Viscoelastic characterisation of asphalt mixtures is an important component for modelling and performance prediction of flexible pavements. In this study, using spherical indentation testing for measuring the viscoelastic properties of asphalt is explored. Indentation testing may provide an interesting alternative to existing experimental techniques, as it is capable of characterising small material volumes. Thus, it may become a useful tool for the characterisation of thin asphalt layers and for the measurement of binder phase properties in-situ in asphalt mixtures. Spherical indentation tests are performed on two mastic asphalt (MA) mixtures, prepared with different mastic types. The shear relaxation moduli obtained from the indentation tests are compared with the ones measured with seismic and SuperPave Indirect Tensile (IDT) tests. A new statistical analysis methodology is proposed for viscoelastic characterisation of the mastic phase with the indentation tests performed on MA mixtures. The accuracy and sensitivity of the developed method are examined.

沥青混合料的粘弹性表征是柔性路面建模和性能预测的重要组成部分。在这项研究中，探索了使用球形压痕测试来测量沥青的粘弹性。压痕测试可以为现有的实验技术提供有趣的替代方法，因为它能够表征较小的材料体积。因此，它可能成为有用的工具，用于表征薄沥青层和原位测量沥青混合物中的粘结相性能。球形压痕测试是对两种不同胶泥类型的胶泥沥青（MA）混合物进行的。将通过压痕试验获得的剪切松弛模量与通过地震和SuperPave间接拉伸（IDT）试验测得的剪切松弛模量进行比较。提出了一种新的统计分析方法，用于乳胶相的粘弹性表征，并采用对MA混合物进行的压痕测试。研究了所开发方法的准确性和敏感性。