Evaluating the effect of amine-based anti-stripping agent on the fatigue life of asphalt pavements

Aggregate-binder adhesiveness is a property that can affect the service life of asphalt pavements. In order to reduce the effects of the loss of adhesion between aggregates and binders over time, lime or amine-based anti-stripping agents are commonly used. The objective of this paper is to evaluate the impact of using an amine-based anti-stripping agent on the fatigue life of asphaltic pavements. Stiffness characterisation, the Simplified Viscoelastic Continuum Damage model, and the software FlexPAVE™ were used. Two different layered structures were analysed: one with a 0.10 m asphalt layer thickness, and another with a combination of two 0.05 m asphalt layers, with the same 0.10 m total asphalt layers thickness. The 10 years fatigue simulation was considered with 1,000,100 total ESALs traffic volume, single wheel loading of 40 kN, traffic speed of 60 km/h, and constant temperature of 20°C. It was concluded that mixtures with anti-stripping agent and/or granitic aggregate showed better fatigue behaviour than mixtures with neat binder and/or phonolitic aggregate. All investigated pavements showed bottom-up predicted crack initiation. It is more recommended to use the mixtures with amine-based anti-stripping agent on the bottom asphalt layer and mixtures with neat binder on the top layer.