Damage Mechanism of Asphalt Concrete under Low Temperatures

Low temperature associated damage mechanism is not well known for asphalt concrete. Many studies have related the thermal cracking of pavement in the roadway in cold region with overall shrinkage of the pavement surface under assumption of homogeneous material. This study, however, was intiated based on the assumption that thermal incompatibility of materials (heterogeneous) in asphalt concrete mixture would be the primary cause of the damages. Acoustic emission technique and microscopic obsevation were employed to evaluate damage mechanism of asphalt concrete due to low temperature. The first method showed the sufficient evidence that asphalt concrete could be damaged by lowered temperature only. The second method showed that the damage by temperature resulted in micro-cracks at the interface between asphalt matrix and aggregate particle. It was concluded that these damage mechanisms were the primary cause of major thermal cracking of asphalt pavement in cold region.