Effects of Oxidative Aging on Asphalt Mixture Properties

Aging has long been recognized as a contributing factor to fatigue distress of asphalt concrete pavement. Several research studies have been undertaken to gain fundamental understanding of the aging phenomenon at the asphalt binder level. However, relatively little effort has been made to understand and to quantify the effects of aging on fundamental characteristics of asphalt mixtures. The effects of oxidative aging on the dynamic modulus and the fatigue performance of asphalt mixtures is examined. For this purpose, an asphalt mixture is aged in the laboratory at four aging levels. Mechanical tests for the four aged mixtures are performed to characterize the linear viscoelastic and damage properties. Such characterization is investigated to incorporate the aging effects into a more comprehensive analytical framework for predicting the performance of asphalt concrete pavements. Finally, this framework is used to evaluate the aging effects on an example asphalt concrete pavement. It is found that aging can significantly change the performance of an asphalt concrete pavement, depending on the location evaluated within the pavement structure as well as climate conditions.