Investigation of Moisture Susceptibility of Warm Mix Asphalt (WMA) Mixes through Laboratory Mechanical Testing

GONG, WENYI

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Investigation of Moisture Susceptibility of Warm Mix Asphalt (WMA) Mixes through Laboratory Mechanical Testing

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The presence of moisture can lead to serious damage in Hot Mix Asphalt mixes and failures of HMA pavements. This is of an even greater concern for Warm Mix Asphalt (WMA) due to the use of much lower production temperatures which may not be high enough to completely dry the aggregates. In this Maine DOT study, the use of fracture energy parameters was evaluated to determine the influence of incomplete drying of mixes on their mechanical properties. Fracture energy based parameters (ER: energy ratio; RER: ratio of energy ratio) were determined from the following indirect tensile testing on mixes with fully and partially dried aggregates, some of which were subjected to moisture conditioning: Resilient modulus (Mr), creep compliance, and indirect tensile strength (ITS) strength at 5oC. The results indicate that: i. resilient modulus, creep compliance, and indirect tensile strength were all affected by the presence of moisture in mixes; ii. the trend and degree of influence by moisture for the different mechanical parameters are different; iii. The moisture conditioning process has caused larger decreases in resilient modulus and ITS values than incomplete drying of aggregates; however, the same moisture conditioning process has caused much larger decreases in modulus and ITS in asphalt mixes prepared with incompletely dried aggregates than the counterparts prepared with fully dried aggregates; and iv. fracture energy-based parameters (ER and RER) appear to be more distinctive moisture effect/damage indicators than the other parameters.

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