Abstract:

In order to overcome the shortcomings of the widely-used indexes that describe the high-temperature performance and temperature susceptibility of asphalt, this paper analyzes the visco-elasticity of asphalt by means of a self-developed consistency tester. It is found that the viscosity greatly affects the high-temperature performance of asphalt. Based on this conclusion, a concept of visco-consistency is proposed and the corresponding calculation method is presented. As compared with the dynamic stability of asphalt mixture, the visco-consistency is an effective index to describe the high-temperature performance because it can be used to evaluate modified asphalt. In addition, a consistency-temperature index and its calculation method are introduced according to the relationship between the temperature and the consistency, which is adopted to characterize the temperature susceptibility of asphalt. The recommended values of the two proposed indexes are finally presented.

Key words: asphalt, consistency, consistency-temperature index, high-temperature performance, temperature susceptibility