Evaluation of laboratory ageing procedures on cracking performance of asphalt mixtures

Abstract

The objective of this study is to evaluate how the viscoelastic, fatigue, and fracture properties of asphalt binders and mixtures change as a function of ageing. Six plant-produced mixtures are evaluated in short term and three different long term ageing conditions (loose mixture conditioned 24 h @ 135°C, 5 days @ 95°C, and 12 days @ 95°C). Comparison between mixtures is conducted by constructing dynamic modulus master curves and evaluating various viscoelastic parameters. S-VECD fatigue and SCB fracture testing are used to evaluate fatigue and fracture behaviour. The binder characteristics are measured by conducting DSR testing on the binders extracted and recovered from the aged mixtures. The results show the 24 h @ 135°C and 12 days @ 95°C conditioning protocols induce statistically similar changes in linear viscoelastic properties but significantly different cracking performance indices. This indicates that various ageing protocols differentially impact the rheological, fatigue, and fracture properties of mixtures.

Keywords:

• ageing
• fatigue cracking
• thermal cracking
• SVECD
• SCB
• rheological properties

Acknowledgements

Beran Black and Matthew Courser at NHDOT for their efforts in extraction and recovery of binder, and Pike Industries Inc. for their cooperation in producing and sampling materials.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

Runhua Zhang http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2623-1731

Jo E. Sias http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5284-0392

Eshan V. Dave http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9788-2246

Additional information

Funding

The authors would like to acknowledge New Hampshire Department of Transportation (NHDOT) for sponsoring this study through grant 26962O.