How to Make Capsules Containing Rejuvenators for Their Use in Asphalt Concrete

Rejuvenators are products designed to restore original properties to oxidized asphalt binders by restoring the original ratio of asphaltenes to maltenes. But,for a rejuvenator to be successful,it must penetrate the pavement surface. Besides,application of a rejuvenator will also reduce the skid resistance of the pavement. To solve this,these rejuvenators can be encapsulated and mixed in asphalt concrete. Once the stress in the capsules reaches a certain threshold,the particles break and the rejuvenator is released,giving back the original properties of the pavement. The objective of this paper is to show how these capsules behave and define the most appropriate testing methods to find their effect on asphalt concrete. For this,two different types of rejuvenators will be encapsulated and their effect on the properties of the capsules investigated. Besides,the release mechanisms of the capsules will be unravelled.