Performance-Based Fracture Criterion for Evaluation of Moisture Susceptibility in Hot-Mix Asphalt

Abstract

The laboratory testing procedures currently available for testing hot-mix asphalt moisture susceptibility all evaluate the effects of moisture damage in the laboratory by measuring the relative change of a single parameter before and after conditioning (i.e., tensile strength ratio, resilient modulus ratio). The use of a single parameter to evaluate moisture damage must be questioned. Instead, a single unified framework that accounts for changes in key mixture properties is needed to evaluate the effects of moisture damage in mixtures effectively. The use of a new performance-based fracture parameter, the energy ratio (ER), for quantifying the effects of moisture damage on the fracture resistance of mixtures is evaluated here. ER is used to determine the effects of moisture damage on changes in the fracture resistance of six granite mixtures prepared with and without the use of an antistripping additive. The granite aggregate used is a known stripping aggregate. In addition, one limestone mixture with a known high resistance to stripping was used. The results indicate that not only is the ER capable of detecting the effects of moisture damage on the fracture resistance of mixtures, it is also shown to detect the presence of antistripping agents in mixtures. Results indicate that the ER may form the basis of a promising combined performance-based fracture criterion for evaluating the effects of moisture damage in mixtures as well as the overall resistance to fracture.