Establishing Indicators and an Analytic Method for Moisture Susceptibility and Rutting Resistance Evaluation Using a...

Area of Science:

• Civil Engineering
• Materials Science
• Geotechnical Engineering

Background:

• The Hamburg wheel tracking test (HWTT) is a standard method for assessing asphalt mixture performance.
• Conventional HWTT indicators, such as stripping inflection point (SIP) and rut depth, face questioned reliability and stability.
• There is a need for more effective evaluation methods for asphalt mixture behavior.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce a novel analysis method for the HWTT.
• To develop new indicators for evaluating rutting resistance and moisture susceptibility of asphalt mixtures.
• To compare the proposed indicators with conventional ones for improved asphalt mixture assessment.

Main Methods:

• A new analytical method was developed for HWTT data.
• Novel indicators for rutting resistance and moisture susceptibility were proposed.
• The proposed method and indicators were applied to 14 field core asphalt specimens.

Main Results:

• Conventional HWTT indicators demonstrated limitations in effectively evaluating asphalt mixtures with varying performance.
• The proposed analytical method and indicators showed significant advantages in distinguishing asphalt mixture behaviors.
• The novel indicators effectively assessed both rutting resistance and moisture susceptibility.

Conclusions:

• The conventional HWTT indicators are insufficient for reliably evaluating asphalt mixture performance.
• The newly proposed analytical method and indicators offer superior capability for distinguishing asphalt mixture behaviors.
• This research provides a more effective approach to assessing asphalt mixture durability and performance in pavement engineering.