Effect of moisture content on measured properties of asphalt mixtures

Abstract

With asphalt mixtures, the engineering properties of resilient modulus, indirect tensile strength, Marshall stability, and flow vary with the temperature at which they are measured. It is standard practice in pavement engineering to specify the measurement temperature, particularly in field measurements in which the temperature of pavement materials cannot be manually controlled. It is appropriate to focus on other field conditions that might affect the measured in situ properties of in-service pavements. The moisture content of in-service asphalt paving mixtures, which also cannot be controlled manually, is obviously another major factor to be considered. This study examines how the moisture content of an asphalt mixture influences its engineering properties, and explores whether identifying the moisture content of asphalt mixtures is necessary during measurement for proper pavement evaluation.