Development of an alternative test to obtain asphalt mixture creep compliance at low temperatures
The Disk shaped compact tension [DC(T)] test and the Indirect Tensile [IDT] creep compliance tests are widely used in the pavement materials community to characterize the low temperature fracture and creep properties of asphalt materials. The information from these tests enables pavement engineers to design and construct asphalt pavements that can withstand the stresses caused by thermal loads and underlying cracks in the field. This study evaluates if the DC(T) test geometry can be used to conduct a creep compliance test. The ability to run a creep compliance test using the DC(T) geometry will save time and money to various transportation agencies while affording them the same results obtained from running the DC(T) fracture energy test and IDT creep compliance test. This research has found that the DC(T) geometry can readily be used to run creep compliance tests on asphalt materials. The static loads applied to the DC(T) sample did not cause any visible damage to the asphalt sample; moreover, the fracture energy measured after creep testing was conducted on the sample suggests that the static loading applied to the sample does not affect the fracture energy of the asphalt mixture. Elastic simulations were used to develop a formula to calculate creep compliance for the creep DC(T) geometry. The power-law model was fitted to the master compliance curves to calculate the m-value and the master curves were compared to the master curve obtained from the IDT creep compliance test.
Disk shaped compact tension [DC(T)], creep compliance, Indirect Tensile (IDT), fracture energy, asphalt concrete
University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign
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University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign