Application of Energy-Based Approach to Moisture Sensitivity of WMA Mixtures

Fracture is a very complex process that involves the nucleation and growth of micro and macro voids or cracks, mechanisms of dislocations, flip bands, and propagation of micro-cracks, and the geometry of the material. However, the simplest and most common experiment measuring the mechanical response of engineering materials is the uniaxial tensile test. The moisture susceptibility of warm mix asphalt (WMA) was a major concern by some researchers. This study adopted indirect tensile test load-deformation curve to explain the moisture-induced damage of asphalt plant and laboratory compacted foaming WMA mixtures. Test results indicated that dissipated energy and the viscoelastic angle-based approach can be effectively adopted to evaluate the moisture susceptibility characteristics of WMA mixtures.