Binder MSCR Test ResultsTable 6 presents the nonrecoverable creep compliance (Jnr0.1 andJnr3.2) values and percentages of recovery (R0.1 and R3.2). TheSMA recovered binder shows much better rutting resistance thanthe HMA recovered binder because the SMA recovered binder hashigher percent recovery values and lower Jnr values than the HMArecovered binder. The R3.2 value for the SMA binder is 83.9% comparedto 24.9% for the HMA binder. The nonrecoverable creepcompliance, Jnr3.2, of the SMA binder is 0.051 kPa−1 compared to0.408 kPa−1 for the HMA binder. The high rutting resistance of theasphalt binder in the SMA mixture is probably due to the use of thehigh PG binder, which is likely a polymer-modified asphalt.Damage Properties of Recovered BinderFig. 9 shows the stress-strain curves for the recovered HMA andSMA binders at two temperature levels (20 and 5°C). Table 7 showsspecifically the monotonic test results for the recoverable binders atthe same two temperatures: 20 and 5°C. The SMA recovered bindershows a higher mean failure strain value at 20°C than the HMArecovered binder by 442.7%, indicating that the SMA binder ismore resistant to top-down cracking than the HMA binder. Themean fracture energy values of the SMA binder at 20°C are higherthan the HMA binders, indicating that the SMA binder has betterresistance to bottom-up fatigue cracking than HMA binder. Basedon the fracture work density values of the mixtures, the SMA mixturehas greater resistance to bottom-up fatigue cracking than theHMA mixture, which indicates that factors other than binder properties,such as aggregate gradation and/or binder content, have contributedto the higher resistance of the SMA mixture to bottom-upfatigue cracking. At 5°C, the SMA binder shows a higher meanfailure strain value than the HMA recovered binder by 84.7%, indicatingthat the SMA binder has better thermal cracking resistancethan the HMA binder, which is, again, likely due to the polymermodification of SMA binder.