Infrared spectra and rheological properties of asphalt cement containing waste engine oil residues

• Both asphalt binder and waste engine oil consist of similar function groups.
• Waste oil compromised rutting resistance and elastic recovery of asphalt binder.
• Waste oil had positive effects on low temperature properties of asphalt binder.
• The threshold of concentration was recommended based on test results.

This paper presents a study in which the engineering properties of asphalt binder containing waste engine oil residues were evaluated through laboratory performance testing. The infrared spectra and rheological properties of asphalt binder were evaluated with Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy and dynamic shear rheometer (DSR). Asphalt binder specimens containing different concentrations of waste engine oil were fabricated with two types of binder, PG64-22 and PG76-22, and were blended with two types of laboratory aged binders to simulate the inclusion of reclaimed asphalt pavements (RAP). The results from this laboratory study indicated that the inclusion of waste engine oil up to 5% significantly altered the infrared spectra and rheological properties of asphalt binder, which may lead to the improvement of low temperature performance, but would also compromise many other performance indices, such as rut resistance at high temperature, certain aspects of fatigue resistance and elastic recovery of the binder.