Sweep test protocol for fatigue evaluation of asphalt mixtures

Abstract

This paper presents a laboratory test protocol for evaluating fatigue properties of asphalt mixtures through sweep tests at multiple amplitudes and frequencies. Conventional fatigue evaluation of asphalt mixtures typically relies on a limited number of single fatigue tests, and each test is performed at constant test temperature. Moreover, in order to reduce laboratory effort to a minimum, testing is quite often limited to a single test temperature, which means that the dependency of asphalt fatigue on temperature is ignored. Such test procedure is in best accordance with the European Standards. However, so-derived results may provoke misleading conclusions, as exemplarily shown in this study. In order to solve this shortcoming, a sweep test protocol for fatigue evaluation of asphalt mixtures at different temperatures is proposed. Frequency–amplitude sweeps are used for complex modulus evaluation and fatigue evaluation, but without significantly extending the laboratory effort compared to conventional fatigue testing. This sweep test protocol is applicable for fatigue evaluation of any asphalt mixture.

Keywords:

• fatigue testing
• fatigue performance
• multi-stage test
• frequency sweep
• amplitude sweep

ORCID

Ivan Isailović http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6178-9338