Nonlinear rheological modeling of asphalt using White-Metzner model with structural parameter variation based asphaltene structural build-up and breakage

Rheological behavior of asphalt is strongly affected by loading conditions, temperature and environment. One of the main challenges in understanding the rheology of asphalt is to relate the chemical constituents and the micro-structure of asphalt on one hand to its rheological behavior on the other hand. In this work, nonlinear rheological behaviour of asphalt was investigated using a structural rheological model. A first order kinetic equation to describe structural changes in asphalt has been incorporated with the nonlinear rheological model of White- Metzner. The resulting set of governing equations was solved numerically to describe the rheology of asphalts. Different modes of rheological testing and asphalts with different compositions were considered. An analysis and comparison of model behaviour with experimental data from the literature is carried out in both stress growth at constant shear rate and oscillatory shear modes. A strategy is proposed for the estimation and tuning of the model parameters based on available experimental data and literature. Qualitatively, the model can capture the rheological behaviour of non-Newtonian fluids such as asphalt under different modes of rheological testing. Quantitative analysis from this work shows that the model describes the rheological behaviour of asphalt for the temperature range of 20 – 60ºC. It is demonstrated that a single set of equations tuned with the steady shear experimental data can be used to predict the nonlinear rheological behaviour of asphalts. In addition, it is shown that the model parameters can be related to the chemical composition of asphalts.