ABSTRACT

This paper presents a recently developed conditioning method for long-term ageing of compacted HMA specimens in the lab. The Viennese Ageing Procedure (VAPro) works at temperatures and pressures that occur in the field on pavement surfaces regularly. To increase the oxidation reaction, highly oxidant gases (ozone and nitric oxides) are led through the specimen. It is expected that the chemical reactions triggered by VAPro are similar to field ageing. The presented study shows the applicability on paving grade and SBS-modified bitumens from different sources. Binders were extracted after VAPro-ageing and tested in DSR. Bitumen samples from different sources show significantly different ageing susceptibility. The increase in |G*| varies from 3 for the least ageing susceptible bitumen to 13 for the samples with highest ageing rate. Significant differences between PAV aged bitumen and bitumen from VAPro-aged samples were found. VAPro can discriminate binders with different ageing susceptibility more sensitively than PAV.