EFFECTS OF SHORT TERM AGING ON DYNAMIC CREEP PROPERTIES OF ASPHALT MIXTURES
Many factors affect pavement service life. Aging as one of these factors occurs due to binder volatilization and oxidation. Aging increases binder viscosity and subsequently results in stiffer mixtures. Transportation of asphalt mixture from plant to field may cause variations in the levels of aging. This study attempts to determine the effects of aging on mixture permanent deformation or rutting during transportation from plant to field and to simulate the aging conditions in the laboratory. The rutting parameters evaluated include creep stiffness, cumulative strain, creep modulus and creep rates of mixtures collected from plant, field and samples artificially produced in the laboratory. The results showed that temperature increment significantly changed mixtures rutting properties, while aging during mixture transportation from plant to field has no effect on rutting. It was also found that artificially aging the mixtures by varying aging duration that conducted for this study, cannot exactly simulate the plant and field aging conditions.