Accuracy analysis of fatigue life prediction in asphalt binders under multiple aging conditions based on simplified viscoelastic continuum damage (S-VECD) approach

Abstract

Fatigue damage of asphalt binder is a notable distress at the intermediate temperature. Several empirical and mechanistic models can be utilized to predict the fatigue life under different loading modes based on limited laboratory data. The prediction accuracy of utilizing different models remains a question. This work utilized the S-VECD based approaches to analyze the effect of failure definitions on prediction accuracy. Different fatigue failure criteria are applied to linear amplitude sweep (LAS) and time sweep (TS) results, inclusive of highly-aged asphalt binders. The candidate methods include original S-VECD approach of S at failure (Sf), GR, and DR failure criteria. The GR failure criterion is found to be effective in predicting fatigue failure within three candidate models by comparing measured and predicted results. Various factors influencing the prediction accuracy of fatigue life prediction are discussed. The purpose of this work is to compare the currently available prediction models based on S-VECD approaches and further investigate the potential effect of the different factors for determining the variables within the models.