Material characteristics of long lasting asphalt pavements

Four long lasting test sections constructed in the early 80’s were selected for field sampling and extensive laboratory study, based on a catalogue of test roads in Denmark. The focus of this paper is on characterizing the bituminous materials used in the test sections. First, investigations on asphalt cores were carried out in a non-destructive way using X-ray tomography and indirect tensile stiffness test. Further analysis of the field samples with respect to binder content, air void content, and aggregate gradation were conducted. Both chemical and rheological tests were applied in order to characterize recovered binders. The long lasting test sections were found to consist of thick asphalt layers of low air void contents. With the exception of one with a binder content of slightly below 6%, the wearing courses contained relatively high binder content. For all the test sections, no propagated cracks were observed. Aging of bitumen was indicated as one of the key factors in achieving a long pavement lifetime. Field aging of bitumen was strongly dependent on the air voids of asphalt mix. Extremely slow bitumen aging was observed in the test sections of low air voids (< 3% at the time of field sampling). The fact that field aged bitumens differ significantly in chemical compositions is shown by the study, as well as the fact that the aging-induced stiffing effect tends to correlate with carbonyl compounds and molecular weight, but not with sulfoxides.

• Summary URL:
  • http://rmpd.revuesonline.com/article.jsp?articleId=16574
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/14680629
• Authors:
  • Lu, Xiaohu
  • Redelius, Per
  • Soenen, Hilde
  • Thau, Mikael
• Publication Date: 2011

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Features: Bibliography; Figures; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 567-585
• Serial:
  • Road Materials and Pavement Design
  • Volume: 12
  • Issue Number: 3
  • Publisher: Taylor & Francis
  • ISSN: 1468-0629
  • EISSN: 2164-7402
  • Serial URL: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/trmp20

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Aging (Materials); Asphalt pavements; Bituminous pavements; Chemical analysis; Materials tests; Mechanical properties; Physical properties; Rheological properties; Stiffness; X ray analysis
• Subject Areas: Highways; Materials; Pavements;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01355070
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Oct 25 2011 11:45AM