Connections between chemical composition and rheology of aged base asphalt binders during repeated freeze-thaw cycles

•A self-assembled device was used to make FT-IR test samples under damage conditions.•A quantitative analysis using FT-IR was put forward to calculate asphalt binder functional groups.•The variety rule of the rheological index of asphalt binder was explored.•The relationship between the rheological indexes and contents of functional groups were established.