Viscoelastic aging characterization of asphalt materials: a computational approach

Abstract

The viscoelastic behavior of bituminous materials is significantly influenced by aging mechanisms. These mechanisms affect the long-term performance of pavements. This study introduces a computational approach to characterize the rheological properties of bitumen and mastic under short-term and long-term aging using an advanced viscoelastic model. A user-defined material subroutine was developed to capture timedependent responses through a carbonyl area-based aging index. The model integrates a multiterm Prony series with an exponential aging mechanism to accurately quantify the material stiffness evolution. Finite element models are proposed to simulate the dynamic shear rheometer tests (DSR) on bitumen and mastic. The models proposed can effectively capture the progressive stiffening and microstructural changes due to thermal and oxidative aging, providing a robust framework for predicting age-dependent viscoelastic.