Accelerated Damage Testing Method for Evaluating the Service Performance of Asphalt Pavement Affected by Acid Rain

Climate change and environmental pollution pose challenges to the sustainable development of human society. Acid rain phenomenon occurs persistently in Hong Kong, and is one of the major impact factors that may affect asphalt pavement service performance, leading to the reduction in service life. This paper presents the use of an innovative accelerated damage testing machine with acidic solution of different pH values ranging from 3.0 to 7.0 to study the effects of acidic solution on the performance of the asphalt mixtures. The study involves laboratory tests to examine the service performance of the conventional wearing course of asphalt mixtures. The accelerated damage testing machine can effectively simulate the acid rain effects on the asphalt pavement in laboratory under the quality control of using dynamic permanent deformation test and mass loss ratio.