A thermodynamically compatible rate type fluid to describe the response of asphalt

In this paper, we consider two models that have been recently developed from a thermodynamic standpoint and that are capable of describing the response of nonlinear viscoelastic fluids. We test the efficacy of both models by comparing their predictions against torsion experiments conducted for asphalt, a material that is notoriously difficult to model. Both the models seem to describe the response adequately, though neither is really very accurate. This should not be surprising as asphalt is a heterogenous material comprising of many components which is being homogenized and modeled as a single constituent viscoelastic fluid.