Do chemistry and rheology follow the same laboratory ageing trends in bitumen?

The ageing of bitumen has received great attention both from a chemical and rheological perspective due to its direct impact on asphalt performance. However, open questions with respect to the convergence of the synchronous ageing changes in rheology and chemistry of bitumen still exist. This paper addresses these alterations of chemistry and rheology and attempts to establish a link via fitting rheological equations fed by fundamental chemical information. To that end, three binders of different type were used in four different laboratory ageing states. A number of spectroscopic techniques and rheological testing were employed to derive corresponding chemical and rheological parameters. In parallel, various statistical methods (Bivariate analysis, Wilcoxon test, Factor analysis) assisted in identifying relationships among the chemo-rheological parameters and simplifying the number of variables. The results of this study demonstrate that chemistry and rheology are following similar changes when considering laboratory ageing following the fast-rate phase of a dual oxidation scheme and short-term lab ageing. Finally, this work manages to establish a linking framework for a number of newly-introduced rheological parameters. All in all, the results of this study might be particularly interesting for future interventions in the chemical composition of bitumen, considering its effect on performance.