Civil Engineering ETDs

Publication Date

Fall 11-7-2017

Abstract

Rutting is the permanent deformation along the wheel paths of an asphalt pavement caused by repeated traffic loading. It is considered as one of the primary distresses of asphalt pavements. Recently, Hamburg Wheel Tracking Device (HWTD) has shown to measure the rutting performance of an asphalt mixture in the laboratory. In this study, this device has been used to measure rutting of asphalt concrete (AC) and relate them with the mixture’s dynamic modulus. To this end, the rut deformation of AC mixtures were modeled in this study using a semi-empirical |E*|-based rut predictive model based on the HWTD rut depth data of 25 mixes. This model utilizes creep compliance (D(t)) interconverted from laboratory tested DM (|E*|) results to predict rut depth. The model provides a fairly good prediction of AC rutting performance.

Despite the fact that asphalt binder make up 4 to 8% of a pavement mix structure, it provides a level of rigidity and structural bonding which holds the total pavement mixture together as a solid body. However, with higher traffic densities, binder flows and dissipates energy. As a result, pavement rutting at high temperatures occur due to thermal susceptibility of asphalt. In this study, the binder’s contribution to rutting performance was assessed based on the evaluation of rheological rut properties of five warm mix modified mixtures. For this purpose, Frequency Sweep (FS), Multiple Stress Creep Recovery (MSCR), and Zero Shear Viscosity (ZSV) tests were conducted on extracted binders using Dynamic Shear Rheometer (DSR) device at a 50°C temperature to determine binder rut parameters. In this study, five widely used rheological rut parameters are examined: the Superpave® rutting parameter (G*/sinδ), Shenoy parameter (G*/(1-(1/sinδ.tanδ))), Zero Shear Viscosity (η0), Non-recoverable Creep Compliance (Jnr), and Percent Recovery (%R). Comparing these rheological rut parameters and HWDT results, it was found that warm mix modified mixtures exhibited increased rutting resistance compared to the control hot-mix asphalt.

Keywords

Hamburg Wheel Tracking Device, Rutting Resistance Improvement Ratio, Warm Mix Additives, Frequency Sweep, Shenoy Rutting Parameter, Multiple Stress Creep Recovery, Zero Shear Viscosity, Dynamic Modulus, Automated Field Rut Measurements

Document Type

Thesis

Language

English

Degree Name

Civil Engineering

Level of Degree

Masters

Department Name

Civil Engineering

First Committee Member (Chair)

Dr. Rafiqul A. Tarefder

Second Committee Member

Dr. John C. Stormont

Third Committee Member

Dr. Tang-Tat Ng

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