ABSTRACT
ABSTRACT: Asphalt pavements that are exposed to decreasing temperatures are loaded by cryogenic stresses arising from prohibited thermal shrinkage. Since decades, a common technique to assess the low temperature behaviour of asphalt materials is the combination of two laboratory tests, i.e. the thermal strain restrained specimen test (TSRST) and the uniaxial tensile stress test at low temperature conditions (UTST). In this study, these two test procedures are reviewed, based on laboratory data for different asphalt mixtures gained in numerous research studies within the last 15 years. In particular, the influences of the test conditions on the test results are discussed, and the effects of the variation of material properties on the low temperature performance are evaluated. Finally, the interrelation between the test results of the considered asphalt mixtures and the low temperature properties of bitumen is presented.
