Effectiveness of Loaded Wheel Tracking Test to Ascertain Moisture Susceptibility of Asphalt Mixtures

Abstract

Moisture damage of asphalt mixtures is a major distress affecting the durability of asphalt pavements. The loaded wheel tracking (LWT) test is gaining popularity in determining moisture damage because of its ability to relate laboratory performance to field performance. However, the accuracy of LWT’s “pass/fail” criteria for screening mixtures is limited. The objective of this study was to evaluate the capability of the LWT test to identify moisture susceptibility of asphalt mixtures with different moisture conditioning protocols. Seven 12.5 mm asphalt mixtures with two asphalt binder types (unmodified PG 67-22 and modified PG 70-22), and three aggregate types (limestone, crushed gravel, and a semi-crushed gravel) were utilized. Asphalt binder and mixture samples were subjected to five conditioning levels, namely, a control; single freeze–thaw-; triple freeze–thaw-; MiST 3500 cycles; and MiST 7000 cycles. Frequency sweep at multiple temperatures and frequencies, and multiple stress creep recovery tests were performed to evaluate asphalt binders. LWT test was used to evaluate the asphalt mixture samples. Freeze–thaw and MiST conditioning resulted in an increase in stiffness in the asphalt binders as compared with the control. Further, freeze–thaw and MiST conditioning resulted in an increase in rut depth compared with the control asphalt mixture. The conditioning protocols evaluated were effective in exposing moisture-sensitive mixtures, which initially showed compliance with Louisiana asphalt mixture design specifications.