed. The effective penetration depth of RSM was determined by carbonyl area index and predicted ductility of extracted binder. The results indicated that the RSM can effectively soften the aged asphalt binder in 0–10 mm depth in the asphalt mixture. Furthermore, different RSM exhibit different effective penetration depth in HMA and different diffusion effect with asphalt binder. The results of this paper will help the practice to have better understanding on the effectiveness evaluation of RSM for HMA and give recommendations to guide future field application of RSM.