Quantifying Expansion Effects Induced by Freeze-Thaw Cycles in Partially Water Saturated Bituminous Mix

Abstract

Contraction/expansion effects induced by freeze-thaw cycles are thought to be at the origin of important and sudden deteriorations of pavement surface course, observed on some road sections in North-East of France. Therefore following these events and observations, it was decided to investigate in laboratory the phenomenon of freeze-thaw on partially water saturated bituminous materials specimen. This article presents some aspects of this beginning research work. We report an experimental investigation on the effect of the freezing-thaw cycles of bituminous materials. Some specimens are subjected to laboratory freeze-thaw cycles under a freezing rate without moisture change with the environment. In addition to basic mechanical properties and pore distribution, the measurement is also performed for freezing expansion of material of the specimen in each cycle. From these results, it is observed that the freezing expansion can be measured for high degree of saturation of the material. The results indicate also that the specimens experiment significant swelling at the beginning of the freezing periods. It is believed that the phenomenon could be detrimental to pavements, especially in the case of differential horizontal strains appearing within the structure layers, due to different swelling conditions depending on the materials and their moisture content.

Fatigue behaviour of dry or partially saturated hot mix asphalt (HMA)

“…At high temperatures, the water absorbed in the porous network can expand even more than the surrounding material itself, resulting in an increase in the linear coefficients of thermal expansion and in a stiffness reduction of the asphalt mixture. On the other hand, when water freezes within the voids of an asphalt mixture, this leads to (a) a significant stiffness increase, (b) a sudden change of the shift factor evolution above and below the freezing point, and (a) a volumetric expansion generated by a water phase change that will induce damage . For example, after the partially saturation of samples, Quebec test method LC 26‐001 and standards ASTM D 4867 and AASHTO T 283 specified a conditioning in water at 60 ± 1°C for a period of 24 ± 1 hour.…”

Rheological Performance Analysis of Different Preventive Maintenance Materials in Porous High-Viscosity Asphalt Pavements

“…However, the high void fraction results in the drainage pavement being susceptible to the external environment, such as air intrusion and rainwater washout. As a result, high-viscosity asphalt binders are highly susceptible to aging reactions with oxygen and moisture erosion, which can reduce asphalt viscosity and lead to early pavement collapse [15][16][17]. Currently, there are several solutions to this problem, such as renovation, pavement thickening and preventive maintenance.…”

Characterizing the Effect of Freeze–Thaw Cycling on Pore Structure of Asphalt Concrete Mixtures Using X-ray CT Scanning

“…Mauduit et al [ 6 ] investigated the impact of F–T cycling on partially water-saturated AC samples. Laboratory tests showed significant swelling at the start of freezing periods for highly saturated samples, which can lead to detrimental effects on pavement in areas with varying moisture contents.…”