Novel Method for Assessing Moisture Damage in Asphalt Mixtures
Abstract
Moisture damage is a major cause of early pavement deterioration and often accelerates
other distresses such as rutting, fatigue cracking, and raveling. Water infiltrates into the
pavement structure through the cracks and air voids and weakens the adhesive bond
between the binder and the aggregates as well as the cohesive bond between the binder
particles. Several tests have been adopted to test for moisture susceptibility, most
commonly the Modified Lottman (AASHTO, T283) and the Hamburg Wheel Tracking
Device (AASHTO, T32404), however, these tests correlate poorly with field results and
do not properly replicate the conditions which a pavement structure experiences in the
field. Also, the mechanism which determines the mode of failure due to moisture damage,
being either adhesive or cohesive, remains largely not understood, and the research
tackling this issue is very scarce. The objective of this study is to introduce a new testing
procedure based on the pull-off approach and study the factors which influence the mode
of failure of the samples, such as the asphalt film thickness and loading rate.
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- Theme 2: Materials and Transportation Engineering [43 items ]