Mesostructured property of aggregate disruption in asphalt mixture based on digital image processing method

Aggregate skeleton is the main load carrying part, which is important for the performance of asphalt mixture. Fine aggregate break the skeleton of coarse aggregate is defined as disruption. Based on the X-ray computed tomography and digital image process method, this paper aim to evaluate and verify the disruption in asphalt mixture, and then discuss the effect of disruption on the mesostructure and aggregate contact. Firstly, the aggregate classification and contact property calculation method are proposed. Based on the methods, the relation between disruption factor and contact property is analyzed. The results indicate that there is a strong linear trend between the distance of the main skeleton aggregate and disruption factor, and the disruption factor can well represent the expanding effect of disruption aggregate on the main skeleton aggregate. Additionally, higher disruption factor will leads to the decrease of the number of contact between the main skeleton aggregate and the increase of the contact number of the disruption aggregate. Further, if asphalt mixture has lower disruption factor, the internal contact between the main skeleton aggregates is closer.