Effect of Aging and Moisture Damage on Fatigue Cracking Properties in Asphalt Mixtures

Abstract

Recently, damage to asphalt pavements in South Korea has increased because of direct and indirect factors caused by abnormal climatic changes, such as torrential rains, prolonged heatwaves in summer, and heavy snowfall in winter. Additionally, the use of medium and heavy vehicles is also a contributing factor. Therefore, an experimental procedure to study the moisture damage and fracture properties of asphalt pavements considering the recent changes in precipitation properties, deterioration of road pavement, and traffic conditions in South Korea was developed in this study. Additionally, changes in material properties according to the indoor aging process and fatigue crack resistance were evaluated for hot mix and warm mix asphalt mixtures of the same grade and different initial production and construction temperatures. To evaluate the effect of aging and moisture damage on fatigue cracking, the experimental coefficient values of the predictive model were calculated for each condition. It was observed that the material properties of hot mix asphalt mixtures changed with an increase in aging and moisture damage. The service life of the pavement was reduced by approximately 40–80% owing to moisture damage, whereas aging had a greater effect on fatigue life as the service life increased.

Fatigue Cracking Characteristics of Asphalt Pavement Structure under Aging and Moisture Damage

“…The corresponding data are presented as semi-log and log-log graphs in Figure 5. The semilog and log-log graphs reveal the behavior at low and high temperatures, respectively [18]. Figure 5 illustrates the DMT results for the HMA in different stages of aging, indicating that the dynamic modulus increased with age.…”

“…The corresponding data are presented as semi-log and log-log graphs in Figure 5. The semilog and log-log graphs reveal the behavior at low and high temperatures, respectively [18]. Figure 5…”

“…To this end, a tensile force was applied to the specimen until failure at 20 • C and a frequency of 10 Hz (Haversine loading). Table 4 and Figure 7 present the number of fatigue cracks in the HMA with age and moisture damage after aging [18]. After each stage of aging and moisture damage, the instants at which the phase angle and dynamic modulus were sharply changed by varying the crosshead's strain amplitude for each mixture to high, medium, and low were considered as points of failure.…”

Monitoring the Durability Issues of Asphalt Concrete Mixtures

“…The fatigue life increases when the asphalt content increases. Yang et al, (2021), [3] evaluated the effect moisture damage and ageing on fatigue cracking of asphalt concrete. It was observed that the material properties of hot mix asphalt mixtures changed after practicing aging and moisture damage.…”

A study on the influences of a hygrothermal environment on the compressive strength and failure criteria of asphalt mixtures based on true triaxial tests

“…For the specimens sampled on site, the influence of aging and reducing the performance and failure strength of asphalt mixture relative to the control and original state is inevitable. Some researchers have studied the effect of aging of asphalt mixtures, bituminous materials, the effects of mixtures made of RAP and aged materials [ 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 ]. Among many experimental methods, triaxial tests are widely used because they can accurately simulate mechanical conditions [ 13 , 14 ].…”