Assessment of the Extended Fatigue Life for Rubber and Polymer Modified Asphalt Mixtures Using Flexural Bending Beam Fatigue Test

Load associated fatigue cracking is one of the major distress types occurring in flexible pavement systems. Flexural bending beam fatigue laboratory test has been used for several decades and is considered to be an integral part of the new superpave advanced characterization procedure. One of the most significant solutions to prolong the fatigue life for an asphaltic mixture is to utilize flexible materials as rubber or polymer fibers. A laboratory testing program was performed at Arizona State University (ASU) on a reference, Asphalt Rubber (AR) and polymer modified gap graded mixtures. Strain controlled fatigue tests were conducted according to American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) procedures. Using COANOVA statistical analysis approach, the results from the beam fatigue tests indicated that the AR and polymer modified gap graded mixtures would have much longer fatigue life compared with the reference (conventional) mixtures

Effects of Short-Term Aging on Asphalt Binders and Hot Mix Asphalt at Elevated Temperatures and Extended Aging Time

The production process of Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA) causes a short term aging (STA) to asphalt binder due to the heating of both asphalt binder and aggregates before mixing together. Laboratory protocols are followed to simulate the STA conditions for both asphalt binders and asphalt mixtures. STA protocols expose asphalt binders or asphalt mixtures to specific aging temperature for a specific period of time to produce stiffening that is similar to that of actual production conditions. Successful construction of HMA in cold season/regions may require elevating the production temperature of HAM to achieve proper compaction of HMA layers. Producing HMA mixtures at elevated temperatures may cause further increase in the binder stiffness and negatively affect the future field performance of asphalt pavements. This negative affect can be even worse especially if it is coupled with extended exposer time increase. This study aims to investigate effect of elevated production (mixing and STA) temperatures and exposure time on the stiffening of binders and asphalt mixtures. The binder experiment involved aging of two Performance Graded (PG) binders (PG 76-16 and PG 64-22) at two different temperatures and aging durations. The asphalt mixture experiment involved the STA of asphalt mixtures produced in the laboratory at mixing and STA temperatures 25°F above standard practice and aging time 2 and 4 hours longer than standard practices. The effect of different aging times and temperatures was investigated by running viscosity tests on binders and dynamic modulus |E*| and Indirect Diametrical Strength (IDT) tests on asphalt mixtures. The results showed that increasing the mixing and STA temperatures by 25°F seems to have no significant effect on the asphalt mixture properties while doubling the standard STA time seems to have a significant effect on binder and asphalt mixture properties

Cracking Characteristic of Asphalt Rubber Mixtures

The Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) has used Asphalt Rubber (AR) modified binders since the early 1970’s. The primary purpose for using AR is to reduce reflective cracking in Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA) rehabilitation overlays. The AR mixtures have also performed well in cold climate conditions. This research study had the primary objective of conducting a laboratory experimental program to obtain typical cracking properties for asphalt rubber mixtures used in Arizona and comparing the performance of these AR mixtures to other conventional asphalt mixtures. Gap and open graded mixtures were subjected to fatigue and indirect tensile cracking tests. All test specimens in this study were prepared using hot mix AR mixtures that were collected during construction. Fatigue testing of AR specimens was conducted at different test temperatures using the beam fatigue apparatus proposed by the Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP). The indirect tensile strength and creep tests were carried out at three temperatures according to the procedures described in the draft indirect tensile test protocol developed for the new 2002 Design Guide. The results from the fatigue tests indicated that the AR mixtures would have longer fatigue life compared with the ADOT conventional dense graded mixtures. For the indirect tensile strength tests, the analysis for strains measured at failure showed that the AR mixtures have higher values than the conventional mixes. AR mixtures exhibiting higher strains at failure would have higher resistance to thermal cracking. The fracture energy results indicated that the AR mixtures are not as greatly affected by the decrease in temperature as compared to the conventional mixes. This relative insensitivity for changes in temperature makes the AR mixtures better resisting to thermal cracking in the field

Fatigue properties of nano-reinforced bituminous mixtures: A viscoelastic continuum damage approach

The experimental investigation described in this paper focused on the effects of nanoclays on the fatigue behaviour of bituminous mixtures. Damage characteristics of a bituminous mixture produced by making use of a nano-reinforced binder were compared to those of a reference mixture obtained by employing the same neat bitumen used as a base in the preparation of the nanoclay–bitumen blend. Dynamic modulus tests and direct tension cyclic fatigue tests were carried out to determine the linear viscoelastic properties and the damage evolution characteristics of materials. Corresponding results were modelled by means of a viscoelastic continuum damage approach and by making use of a more empirical evaluation based on the classical Wöhler representation. It was found that the use of nanoclays produced a reinforcement of bituminous mixtures, the benefits of which were observed both in the progression of damage and in the occurrence of ultimate failure condition

Improving of Water Resistance of Asphalt Concrete Wearing Course Using Latex-Bitumen Binder

It is well known that presence of water in a bituminous mix is a critical factor which can lead to premature failure of flexible pavements. This requires solutions one of which is to formulate an asphalt mix that has a high resistance to moisture and one way to do this is to mix latex with the asphalt mix. The purpose of this experimental study was to investigate the effect of water on Marshall stability of asphalt concrete wearing course (ACWC) made with a latex-bitumen binder. Latex-bitumen was mixed with aggregate and four levels of latex content were investigated in this study, namely, 0%, 2%, 4% and 6% respectively by weight of asphalt. Wet procces was used in the blending of mixtures. The procedure used to obtain the optimum binder contents conformed to the Marshall procedure (SNI 06-2489-1991). Six Marshall specimens at optimum binder content were prepared for each binder mix investigated. Three of six specimens from each group were tested under Marshall standards. The remaining specimens were tested by immersion in a bath at 60°C for 24 hours. The Marshall index of retained stability was used to evaluate the effect of water on the Marshall stability of ACWC. The results indicated that the addition of up to 4% latex to ACWC mix increased the retained Marshall stability, whereas the addition of latex above 4% decreased the retained stability of the mixture. The addition of 4% CRM significantly improved the retained stability of the mixture and was the best latex – ACWC mix

Laboratory Performance Evaluation of a Gap-Graded Asphalt-Rubber Mixture in Puerto Rico

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Rejuvenation Mechanism of Asphalt Mixtures Modified with Crumb Rubber

Asphalt aging is one of the main factors causing asphalt pavements deterioration. Previous studies reported on some aging benefits of asphalt rubber mixtures through laboratory evaluation. A field observation of various pavement sections of crumb rubber modified asphalt friction courses (ARFC) in the Phoenix, Arizona area indicated an interesting pattern of transverse/reflective cracking. These ARFC courses were placed several years ago on existing jointed plain concrete pavements for highway noise mitigation. Over the years, the shoulders had very noticeable and extensive cracking over the joints; however, the driving lanes of the pavement showed less cracking formation in severity and extent. The issue with this phenomenon is that widely adopted theories that stem from continuum mechanics of materials and layered mechanics of pavement systems cannot directly explain this phenomenon. One hypothesis could be that traffic loads continually manipulate the pavement over time, which causes some maltenes (oils and resins) compounds absorbed in the crumb rubber particles to migrate out leading to rejuvenation of the mastic in the asphalt mixture. To investigate the validity of such a hypothesis, an experimental laboratory testing was undertaken to condition samples with and without dynamic loads at high temperatures. This was followed by creep compliance and indirect tensile strength testing. The results showed the higher creep for samples aged with dynamic loading compared to those aged without loading. Higher creep compliance was attributed to higher flexibility of samples due to the rejuvenation of the maltenes. This was also supported by the higher fracture energy results obtained for samples conditioned with dynamic loading from indirect tensile strength testing