Characterization of rutting damage based on two-dimensional image analysis of changes in mesoscopic aggregate properties of asphalt mixtures

Accurately predicting the rutting development law of asphalt pavement is of great significance for preventing and controlling pavement diseases. The aggregate skeleton of the asphalt mixture is the main load-bearing part and plays an important role in its anti-rutting performance. However, quantitative and mesoscopic evaluation indicators and standards for aggregate skeletons have not been established. This study aims to reveal the relationship between the mesostructured characteristics of asphalt mixtures and rutting damage. This paper uses two-dimensional image technology to analyze the dynamic change process of internal skeleton information of two graded asphalt mixtures under cyclic wheel load. According to the fractal theory, the fractal dimension and multifractal spectrum of the full-depth aggregate were calculated. The results indicate that the linear regression model between the mesoscopic skeleton information of asphalt mixture and the average rutting depth during the rutting test can be used to quantify the rutting performance. There is an obvious correlation between the fractal dimension of the section aggregate and the loading times, and there is a certain linear relationship between the multifractal spectrum indexes and the loading times. It indicates that the fractal theory index of aggregate can reflect the change of the macro performance of loading times.