6/5/2018

BITUMINOUS MATERIALS
CHARACTERIZATION 101:
BASICS AND RECENT
ADVANCES
ABUBEKER W. AHMED

OUTLINE
Part 1: Basics on asphalt binder characteristics
Part 2: Superpave® binder tests and specification
Part 3: Basics of asphalt mixture characteristics and
evaluation of modulus
Part 4: Rutting evaluation and fatigue cracking

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Part 1:
Basics on asphalt binder
characteristics

NAMING CONVENTION

Binder, Asphalt Binder, or Asphalt

Cement: The binding agent used in asphalt
concrete mixtures

Asphalt Concrete or Mixture: Composite

consisting of graded aggregates and
asphalt cement proportioned according to
an engineered process of design

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ASPHALT CEMENT
One Barrel = 160 liters
Types of crude oil (from a trading POV)
sweet (0.1-0.5 % sulfur)
semi-sweet (0.5-0.8 % sulfur)
sour (> 0.8% sulfur)

Boiling Range 21˚C to 650˚C

ASPHALT CEMENT

Processed asphalt
Waste product from refinery
processing of crude oil
Sometimes called the “bottom
of the barrel”
Properties depend on:
Refinery operations
Composition is crude source-
dependent

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ASPHALT CEMENT
Saturates
Colorless liquid
Soluble in most solvents
Allows asphalt to flow

Aromatics
Resins
Semi-solid or solid at room temperature
(Fluid when heated and Brittle when cold)

Asphaltenes
Large, discrete solid inclusions (black)
High viscosity component
Peptizability: Degree to which molecular weights of component differ, smaller is
better

ASPHALT BINDERS RESPONSE

Q. Are the properties of asphalt binders
constant over a pavements performance life?

A.NO! An asphalt binder’s response to

loading is a function of three factors. . .

 Temperature
 Rate of loading
 Age

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ASPHALT BINDER RESPONSE

Speed in km/h

ASPHALT BINDER BASIC BEHAVIORS

Distinguishing mechanical characteristic of
asphalt binder as a construction material?
Asphalt is viscoelastic

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ELASTIC VS VISCOELASTIC RESPONSES

Elastic

ELASTIC VS VISCOELASTIC RESPONSES

Elastic Viscoelastic

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ELASTIC VS VISCOELASTIC RESPONSES

Elastic Viscoelastic

Under a constant prescribed load (stress), viscoelastic materials undergo

creep deformation (strain)

ELASTIC VS VISCOELASTIC RESPONSES

 Under a constant prescribed load (stress), viscoelastic materials undergo creep

deformation (strain)

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INCORPORATING TIME OR RATE EFFECTS

CREEP TESTS
In the asphalt industry this concept is currently applied in
measuring:
Creep properties of asphalt binders at low
temperatures using BBR (Bending Beam Rheometer)
Creep-recovery of asphalt binders in the MSCR
(Multiple Stress Creep and Recovery) protocol to
measure high temperature properties

ELASTIC VS VISCOELASTIC RESPONSES

Under a constant prescribed deformation (strain), viscoelastic materials

undergo relaxation of reaction (stress)

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INCORPORATING TIME OR RATE EFFECTS

RELAXATION TESTS

In the asphalt industry this concept is not currently

incorporated in any standard testing
BUT
this is similar to what the material experiences under
thermal loading

RESPONSE TO SINUSOIDAL LOADING

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EFFECT OF AGE ON BINDER RESPONSE

Age hardening (aging) occurs due to
Oxidation
Loss of volatile components at high temperatures

Aging increases stiffness (|G*|) and viscosity and

binder becomes more brittle

EFFECT OF AGE ON BINDER RESPONSE

Factors affecting aging:
 Exposure to air
more voids = aging

Exposure to heat
more temperature = aging

Exposure to ultraviolet
more sunshine = aging

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BINDER AGING

Three main stages of aging of an asphalt

pavement:
During mixing and construction
Early years in the pavement's life
Post construction to roughly a year or two

Late in the pavement's life

During long-term pavement service life

PART 1 REVIEW

Asphalt properties emerge as a consequence of its natural

origins and the interaction of hydrocarbons of various sizes,
polarities, and solvency.
A distinguishing characteristic of asphalt binder is its
viscoelastic nature. This has implications under static and
“dynamic” loading conditions.
A binder’s response to load is dependent on temperature,
rate of loading, and age.
What are the effects of temperature?
What are the effects of rate?
What are the effects of oxidation/aging?

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Part 2:
Superpave® binder tests and
specification

BASIS OF CURRENT UNDERSTANDING OF

ASPHALT BEHAVIORS
Specifications in use today evolved largely from the Strategic
Highway Research Program (SHRP), which was conducted between
1989 and 1996.

Why do pavements fail and how can we address these failures

through material selection and mixture design?

The final product from SHRP was a system of material selection and
design referred to as Superpave: Superior Performing Asphalt
Pavements

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COMMON FAILURE MODES

Non-Constructablity caused by high Rutting caused by repeated
viscosity at very high temperatures loads at high temperatures

Transverse cracking caused

Fatigue cracking caused by repeated by extremely low temperatures
loads at intermediate temperatures

SUPERPAVE BINDER SPECIFICATION

Safety
Workability/Constructability
Rutting
Fatigue Cracking
Low Temperature Cracking

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SAFETY FIRST - PRODUCTION

Tank Sample (as-received)

Determine flash point NO

(T48) Reject Sample

(Tflash>230oC?)

YES

Accept Sample

CONSTRUCTABILITY

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ROTATIONAL VISCOSITY (RV)

RV is used to measure viscosity,
which determines the temperature
at which asphalt pavements are
mixed and compacted
The RV test helps ensure that the
asphalt binder is sufficiently fluid
for pumping and mixing (AASHTO
(AASHTO T 316)

ROTATIONAL VISCOSITY (RV)

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HOW DO PAVEMENT FAILS?

Rutting
Fatigue Cracking
Low Temperature Cracking/Thermal fatigue

Q.When do the 3 modes of failure occur in a

pavement’s life?

DISTRESSES AND AGE

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HOW TO SIMULATE FIELD

AGEING IN LAB
Early Aging: To simulate the aging that
occurs due to construction and initial
service, we employ the Rolling Thin-Film
Oven (RTFO)
 AASHTO standard T240 Spec.: 85
minutes, 163˚C, 400 ml of air per minute,
15 rpm

HOW TO SIMULATE LATE AGEING

Late aging: To simulate the aging that
occurs due to oxidation a pavement's life,
we subject the RTFO residue to time,
temperature, and pressure . For this we use
a pressure aging vessel, (PAV).

Time: 20 hours
Temperature: 90 to 110˚C
Pressure: 2.1 kPa

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SUPERPAVE BINDER RESPONSE

 Q. How can we characterize an asphalt binder's

response.
 A. To characterize viscoelastic responses of
asphalt binders: employ a dynamic shear
rheometer (DSR) and a bending beam rheometer
(BBR)

VISCOELASTICITY MEASUREMENTS FOR

RUTTING AND FATIGUE CRACKING CONTROL
Dynamic Shear Rheometer (DSR)
Viscoelasticity at high and
intermediate, in-service
temperatures

 High temperature = tests

unaged and short-term aged
asphalt

 Intermediate temperature =
tests long-term aged asphalt

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DYNAMIC SHEAR RHEOMETER

8 mm plate is used for intermediate 25 mm plate is used for high temperature

temperature tests on long term aged tests on original and short term aged
asphalt asphalt

SUPERPAVE SPECIFICATION - GRADING

 For rutting we define a parameter based on the stiffness
and phase angle, |G*|/sin d.
 Must be greater than 1.0 kPa for original asphalt
 Must be greater than 2.2 kPa for short-term aged
asphalt. Why a minimum?
 For fatigue cracking we define a parameter based on the
on the stiffness and phase angle, |G*|*sin d
 Must be less than 5,000 kPa for long-term aged asphalt.
Why a maximum?

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VISCOELASTICITY MEASUREMENT FOR

THERMAL CRACKING CONTROL
Bending Beam Rheometer (BBR)
 Viscoelasticity at very low, in -service
temperatures
 Tests long -term aged asphalt
Sample is poured into beam geometry
and placed into machine.
 Sample is loaded with constant
magnitude load.
 Deflection is measured and used to
calculate beam stiffness and relaxation.

THERMAL CRACKING (BBR)

Limits: Allow a maximum S and a minimum m -

value to address thermal cracking.
Why?: We want a soft (to induce less stress
under a given thermal contraction) and material
that relaxes quickly (so that thermal stresses
generated are dissipated)

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SUPERPAVE BINDER SPECIFICATION

SUPERPAVE BINDER SPECIFICATION

PG 64 - 22

Lowest
Performance Temperature
Grade Maximum (-10 to -46)
Temperature
(46 to 82 C)

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MSCR TEST
AASHTO T 305
Creep stress: 0.1 kPa, 3.2 kPa
3.2 kPa
10 cycles at each 1 sec constant
creep stress and 9 sec rest period
 Output: Non - recovered creep
compliance Jnr and percent
recovery at 0.1 kPa and 3.2

MSCR FOR UNMODIFIED BINDER

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MSCR FOR MODIFIED BINDERS

PART 2 REVIEW

PG Binder specification is based on performance

and identifying the temperature range over which
the asphalt binder exhibits sufficient mechanical
properties.
Evolution of binder technologies have necessitated
the inclusion of higher strain properties of asphalts
and the development of tests like MSCR.

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Part 3:
Basics on Asphalt Mixture
Characteristics and Evaluation
of Modulus

CHALLENGES

Asphalt concrete is a visco-elasto-plastic heterogeneous

composites with thermo-rheologically simple behavior
Asphalt binders behave as:
viscous fluids at high temperatures
elastic solids at very low temperatures
viscoelastic at intermediate temperatures
Aggregates behave as elastic solids

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CHALLENGES

CONTINUUM OF ASPHALT CONCRETE

MIXTURES
Asphalt characteristics are considered in the context of three
broad classes of behaviors
• Linear viscoelastic
• Damage-Fracture
• Plastic-Viscoplastic
The factors that govern the dominant mechanism can change
•Temperature
•Stress/Strain levels
•Stress/Strain rates
•Stress/Strain states

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ELASTIC VS VISCOELASTIC RESPONSES

 Under a constant prescribed load (stress), viscoelastic materials undergo creep

deformation (strain)

ELASTIC VS VISCOELASTIC RESPONSES

Under a constant prescribed deformation (strain), viscoelastic materials

undergo relaxation of reaction (stress)

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LINEAR VISCOELASTIC BEHAVIORS

Effect of loading rate
Input Response

LINEAR VISCOELASTIC BEHAVIORS

Effect of temperature
Input Response

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LINEAR VISCOELASTIC RESPONSES

Elastic Behaviour

LINEAR VISCOELASTIC RESPONSES

Viscoelastic Behaviour – Dynamic modulus test

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THE DYNAMIC MODULUS TEST

Rapid performance test
•Generally, at a specific temperature and frequency
•Can be coupled with other conditioning (aging sensitivity or
moisture damage)
Primary material response used in pavement modeling
•Compare to resilient modulus, but resilient modulus is
evaluated at a fixed frequency of load, dynamic modulus
is evaluated at multiple frequencies.
Advanced constitutive modeling
•Necessary initial characterization to understand damage
and Viscoplastic effects

/E*/ LABORATORY TESTING

 |E*| tests - AASHTO T 342 (AASHTO T 378)
 Temperature: -10, 10, 21, 37 and 54°C
 Frequency: 25, 10, 5, 1, 0.5 and 0.1 Hz
 3 replicates to develop master curve

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/E*/ MASTER CURVE

/E*/ MASTER CURVE

Dynamic Modulus (MPa)

Reduced Frequency

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PART 3 REVIEW

Interest in asphalt mixture characterization is largely

driven by distresses prevalent in asphalt concrete
pavements.
The behaviors of asphalt concrete can be envisioned to
evolve along a temperature and stress/strain history
dependent continuum of linear viscoelasticity,
damage/fracture, and plasticity/viscoplasticity.
The basic building block of asphalt behaviors are the
linear viscoelastic behaviors characteristics most commonly
evaluated with the dynamic modulus.

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