This research was conducted as part of the Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP) A-003A contract at Oregon State University to validate the findings of SHRP contracts A-002A and A-003B with regard to aging of asphalt-aggregate mixtures. One short-term and four long-term aging methods were used to simulate aging of asphalt-aggregate mixes in the field. Four aggregates and eight asphalts for a total of 32 different material combinations were tested using different aging methods. Results of the aging studies are compared with the A-002A and A-003B studies of asphalt binder or asphalt mixed with fine aggregate. This research concludes that aging of asphalt mixes cannot be predicted by tests on asphalt binder alone since results show that aggregates have considerable influence on aging. / Graduation date: 1995

Thesis (M.C.E.)--University of Delaware, 2007. / Principal faculty advisor: Busby N. O. Attoh-Okine, Dept. of Civil & Environmental Engineering. Includes bibliographical references.

Warm mix asphalt (WMA) has been used worldwide for many years, primarily in Europe. The National Asphalt Pavement Association first brought WMA to the United States in 2002. By using warm mix technology, the temperature of an asphalt mixture during production, transportation, and compaction decreases dramatically. Several concerns about WMA arise due to the reduced mixing temperature. One of the primary concerns in asphalt pavement is the moisture damage. The lower mixing temperature may not be high enough to vaporize all the moisture absorbed in the aggregate, and part of the moisture may be entrapped in the pavements during compaction. This thesis presents a laboratory study to evaluate the moisture susceptibility of warm mix asphalt (WMA) produced through plant foaming procedure. Two types of mixtures were evaluated. A base mixture meeting the state of Tennessee “BM-2” mix criteria was evaluated at 0, 30, 40, and 50 percent fractionated recycled asphalt pavement (RAP), and a surface mixture meeting the state of Tennessee “411-D” mix criteria was evaluated at 15, 20, 30, 40 percent fractionated RAP. WMA mixture specimens were obtained and compacted at the asphalt plant. The WMA specimens were compared to hot-mix asphalt (HMA) specimens through a set of laboratory mixture performance tests. In addition to traditional AASHTO T283 freeze and thaw (F-T) tensile strength ratio (TSR), Superpave indirect tensile test (IDT) with F-T and MIST conditioning, and Asphalt Pavement Analyzer (APA) Hamburg wheel tracking tests were utilized to evaluate asphalt mixtures. Moisture tests indicated that with the higher inclusions of RAP, specimens exhibited lower rut depths and higher tensile strength retention. Tensile strength ratio tests indicated that HMA specimens had higher tensile strength retention when freeze thaw conditioned. Dynamic modulus conditioned specimens indicated that simple performance tests can show the difference between conditioned and unconditioned specimens. HMA specimens showed lower susceptibility to moisture compared to WMA specimens for both BM-2 and 411-D mixtures. The higher percentages of RAP in WMA and HMA in both BM-2 and 411-D mixtures showed a reduction to moisture susceptibility.

Fatigue cracking is one of the fundamental distresses that occur in the life of a Hot Mix Asphalt Concrete (HMAC) pavement. This load induced distress leads to structural collapse of the entire pavement ultimately and can only be remedied by rehabilitation. There is the need, therefore, for a total understanding of the phenomenon to be able to counter its occurrence. The fatigue resistance of hot mix asphalt concrete (HMAC) has been estimated using approaches ranging from empirical methods to mechanistic-empirical methods to purely mechanistic methods. A continuum mechanics based approach called the Calibrated Mechanistic with Surface Energy (CMSE) measurements was developed at Texas A&M University and recommended after comparison with other approaches in predicting fatigue lives of two Texas HMAC mixtures. The CMSE approach which includes fundamental material properties such as fracture, aging, healing, and anisotropy has been shown to effectively model the parameters that affect the performance of HMAC pavements exposed to repetitive traffic loads. Polymer modified asphalt (PMA) improves pavement performance by providing additional resistance to the primary distresses in flexible pavements, including permanent deformation or rutting, thermal cracking, and fatigue cracking. In this research, the CMSE approach was utilized to estimate the fatigue resistance of HMAC fabricated with asphalts modified with Styrene-butadiene-Styrene (SBS) co-block polymer. These HMAC mixtures were fabricated from materials used on three different road sections in Texas and one test pavement in Minnesota. The CMSE approach was validated as an effective approach for estimating the fatigue resistance of HMAC mixtures with PMA. The effect of oxidative aging on the fatigue resistance of the HMAC mixtures was also verified. Oxidative aging of the mixtures resulted in a corresponding decrease in mixture fatigue resistance. In addition, for two HMAC mixtures with the same binder content and aggregate gradation, the mixture with the softer of the two Performance Grade (PG) binders exhibited greater fatigue resistance. The use of the Utility Theory revealed the possible effects of aggregate geometric properties on the HMAC mixture properties and consequently on their fatigue resistance.

Most paved roads in the United States are surfaced with asphalt. These asphalt pavements suffer from fatigue cracking and thermal cracking, aggravated by the oxidation and hardening of asphalt. This negative impact of asphalt oxidation on pavement performance has not been considered adequately in pavement design. Part of the reason is that the process of asphalt oxidation in pavement is not well understood. This work focused on understanding the asphalt oxidation kinetics and on developing pavement oxidation model that predicts asphalt oxidation and hardening in pavement under environmental conditions. A number of asphalts were studied in laboratory condition. Based on kinetics data, a fast-rate ? constant-rate asphalt oxidation kinetics model was developed to describe the early nonlinear fast-rate aging period and the later constant-rate period of asphalt oxidation. Furthermore, reaction kinetics parameters for the fast-rate and constant-rate reactions were empirically correlated, leading to a simplified model. And the experimental effort and time to obtain these kinetics parameters were significantly reduced. Furthermore, to investigate the mechanism of asphalt oxidation, two antioxidants were studied on their effectiveness. Asphalt oxidation was not significantly affected. It was found that evaluation of antioxidant effectiveness based on viscosity only is not reliable. The asphalt oxidation kinetics model was incorporated into the pavement oxidation model that predicts asphalt oxidation in pavement. The pavement oxidation model mimics the oxidation process of asphalt in real mixture at pavement temperatures. A new parameter, diffusion depth, defined the oxygen diffusion region in the mastic. A field calibration factor accounted for the factors not considered in the model such as the effect of small aggregate particles on oxygen diffusion. Carbonyl area and viscosity of binders recovered from field cores of three pavements in Texas were measured and were used for model calibration and validation. Results demonstrated that the proposed model estimates carbonyl growth over time in pavement, layer-by-layer, quite well. Finally, this work can be useful for incorporating asphalt oxidation into a pavement design method that can predict pavement performance with time and for making strategic decisions such as optimal time for maintenance treatments.

Thermal distress in asphalt concrete pavements is a widespread problem around the world. Thermal cracking can be divided into two modes of distress: low temperature cracking and thermal fatigue cracking. Low temperature cracking results from extremely cold temperatures; thermal fatigue cracking results from daily temperature cycles. Low temperature cracking is attributed to tensile stresses induced in the asphalt concrete pavement as the temperature drops to an extremely low temperature. If the pavement is cooled, tensile stresses develop as a result of the pavement's tendency to contract. The friction between the pavement and the base layer resists the contraction. If the tensile stress equals the strength of the mixture at that temperature, a micro-crack develops at the surface of the pavement. Under repeated temperature cycles, the crack penetrates the full depth and across the asphalt concrete layer. The thermal stress restrained specimen test (TSRST) was identified as an accelerated laboratory test to evaluate the thermal cracking resistance of asphalt concrete mixtures. The TSRST system developed at OSU includes a load system, data control/acquisition system and software, temperature control system, and specimen alignment stand. The overall system is controlled by a personal computer. A TSRST is conducted by cooling an asphalt concrete specimen at a specified rate while monitoring the specimen at constant length. A typical thermally-induced stress curve is divided into two parts: relaxation and non-relaxation. The temperature at which the curve is divided into two parts is termed the transition temperature. The temperature at fracture is termed the fracture temperature and the maximum stress is the fracture strength. An extensive number of TSRSTs over a wide range of conditions were performed to investigate the thermal cracking resistance of asphalt concrete mixtures. The TSRST results provided a very strong indication of low temperature cracking resistance for all mixtures considered. A ranking of mixtures for low temperature cracking resistance based on the TSRST fracture temperature was in excellent agreement with a ranking based on the physical properties of the asphalt cements. It is highly recommended that the TSRST be used in mix evaluation to identify low temperature cracking resistance of asphalt concrete mixtures. The TSRST showed very promising results regarding the effect of all variables which are currently considered to affect the low temperature cracking of mixtures. The variables considered to have significant affect on the low temperature cracking resistance of mixtures in this study include asphalt type, aggregate type, degree of aging, cooling rate, and stress relaxation. / Graduation date: 1994

This is a bachelor thesis in the course Industrial Automation, PPU301, commissioned by Volvo Construction Equipment in Eskilstuna. This thesis treats how we can increase the effectiveness of production in roadside construction through automation. The report presents different concepts of automation and in the end of the report you can read about the concept I recommend and why. The work has been divided into different stages. In the first stage I have collected information by reading articles and by site visits. The black top process has been identified though a storyboard. The focus is on which machine that would benefit the most from automation. After identifying the process and the customer’s needs, I get a clear view of what the machines should be able to do. After studying both the paver and compactor, I decided to focus on the compactor. There are significant potential for further development of the compactors in regards of automation. I will present a concept of a totally autonomous compactor. The compactor must, among other things, be able to position and identify objects, like machines, workers and other road users. The compactor needs to get a clear signal when the road piece is finished with compaction. The packing operation is automatic controlled depending on the type of mix of asphalt, thickness and speed. There are different solutions to make the compactor autonomous. In the report, I have detailed the different concepts and the sensors needed to realize an autonomous machine.

Fatigue cracking is one of the primary modes of distress in asphalt pavements that has an important economic impact. Fatigue resistance characterization of an asphalt mixture is a complex issue due to: (i) composite nature of the material, (ii) gradation of aggregate particles, (iii) variation of asphalt film thickness, (iv) air voids distributions, (v) asphalt binder nonlinear viscoelastic behavior, (vi) effects of binder oxidative aging as a function of time, and (vii) micro crack healing during rest periods. Different methods to assess fatigue cracking in asphalt materials are available in the literature. However, there is no methodology to characterize fatigue cracking behavior of asphalt materials that is independent of the mode of loading (controlled-strain or controlled-stress). The objective of this research is to develop a new methodology to characterize fatigue cracking of the fine aggregate matrix (FAM) portion of asphalt mixtures using dynamic mechanical analyses (DMA). This is accomplished through different, but related, approaches. The first approach relies on identifying the various mechanisms of energy dissipation during fatigue cracking that are manifested in: (i) nonlinear viscoelastic deformation, (ii) fracture, and (iii) permanent deformation. Energy indices were derived to quantify each of these energy dissipation mechanisms and to quantify fatigue cracking irrespective of the mode of loading. The first outcome of the approach is a fatigue damage parameter (crack growth index) that provides comparable results for a given material even when tested under different modes of loading and different load (strain or stress) amplitudes. The developed fatigue characterization method has a lower coefficient of variation when compared to conventional parameters (number of load cycles to failure or cumulative dissipated energy). The crack growth index parameter was also qualitatively and quantitatively compared to three dissipated energy methods available in the literature. The second outcome of this research is a constitutive model that can describe both asphalt mixtures’ nonlinear viscoelastic response and fatigue damage in one formulation. Nonlinear viscoelastic as well as damage parameters were obtained for both modes of loading. This second approach has the advantage that the constitutive model can be implemented in a numerical framework to describe the response of asphalt mixtures under various boundary conditions.

Hot mix asphalt (HMA) is a composite material which consists of aggregates, air voids and asphalt materials. The HMA response is typically described to be viscoelastic-viscoplastic, and its response is a function of temperature, stress/strain rate, and stress/strain level. Many researches have shown that the viscoelastic response of asphalt mixtures can be nonlinear once the stress/strain value exceeds a certain threshold level. This study presents a nonlinear viscoelastic-viscoplastic model for describing the behavior of asphalt materials under various conditions. A new method is developed in this study for separating the viscoelastic response from the viscoplastic response. The first part of this study focuses on the implementation of Schapery nonlinear viscoelastic model in finite element (FE) using a user-defined material subroutine (UMAT) within the ABAQUS commercial software. The FE implementation employs the recursive-iterative integration algorithm, which can improve the convergence and save the calculating time. The verification of the nonlinear viscoelastic model is achieved by analyzing (1) the response of asphalt mixtures tested in the Simple Shear Test (SST) at several temperatures and stress levels, (2) the response of unaged and aged asphalt binders tested in the Dynamic Shear Rheometer (DSR), and (3) the response of asphalt binders in the multiple stress creep recovery test (MSCR). In the second part of this study, the nonlinear viscoelastic-viscoplastic constitutive relationship is implemented using UMAT. The viscoplastic component of the model employs Perzyna’s theory with Extended Drucker-Prager yield surface which is modified to account for the difference in material response under compression and extension stress states. The study includes parametric analysis to illustrate the effect of nonlinear viscoelastic parameters and viscoplastic parameters on the asphalt mix response. The capability of the model in describing the fatigue and permanent deformation distresses of asphalt pavements is illustrated using finite element simulations. The constitutive model developed in this study can describe the behavior of asphalt materials (asphalt binder, asphalt mastic and mixtures) under various testing conditions. This study also achieved the FE implementation of a nonlinear viscoelasticviscoplastic constitutive model that can simulate the fatigue and permanent deformation distresses of asphalt pavement structures.

In recent years an increased use of polymers has occurred to modify asphalt binders, mainly to decrease pavement rutting but also to improve binder failure strain in direct tension. Whereas all of these effects positively impact the durability of polymermodified pavements, a need exists to quantify these improvements and the duration in the presence of oxidative aging. This research evaluated the durability of polymer modified asphalt (PMA) through a number of determinations that included the characterization of the original binder property and pavement-aged binder for modified and unmodified binders. Changes in styrene-butadiene-styrene (SBS) polymer modified binder properties from oxidation were analyzed using dynamic shear rheometry, ductility, and force ductility. Previous literature reports using size exclusion chromatography showed that degradation of the molecular weight profile of SBS accompanied the loss of PMA ductility. Yet base binder embrittlement also occurred, as evidenced by ductility and force ductility. Testing aged PMA binders at higher temperatures to soften the base binder restored the polymer modulus to the force ductility measurements as did blending with a softer deasphalted oil. These measurements indicate that the more significant cause of PMA degradation with aging is base binder embrittlement rather than polymer degradation. Sixteen pavements in 11 Texas Districts, plus four MnRoad pavements were evaluated in order to obtain a more detailed profile of binder oxidation in pavements. Slices of each core provided detail on binder oxidation and air voids. The data confirm that binders can oxidize at least several inches into the pavement. However, oxidation also can be significantly slowed, apparently by very low accessible air voids. Interestingly, the data indicate that the air voids that are relevant to the binder at a specific depth of the pavement are those in the immediate vicinity of the binder; low air voids above or below the binder do not seem to significantly affect the binder oxidation rate. Furthermore, that binders oxidize inches below the surface shows that temperature conducts well into the pavement, consistent with a heat conduction model that is used to calculate ground temperatures as a function of depth.