Asphalt toughness effect on bituminous mixture fatigue behavior

Abstract

One of the most important parameters to define bituminous mixture behavior in service is the toughness that the bitumen provides when binding the aggregate particles; that is; the dissipated energy during the materials fracture process. The greater the dissipated energy in fracture, the better the bituminous mixture quality is. Hence, a relationship will have to exist if the toughness is removed during one load cycle (direct tension) or during many cycles along time (fatigue). The purpose of this study is to determinate relationships between the toughness of different bitumens and the fatigue behavior of their corresponding bituminous mixtures, for which, the toughness has been obtained by means of direct tension test and has been compared with the value of the fatigue law and dissipated energy obtained by fatigue bending test. Results showed that, this study expect to give important means for further research to predict fatigue life from a static test.