Construction and Building Materials 284 (2021) 122754

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Construction and Building Materials

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/conbuildmat

Evaluating the influence of humidity on asphalt mixture performance by

the flow number test
Lei Xi a, Rong Luo a,⇑, Hanqi Liu b
a
School of Transportation, Wuhan University of Technology, Hubei Highway Engineering Research Center, 1178 Heping Avenue, Wuhan, Hubei Province 430063, China
b
Sharjah Research Academy, PO Box 60999, University City, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates

h i g h l i g h t s

The effect of water vapor on the performance of asphalt mixtures was studied.

The humidity condition plan was quantitatively designed, and the time for condition was determined.

The evaluation indicators of FN were accurately determined with the use of the Two-step Secant Method.

A mathematical model was developed between humidity levels and mechanical property of mixtures.

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Moisture damage greatly influences the performance of asphalt pavements. However, existing studies
Received 25 October 2020 evaluating the moisture sensitivity of asphalt mixtures either ignore the influence of water vapor or
Received in revised form 12 January 2021 use inappropriate testing methods. This study examined the moisture sensitivity of asphalt mixtures
Accepted 17 February 2021
by using the flow number (FN) test. Four levels of the humidity condition (2%, 50%, 80% and 100% RH)
were first designed to condition specimens, after which the FN test was employed to assess the moisture
susceptibility of mixtures. The results show that it took 50 days for specimens to reach humidity equilib-
Keywords:
rium at Humidity Level 1, while approximately 4300 h (180 days) were required for specimens to achieve
Asphalt mixture
Moisture sensitivity
the respective Humidity Levels 2, 3, and 4. The evaluation indicators—in other words, FN, the onset of the
Moisture damage secondary stage N4, their corresponding permanent strains (PS2 and PS3), and the slope of secondary
Humidity stage S2—were then determined by applying a two-step secant method. It was observed that N4 and
Water vapor FN exhibit a gradually decreasing tendency, while PS2 and PS3 tend to increase with the rise in humidity
Flow number level, but this phenomenon seems indiscernible in some groups. A newly modified exponential function
model was proposed to characterize the interaction between humidity levels and S2. It was also demon-
strated that the slope of the secondary stage is positively correlated with humidity conditions, which
indicates that more deformation will occur with a faster deformation rate during higher humidity levels.
The combined use of FN and S2 is a recommended way to assess the trend of permanent deformation of
asphalt mixtures under different humidity conditions.
Ó 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction asphalt pavements [7,8]. Accurately evaluating the moisture sensi-

Moisture damage, one of the major distress factors in asphalt
pavements, seriously affects the service life and durability of
asphalt pavements [1]. Due to the hydrophilicity of aggregates,
an asphalt mixture is sensitive to moisture whether it is in the
form of liquid water or water vapor [1–6]. Repeated vehicle loads
can induce raveling, potholing, stripping and other distresses in
⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: leixi@whut.edu.cn (L. Xi), rongluo@whut.edu.cn (R. Luo),
hanqiliu@sra.ae (H. Liu).
tivity of asphalt mixtures is crucial to prevent moisture damage
from occurring in asphalt pavements.
Substantial work has been done to evaluate the moisture sensi-
tivity of asphalt mixtures [8–10]. For instance, the surface energies
of asphalt binders and aggregates are measured to calculate the
adhesive bond energy and the cohesive bond energy, which are
then employed to assess the moisture susceptibility of asphalt
materials [11,12]. The current prevailing method to determine
the stripping potential of compacted mixtures is to immerse the
specimens in water or to cure the specimens with freeze/thaw
cycles and then compare the mechanical parameters before and

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2021.122754
0950-0618/Ó 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
L. Xi, R. Luo and H. Liu
after the curing process [1,7]. Although these methods have been
extensively utilized in assessing the moisture damage of asphalt
mixtures, two limitations have been observed in past research.
The first limitation concerns test conditions. Most studies select
liquid water to condition specimens and ignore the effect of water
vapor. Typically, water submersion and freeze/thaw conditioning
are the most extensively utilized conditioning methods. However,
in recent years, several studies have revealed that water vapor is a
nonnegligible contributor to moisture damage [13,14]. For
instance, water vapor continuously transports in asphalt pavement
due to the relative humidity (RH) differential between the air and
the subgrade [13]. Thus, the humidity conditions, similar to the
temperature, significantly influence the performance of asphalt
mixtures [3,13,14]. Meanwhile, some engineering practices have
shown that moisture damage also occurs in drought and low rain-
fall areas, which implies that liquid water is not the sole source of
moisture damage [15–17]. Water molecules always exist in field
pavements and then debond in the mixtures, indicating that the
moisture damage caused by water vapor should be seriously con-
sidered [2,7]. Unfortunately, little is known about the influence
of water vapor (or humidity conditions) on the performance of
asphalt mixtures. In one representative study, Tong designed 0%
RH and 100% RH environmental chambers to cure fine aggregate
matrix (FAM) specimens and then conducted repeated direct ten-
sile tests on the specimens by using a dynamic mechanical ana-
lyzer (DMA). After the tests, the influence of humidity on the
fatigue cracking performance of FAM specimens was evaluated
by using fracture mechanics-related indicators [18]. However, the
composition of a FAM specimen is quite different from the mix-
tures in pavement, and only two relative humidity conditions were
used in the study.
The other limitation lies in the testing methods. The most
widely used methods [19–21] , such as the immersion compression
strength test, the immersion Marshall test, the freeze–thaw cycles
test, the Lottman test, the modified Lottman test, and the like, usu-
ally adopt a static loading mode that is quite different from the
dynamic loading that occurs in the field. These empirical methods
make it difficult to obtain reliable test results and do not reflect the
real process of moisture damage that asphalt pavements experi-
ence in the field [22,23]. More importantly, the determined indica-
tors cannot be employed to guide the design of asphalt pavement
or to establish correlations with performance of pavements. Some
scholars also use a dynamic modulus test or dynamic creep test to
evaluate the water damage of asphalt mixtures [22–24]. Although
these tests have proved more relevant to field performance, the
evaluation method applied in these studies is limited to the com-
parison of mechanical properties under drying and wetting condi-
tions and cannot be utilized to predict the trend of moisture
sensitivity of asphalt mixture with the change of humidity
conditions.
Generally, the results from existing test conditions and evalua-
tion methods only partially reflect the performance deterioration
of asphalt mixtures within a field environment. In order to more
accurately simulate the performance degradation trend of asphalt
pavements under field conditions, it is essential to determine the
properties of mixtures under different humidity conditions. More-
over, the loading modes of the test should be consistent with traffic
loading conditions, and a more comprehensive index related to
mechanical behavior is needed to estimate the moisture damage
potential of mixtures [1,7].
Recently, the flow number (FN) test, as one of the three simple
performance tests, has become more widely used to assess the per-
manent deformation of asphalt mixtures. The haversine loading is
more in line with the loading wave of the cyclic traffic load, and the
test results are believed to have a good correlation with the
mechanical behavior of pavement [25,26]. In addition, the FN test
2
Construction and Building Materials 284 (2021) 122754
is considered to be traceable, which means the moisture damage
potential can be inferred from the deformation results [1]. There-
fore, the objective of this study was to analyze the influence of
humidity on the performance of asphalt mixtures based on the
FN test. Thus, a newly designed humidity condition plan was cre-
ated and an improved calculation method was utilized to deter-
mine the indicators of the FN test in this research. This paper
discusses in detail those two steps:
(1) The humidity condition plan was designed; afterwards, the
time for specimens to reach a humidity stable state under
four relative humidity environmental chambers was
monitored.
(2) After the mixture reached the humidity stable state, FN tests
were conducted on the conditioned specimens to estimate
the influence of moisture on mixtures, and evaluation
parameters determined from the tests were then utilized
to establish a specific correlation with humidity.
The next section details the design and materials used in the
new humidity conditioning method. Section 3 elaborates on the
protocol of the FN test and the calculation method for test param-
eters. Section 4 illustrates the test results of the FN test and evalu-
ates the influence of humidity on the ability to resist permanent
deformation of asphalt mixtures. The final section summarizes
the main findings of the research.
2. Humidity conditioning plans of asphalt mixtures
2.1. Specimens preparation
Two types of dense-graded mixtures, labeled Type I and Type II,
respectively, were designed and produced in this study. Both mix-
tures adopted SBS-modified asphalt binders but with different con-
tents. The optimum binder contents of the Type I and Type II
mixture were 4.3% and 4.5%, respectively. The aggregates for the
Type I mixture was limestone, with a nominal maximum aggregate
size (NMAS) of 19 mm. The aggregate used in the Type II mixture
was diabase, with a NMAS of 13.2 mm. The air void content of each
specimen was limited to 4.0 ± 0.5%.
All specimens were fabricated using a Superpave gyratory com-
pactor. The raw specimen, 150 mm in diameter and 170 mm in
height, was cored and cut into a final specimen with a diameter
of 100 mm and a height of 150 mm. Three replicate specimens
were required for two types of mixtures in each condition for sub-
sequent tests.
2.2. Humidity conditioning schemes
Upon the completion of specimen fabrication, the specimens
were put into four environmental chambers for humidity condi-
tioning. As shown in Table 1, four humidity levels were chosen,
ranging from 2% RH to 100% RH. Because it was difficult to achieve
Table 1
Humidity conditioning plans of asphalt mixtures.
Conditioning Specifics
Humidity Relative Curing Method Temperature
Level Humidity (°C)
(%)
1 2 Vacuum Drying Oven (Pressure:
0.8 bar, desiccant: P2O5)
2 50 20 ± 2℃
3 80 High-End Thermo-Hygrostats
4 100
L. Xi, R. Luo and H. Liu Construction and Building Materials 284 (2021) 122754

0% RH, even with the use of phosphorus pentoxide (P2O5) as the

desiccant in a vacuum drying oven, the final determined RH of
Level 1 was about 2% RH. Three high-end thermo-hygrostats were
employed to achieve the other three humidity levels. The temper-
ature of the environmental chambers was controlled at 20 ± 2℃
during the conditioning period.

2.3. Determination of the conditioning time

After the conditioning schemes were determined, an essential

step was to acquire the time period for specimen conditioning in
various humidity environments. To this end, a specifically designed
humidity tester was used to measure the humidity inside the spec-
imen, as depicted in Fig. 1. The apparatus consisted of a hygrome-
ter and a dummy specimen that was the same as the Type I
mixture. The procedures for measuring the inside humidity of Fig. 2. Variation of humidity in Level 1 situation.

the specimen were as follows:

(1) The dummy specimen was first drilled along the axial center
with a diameter of 1.5 cm and a depth of about 6–8 cm.
(2) The hygrometer probe was then placed into the hole from
the top of specimen, and the hole was wax sealed at the
top surface.
(3) The apparatus was subsequently put into the four humidity
environmental chambers for humidity conditioning and so
that the changes of humidity could be recorded with a
hygrometer monitor during the conditioning process.

Once the above test was completed, the conditioning times of

specimens to reach humidity equilibrium in each environmental
chamber were obtained, as detailed in Fig. 2 and Fig. 3.
It was a relatively long process for the internal humidity of the
specimen to reach equilibrium under different humidity levels.
Right after the specimens were placed into the environmental
chambers, the humidity varied rapidly at the early stage due to
the RH differential between the environmental chamber and the
inside of the specimen. As the curing time went on, the change
of humidity gradually slowed down and the inside humidity of
the specimen eventually reached a state of equilibrium.
During the conditioning period of Humidity Level 1, the nega-
tive pressure and the desiccant accelerated the loss of water vapor
in the specimens; thus, the inside humidity of the specimens was
close to 2% RH after about 50 days. For specimens conditioned at
the other three humidity levels, a longer conditioning time was
needed to achieve the respective humidity. The water vapor accu-
mulated in the asphalt mixture due to the RH differential between
the environmental chamber and the inside of the specimen. The
water vapor transported into the asphalt mixtures until the mois-
ture content inside the specimens reached a saturation state or
equilibrium with the humidity in the environmental chamber. As
Fig. 1. Apparatus for measuring humidity inside a dummy specimen.
3
Fig. 3. Variation of humidity in Levels 2, 3, and 4 situations.
a result, about 4300 h (180 days) were required for specimens to
achieve humidity equilibrium at Humidity Levels 2, 3, and 4. Con-
sequently, the long period of conditioning changed the properties
of mixtures, which was verified through performance tests that
will be discussed in the following sections.
3. Flow number tests and evaluation method
3.1. Protocol of flow number test
After completion of humidity conditioning, the FN tests were
then performed on conditioned specimens with a dynamic testing
system (DTS). According to the testing methods specified in
AASHTO TP–79 [27] , the specimen should be cured in an environ-
mental chamber for at least 4 h to reach thermal equilibrium with
the testing temperature. As detailed in Table 2, the testing temper-
ature was set as 55 °C in this study, and the loading stress and con-
tact stress were determined differently for the two types of
mixtures since the aim of the paper was to analyze the moisture
sensitivity of mixtures from the FN test rather than to compare
the performance between the two mixtures. The loading termina-
tion was determined based on the finding that the accumulated
deformation of specimens should be sufficient to calculate the
indicators of the FN test. According to the preliminary test, the final
termination criterion for all specimens was selected as the point
where the accumulated deformation of the specimen reached
70,000 le.
Fig. 4 illustrates the configuration of the test. Three replicates
were tested for both Type I and Type II mixtures in each humidity
condition. Each specimen was subjected to a controlled-stress
L. Xi, R. Luo and H. Liu
Table 2
Test protocol of FN tests on two types of asphalt mixtures.
Mixture Type Humidity Level Testing Temperature (°C)
Type I 1–4 55
Type II
Fig. 4. Illustration of FN test under humidity conditions.
direct compression test, which was in the form of intermittent
loading with a 0.1-s loading process and a 0.9-s unloading process
in each cycle. In order to control the humidity during the period of
the temperature curing and formal test, the specimens were
wrapped with cling film for Humidity Level 1; for Humidity Levels
2, 3, and 4, an intelligent humidifier was utilized to control the
humidity of the environmental chamber.
Before discussing the completion of FN tests, the calculation
method of determining rutting indicators will first be detailed in
the following section.
3.2. Calculation method of FN
During the FN test, the permanent deformation accumulates
with respect to loading cycles, which is recorded with time (as pre-
sented in Fig. 5).
It is evident that the increment of deformation varies under dif-
ferent periods of loading cycles. Moreover, the deformation process
can be traced throughout the loading period, rendering the evolu-
tion of damage easily observed. In order to assess the ability to
resist permanent deformation of mixtures, the evaluation index,
also known as the FN, is then extracted from the deformation curve
using an appropriate method. Currently, many approaches have
been proposed to calculate the FN, such as the moving average
Fig. 5. Deformation curve in the FN test.
4
Construction and Building Materials 284 (2021) 122754
Loading Stress (kPa) Contact Stress (kPa) Termination Criterion
600 30 Permanent strain
1000 50 reached 70,000 le
method [28] , the three-stage model method [29] , the secant
method [30] , and more. Based on these methods, the researchers
developed a new two-step secant method according to the charac-
teristics of concavity and convexity, which was confirmed, to
determine FN with improved accuracy [31]. This study adopted
this method to solve the FN of asphalt mixtures under different
humidity conditions. The specific steps are as follows:
(1) The permanent deformation data measured by the DTS are
first plotted from the initial loading cycle to the end loading
cycle. Based on that plotting, the secant line is constructed
from the coordinate origin to a given data point on the defor-
mation curve. Thus, the minimum value of the secant slope
can be calculated, and the corresponding loading cycle is
determined (N1), as displayed in Fig. 6.
(2) Converse to Step 1, the permanent deformation data are pre-
sented from the ending cycle to the initial cycle. The secant
line is plotted from the first data point to any data point on
the deformation curve, and the secant slope is computed
again to find the loading cycle at the minimum value of
the secant slope. Consequently, the desired loading cycle,
denoted as N2, is obtained, as shown in Fig. 7.
(3) According to the determined N1 and N2 from Step 1 and Step
2, the secant line is constructed from the point N2 to any
data point on the deformation curve section N2 to N1. After
that, the loading cycle N3 is obtained according to the value
when the secant slope reaches the minimum value, as exhib-
ited in Fig. 8.
(4) Similar to Step 2, the deformation curve is plotted from N1 to
N2, and the secant line is reconstructed from the point N1 to
any data point of section N1 to N2. Furthermore, the mini-
mum value of the secant slope is calculated to determine
the corresponding loading cycle, labeled as N4, in Fig. 8.
(5) Finally, the permanent deformation data of N4 to N3 are fit-
ted with a linear function, the slope of which is named as the
slope of the secondary stage, denoted as S2 hereafter.
Based on the preceding procedures, the three stages of perma-
nent deformation curve can be exactly distinguished. The calcu-
lated N4 is the cycle of onset of the secondary stage, and N3 is
the cycle of onset of the tertiary stage, or the so-called FN.
Fig. 6. Illustration of the procedure to determine N1.
L. Xi, R. Luo and H. Liu
Fig. 7. Illustration of the procedure to determine N2.
Fig. 8. Illustration of the result of the two-step secant method.
Meanwhile, the corresponding permanent strain of N4 and FN,
referred to as PS2 and PS3, respectively, are finally determined as
well. It is obvious that these calculated parameters exhibit the
mechanical behavior of mixtures during the damage evolution.
These indicators were utilized to characterize the moisture suscep-
tibility of mixtures discussed in the following section.
4. Results and discussion
4.1. Flow number test results of asphalt mixture under relative
humidity conditions
Table 3 presents the determined indicators of all specimens by
using the two-step secant method. The coefficient of variation (CV)
of three replicates is less than 19% in any group, and most CV val-
ues are less than 15%, which confirms the repeatability of test
results. The average value of these indicators of three replicates
are used for analysis in subsequent sections.
4.1.1. Onset of secondary stage: N4 and PS2
During the primary stage of rutting, asphalt mixtures experi-
ence a compaction process under dynamic loading, which leads
to the consolidation of mixtures. In addition, the content of air
voids will continue to decrease until it reaches a critical state, after
which the permanent deformation enters the secondary stage [32].
Obviously, the calculated N4 is the critical loading cycle between
the primary stage and the secondary stage. Fig. 9 and Fig. 10 show
the value of N4 and the corresponding permanent deformation PS2
of the two mixtures under four humidity conditions, respectively.
As a result, both mixtures displayed diverse N4 and PS2 under
different humidity conditions, which implies that the moisture
5
Construction and Building Materials 284 (2021) 122754
content had an effect on the deformation accumulation of mix-
tures. Generally, N4 exhibited a tendency of gradually decreasing,
while PS2 tended to increase with the rise of humidity levels. How-
ever, there was not much difference in the N4 of the Type II mixture
under the Humidity Levels 2, 3, and 4. Moreover, the difference of
PS2 in the two mixtures was also small between Humidity Level 1
and Level 2. These observations were close to the results obtained
by Mehrara and Khodaii, who used a dynamic creep test to evalu-
ate moisture damage caused by liquid water 23. The distinction of
deformation development under dry and wet conditions was not
obvious in the first stage.
4.1.2. Onset of tertiary stage: FN and PS3
In the secondary stage, permanent deformation accumulates
with an almost constant deformation rate. When the cumulative
deformation increases to a certain amount, the deformation enters
the tertiary stage as a result of crack initiation in mixtures [31,32].
Evidently, the determined FN, as the transition point of the two
stages, reflects the mechanical properties of rutting resistance of
asphalt mixtures. Fig. 11 and Fig. 12 illustrate the obtained FN
and the corresponding permanent deformation PS3 of the two mix-
tures under four humidity levels, respectively. As observed in
Fig. 11 and Fig. 12, FN and PS3 exhibited similar trends to N4 and
PS2, respectively, as the humidity condition varied. The FN of the
two mixtures decreased gradually as the humidity levels rose,
but a contrary tendency was observed on PS3. Especially when
the humidity changed from Level 1 to Level 2, both mixtures
showed a significant decrease in FN. Nevertheless, this phe-
nomenon seemed indiscernible in some groups, such as the result
for PS3 in the Type I mixture at Humidity Levels 1 and 2. Moreover,
there was no obvious difference in FN between Humidity Levels 2
and 3 for the Type I mixture or between Humidity Levels 3 and 4
for the Type II mixture. Similar results can be found in research
conducted by Breakah and Williams. Their specimens conditioned
with water submersion or freeze/thaw conditioning might have a
larger FN or smaller corresponding deformation (i.e., PS3) than
those without conditioning [33]. These results further indicated
that the index FN was unable to accurately evaluate the ability of
resistance to permanent deformation under various humidity con-
ditions since the corresponding cumulative deformation (i.e., PS3)
was diverse as well. For instance, the calculated PS3 for the Type
I mixture at Humidity Levels 1 and 4 was 27,179 le and 42,063
le, respectively, suggesting the degree of deformation varied dif-
ferently even when the deformation state of mixtures achieved
their respective FN. This observation highlighted the limitations
of distinguishing the rutting potential of mixtures by only the
use of FN. The large difference in PS3 also illustrated that the defor-
mation of specimens was closely related to the humidity concen-
tration in the mixtures.
4.1.3. The slope of secondary stage
As stated above, the deformation characteristically accumulated
in the FN test in three stages, during which the secondary stage
was regarded as the kernel period [25,29]. The permanent defor-
mation increased with a relatively stable strain rate, which directly
indicates the ability of asphalt mixtures to resist against perma-
nent deformation since a higher or lower strain rate determines
the amount of cumulative deformation to some extent. In this
sense, the slope of secondary stage (S2) dominates the variation
trend of permanent deformation during the loading period.
Fig. 13 presents the computed S2 of two types of mixtures under
four humidity levels. As the figure demonstrates, significant differ-
ences of S2 existed among different groups. Moreover, the deter-
mined S2 of two mixtures increased gradually with the rise in
humidity levels. At Level 1, the S2 of the Type I and Type II mixtures
was 0.9565 and 1.2212, respectively; however, at Level 4, the S2 of
L. Xi, R. Luo and H. Liu Construction and Building Materials 284 (2021) 122754

Table 3
Results of flow number test at four humidity levels.

Mixture type Humidity(RH) Specimencode Onset of secondary stage Onset of tertiary stage S2
N4 CV(%) PS2 (le) CV(%) FN CV(%) PS3 (le) CV(%)
Type I 2% 1 4474 9.5 15,782 6.1 13,851 13.6 24,899 7.6 0.9565
2 5236 17,834 17,963 28,943
3 4441 16,755 15,039 27,695
50% 1 2236 13.3 18,845 9.1 5608 7.9 27,483 5.3 2.7096
2 2011 16,863 5250 25,218
3 1709 15,782 4789 24,989
80% 1 1782 16.6 19,961 9.3 4707 6.4 30,102 7.4 3.5415
2 2214 24,049 5302 34,811
3 1614 21,814 4813 33,489
100% 1 1532 6.4 32,357 8.8 4339 8.5 45,426 9.0 4.7142
2 1347 27,750 4260 42,798
3 1442 28,017 3697 37,966
Type II 2% 1 3376 17.0 18,133 12.5 8369 18.7 24,254 4.3 1.2212
2 4609 14,218 12,217 23,230
3 3609 17,309 10,339 25,318
50% 1 861 13.1 16,456 5.6 2578 14.6 26,583 7.3 5.5891
2 662 18,408 1953 24,363
3 753 17,498 2506 28,219
80% 1 595 18.4 18,575 4.0 1637 13.7 30,337 1.8 9.5583
2 587 19,933 1645 29,659
3 801 18,642 2063 29,282
100% 1 640 14.1 23,834 7.6 1850 8.7 35,624 6.8 10.1651
2 623 23,545 1765 35,950
3 490 20,727 1557 31,752

Fig. 9. Calculated N4 of mixtures under humidity conditions. Fig. 11. Calculated FN of mixtures under humidity conditions.

Fig. 10. Determined PS2 of mixtures under humidity conditions. Fig. 12. Determined PS3 of mixtures under humidity conditions.

the Type I and Type II mixtures increased to 4.7142 and 10.1651, 4 times and 7 times, respectively. The variation trend of the S2 cor-
respectively. Compared with the S2 of the Type I and Type II mix- responded with Mehrara and Khodaii’s study, which also found
tures in Level 1, the corresponding value in Level 4 increased by that the deformation rate of the samples in S2 changed overtly

6
L. Xi, R. Luo and H. Liu
Fig. 13. Determined S2 of mixtures under humidity conditions.
under dry and saturated states [23]. Consequently, it is reasonable
to believe that S2 can be an indicator of mixture vulnerability to
moisture damage.
The mechanism of these results can be interpreted from the
deformation process during the FN test. During the primary stage,
the compaction of specimens under dynamic load finally results in
the decrease of air void content, which means there is still some
room to retain moisture until the first stage is finished [1,23]. As
a result, the humidity levels may have no significant effect on
the permanent deformation property of the mixture in this stage.
When it enters the secondary stage, the air void content is almost
close to 0. In this situation, moisture enters into the interface of
aggregates and mastics under the repeated dynamic loads, which
leads to deterioration of material properties and finally reduces
the adhesion between the aggregate and the asphalt binder or
the mortar [1,14]. Therefore, the ability of the mixtures to resist
permanent deformation becomes worse than during dry condi-
tions. On the other hand, the volume of mixtures in the secondary
stage tends to expand on the basis of the swelling theory, which
means the moisture inhalation will lead to an increase in volume
during the humidity curing period. Meanwhile, the mixtures
become ‘‘soft” after attaining a certain amount of water vapor
[34]. Consequently, more deformation will be produced, with a fas-
ter deformation rate during the higher humidity levels. It is reason-
able to believe that S2 is an essential indicator to assess both
rutting potential and moisture susceptibility of asphalt mixtures.
Consequently, the combined use of FN and S2 is an advisable means
to evaluate the permanent deformation of asphalt mixtures under
various humidity conditions.
4.2. Correlation between S2 and humidity
It has been demonstrated in previous results that a specific rela-
tionship exists between humidity levels and the strain rate of the
secondary stage of mixtures. In order to further quantify the con-
nections between humidity and mixture performance, a reason-
able mathematical model needs to be established. Currently, the
following three models are widely used to assess the humidity sen-
sitivity of asphalt materials.
(1) Wet/dry ratio model [35]:
 
Pw
D¼ 1  100
Pd
where: D is the moisture sensitivity index; and Pw and P d are
the mechanical property of mixtures under moisture conditions
and dry conditions, respectively.
(2) Exponential and sigmoidal composite model [36]:
Construction and Building Materials 284 (2021) 122754
k1 S0 ek2 h
S¼  k3 h4 ð2Þ
k1 þ S0 ðek2 h  1Þ
where: k1 , k2 , and k3 are the fitting parameters; h is the mois-
ture curing time; S is the mechanical property of mixture at mois-
ture condition; and S0 is the initial property of mixture before
moisture condition.
(3) Exponential function model [37,38]:
  n 
Pw /
D¼ ¼ exp k ð3Þ
Pd /0
where: kand n are the fitting parameters; and / and /0 are the
arbitrary level and saturated level of moisture, respectively.
Among the three models, the first model is the simplest in form.
However, the performance ratio in the equation can only be used
to compare the mechanical properties of mixtures in a certain
moisture state with properties in the dry condition. Thus, it is
impossible to predict the mechanical properties of mixtures under
different humidity conditions. As for the second model, the main
limitation is that the variable h only reflects the curing time of liq-
uid water. More importantly, this model does not correlate with
humidity levels. In contrast to those two models, the interaction
between the mechanical properties and different humidity condi-
tions can be established through the exponential function model,
but the fitting parameters—which have a certain physical signifi-
cance—cannot determine the mechanical properties for dry condi-
tions. In order to overcome the limitations of these models, a
modified exponential function model is proposed herein to quan-
tify the relation between mechanical properties and humidity con-
ditions, as presented in Eq. (4).
    
HðiÞ
PHðiÞ ¼ a exp b þc ð4Þ
100
where: HðiÞ is the moisture or humidity level of asphalt mix-
tures; a, b, and c are the fitting parameters; and PHðiÞ is the property
of mixtures under the condition HðiÞ.
It is clear that the property degradation at an arbitrary humidity
level can be easily determined by Eq. (4). In this manner, the rela-
tionship between S2 of two types of mixtures and humidity levels
is developed consequently. The fitting parameters are listed in
Table 4, and Fig. 14 and Fig. 15 present the fitted data and mea-
sured data of Type I and Type II mixtures, respectively.
Based on the fitting results, the errors of both mixtures were
less than 1.3%, and all R2 values exceeded 0.99, which further
demonstrates that the newly proposed exponential function model
is able to accurately describe the mathematical relationship
between S2 and humidity levels. In addition, it can be inferred that
the permanent deformation rate positively correlated with humid-
ity conditions, which also implies that more permanent deforma-
tion will accumulate with an increase in humidity levels.
Together with indicator FN, the strain rate of the secondary stage
S2 can be employed to evaluate the moisture damage under differ-
ent humidity conditions.
5. Conclusions
This paper investigated the moisture sensitivity of asphalt mix-
tures using the FN test. In this research, the humidity conditioning
plan was quantitatively designed in order to study the effect of
ð1Þ water vapor on the performance of asphalt mixtures. Upon com-
pleting humidity curing, the FN tests were then conducted on the
conditioned specimens, after which the evaluation indicators were
determined with the use of the two-step secant method.
Subsequently, the moisture damage was analyzed with these indi-
cators, and a mathematical model was developed to establish a
7
L. Xi, R. Luo and H. Liu
Table 4
Fitting results of two types of mixtures.
Mixture Type a b
Type I 68.15 0.0502
Type II 70.29 0.1259
Fig. 14. Fitting curve between S2 and relative humidity of Type I mixture.
Fig. 15. Fitting curve between S2 and relative humidity of Type II mixture.
relationship between humidity levels and mechanical properties of
the mixtures. The flowchart of research methodology is presented
in Fig. 16, and the main findings are summarized as follows.
All the specimens were conditioned at four humidity levels, 2%,
50%, 80%, and 100% RH. For Humidity Level 1, the vacuum drying
oven and the desiccant (P2O5) were used to condition mixtures,
and about 50 days were needed for specimens to reach 2% RH;
for Humidity Levels 2, 3, and 4, three high-end thermo-
hygrostats were employed to create humidity conditions, and
about 4300 h (180 days) were required for specimens to achieve
their respective humidity levels.
The FN tests were then utilized to assess the moisture suscepti-
bility of two types of mixtures, after which the two-step secant
method was selected as the calculation method to determine eval-
uation indicators. As a result, the FN, the onset of the secondary
stage N4, and their corresponding permanent strains (i.e., PS2 and
PS3) of each type of mixture were accurately obtained. Moreover,
an important parameter, S2, was also determined during the
calculation.
The calculated indicators were then used to evaluate the mois-
ture damage of mixtures. It was found that N4 and FN exhibit the
tendency of gradually decreasing, while PS2 and PS3 tend to
increase with the rise in humidity levels, but this phenomenon
seems indiscernible in some groups. Moreover, a specific relation-
8
Construction and Building Materials 284 (2021) 122754
c R2 Error (%)
0.9860 0.9975 0.63%
0.9827 0.9953 1.22%
Fig. 16. Flowchart of research methodology.
ship between humidity levels and S2 of mixtures exists. Based on
the exponential function model, a newly modified version of this
model was proposed to characterize the connection between
humidity levels and S2. It was also demonstrated that S2 is posi-
tively correlated with humidity conditions, which indicates that
more deformation will occur with a faster deformation rate during
higher humidity levels. Ultimately, the combined use of FN and S2
is a recommended choice to assess the trend of permanent defor-
mation of asphalt mixtures under different humidity conditions.
Overall, this paper analyzed the influence of humidity on the
development of permanent deformation in asphalt mixtures and
finally established a connection between humidity conditions
and asphalt mixture performance. The results prove that water
vapor has the same effect as liquid water on degrading the perfor-
mance of asphalt pavement and that water vapor seriously affects
the overall properties of asphalt mixtures. This research also pro-
vides a new practicable method to analyze the water damage of
asphalt mixtures. However, this study only explored the ability
to resist permanent deformation of asphalt mixtures under humid-
ity conditions. Future research will continue to investigate the
effect of humidity on other properties of asphalt mixtures, such
as linear viscoelastic properties and fatigue properties.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Lei Xi: Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Inves-
tigation, Methodology, Validation, Writing - original draft, Writing
- review & editing. Rong Luo: Funding acquisition, Project
administration, Supervision, Writing - review & editing. Hanqi
L. Xi, R. Luo and H. Liu
Liu: Formal analysis, Investigation, Supervision, Validation, Writ-
ing - review & editing.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing finan-
cial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared
to influence the work reported in this paper.
Acknowledgements
The authors acknowledge the financial support of the 973 Pro-
gram of the Ministry of Science and Technology of China (Project
No. 2015CB060100). Special thanks to the 1,000-Youth Elite Pro-
gram of China for the start-up funds used for purchasing the labo-
ratory equipment that was crucial to this research.
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