Quantitative Evaluation of the Oxygen Retarding Efficiency of Pavement Preventive Maintenance Using the Oxygen Diffusion Coefficient of Asphalt Mixtures

Anti-oxidation is one of the important functions of preventive maintenance for asphalt pavements. The major working principle of preventive maintenance’s anti-oxidation is to retard the entrance of oxygen into the asphalt pavements. To advance the quantitative evaluation of preventive maintenance’s oxidation resistance, this study investigates the feasibility of using the oxygen diffusion coefficient (Ds) of asphalt mixtures to characterize the oxygen-retarding efficiency of preventive maintenance. Specifically, the fog seal, slurry seal and chip seal were selected as the representatives of asphalt pavement preventive maintenance techniques to prepare surface treated asphalt mixtures. The Ds before and after being treated by these three maintenance techniques were compared to present the oxygen-retarding efficiency of preventive maintenance.