The use of linear amplitude sweep tests to characterize fatigue damage in fine aggregate matrices

Abstract

Fatigue cracking is a major distress found in asphalt pavements. This distress is caused by vehicle traffic and is directly affected by variation in climatic conditions to which the asphalt mixture is subjected. Distresses such as fatigue and rutting are related to small-scale phenomena. This study aims to characterize the fatigue damage of the fine part of hot mixes asphalt (HMAs), consisting of asphalt cement (ACs), fine aggregates and fillers, called fine aggregates matrices (FAM). In order to conduct the characterization, FAMs, samples were prepared to represent realistically the fine part of their correspondent HMA’s. The FAM fatigue damage characterization was performed using a traditional method (time sweep tests) and the linear amplitude sweep (LAS) tests. The LAS is based on the viscoelastic continuum damage (VECD) mechanics theory. The results showed that the LAS results were similar to those obtained using the traditional methodology (maximum error of 15%).