An experimental testing and analysis procedure to determine linear viscoelastic properties of asphalt binder microstructural components

•AFM is a powerful tool to identify microstructural characteristics of binders.•Viscoelastic properties of binder constituents can be determined with AFM.•Binder microstructural properties vary with the material aging condition.•Constituent properties may be used to predict the mechanical behavior of binders. This study aims to propose a carefully – designed experimental testing and analysis procedure to determine linear viscoelastic properties of asphalt binder constituents in three aging conditions. To this end, three major constituents are identified by topography images and their linear viscoelastic creep compliance functions are determined by nanoindentation tests performed in an Atomic Force Microscope. These material characteristics are used as inputs required by a finite – element – based microstructural model in simulations of a binder mechanical test designed and performed in the laboratory. The strong equivalence between the experimental and the numerical results indicates that the procedure was successfully developed and that the surface analysis performed using AFM data can provide meaningful and realistic insights into the overall binder characteristics and allow the determination of key properties of the material.