Characterization of fatigue performance of the warm‐mix recycled asphalt mixture using different models

Abstract

AbstractThe fatigue performance of different warm‐mix recycled asphalt mixtures was evaluated by the semicircular bend (SCB) test. A delayed oven heating (DOH) method was developed to simulate the long‐term ageing in the laboratory. The effects of recycling plans, reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) content, and ageing levels on the tensile strength and fatigue resistance were investigated. The fatigue life of the warm‐mix recycled asphalt mixture was characterized by the phenomenological, dissipated energy, and the ratio of dissipated energy change (RDEC) models, respectively. The results show that the use of the warm‐mix asphalt (WMA) technology causes a reduction of the fatigue performance for the recycled asphalt mixture, which can be compensated by the addition of styrene–butadiene rubber (SBR) latex. As the RAP content or long‐term ageing time increases, the fatigue life significantly decreases. The dissipated energy model with the unified model coefficients can predict the fatigue lives for different warm‐mix recycled asphalt mixtures.