Moisture Sensitivity of Asphalt Mixtures using Cycling Pore Pressure Conditioning

One of the major causes of premature failure in asphalt pavements is moisture damage. Asphalt mixtures designed without considering climate impacts may suffer from durability problems caused by movement of water inside the asphalt mixture. Rolling traffic over wet pavement builds up pore pressure in the mixture, which will consequently accelerate deterioration. The objective of the study was to assess the moisture damage to asphalt concrete mixtures by means of complex modulus testing of dry and moisture-conditioned asphalt specimens with various mixture compositions. The asphalt mixtures were conditioned with the Moisture Induced Sensitivity Tester (MIST), which aims to replicate pore pressure in field conditions. The results showed a decline in stiffness modulus and a reduction in elastic properties after MIST conditioning. In addition, the results indicated that binder content and air void content had a significant influence on the reduction in stiffness. To capture the relationship between air void content, binder content, and the reduction in stiffness, a relationship was developed and validated with measurements on cores extracted in the field.