Introduction of a New Parameter to Quantify the Fatigue Damage in Asphalt Mastics and Asphalt Binder

Abstract

This study involves the quantification of fatigue damage in asphalt materials by introducing a new fatigue damage parameter denoted as the F parameter. One waste filler, i.e., red mud and an asphalt binder were chosen to blend the asphalt mastics at three filler contents of 10, 20, and 30% respectively with respect to the volume of binder and tested at temperatures of 5, 15, and 25 °C. The proposed parameter incorporates the effect of both peak shear stress as well as the failure strain, and hence, can better represent the fatigue damage. A lower value of F is recommended for a better fatigue resistant material. The F parameter was found increasing with the increment in filler content, which signifies higher degree of damage with a high level of stiffening. On the other hand, it consistently decreased with the increment in temperature. The behavior of the materials under the action of increasing shear strain was clearly justified by using the F parameter corresponding to different filler contents and the testing temperatures. In addition to that, the observations from the F parameter were also complemented by the fatigue diagrams. Hence, the proposed parameter is envisaged to be a promising fatigue damage indicator in future works.

Influence of Filler Materials on Bituminous Mastic Rheology at High Temperatures

“…However, it is understood that the workability of the bituminous mixture is more influenced by the bituminous mastics and not just the binder [15]. The combination of mineral filler (particles less than 0.075 mm in size) and binder, known as bituminous mastic, is recognized as the actual binder responsible for bonding the aggregates in the bituminous mix [16]. It is essential to recognize the substantial influence of bituminous mastics, which encompass the binder-filler interaction.…”