Evaluation of Fatigue Tests for Characterizing Asphalt Binders

Abstract

AbstractThe current performance grade (PG) binder specification uses the parameter G*sin δ to quantify binder fatigue property, which has long been known to be the weakest part of the specification. The purpose of this study was to identify a better binder fatigue test. Six asphalt binders with a variety of modifiers were characterized using five asphalt binder tests, including the G*sin δ, elastic recovery test, the multiple stress creep recovery (MSCR) test, the linear amplitude sweep (LAS) test, and the double edge notch tension (DENT) test in this study. Additionally, the push-pull asphalt mix fatigue test was employed to verify these binder fatigue tests. Comparing the results of the binder tests and the asphalt mix push-pull test, this study further confirmed the poor performance of the parameter G*sin δ to differentiate binder fatigue resistance. It was also found that neither the MSCR nor the LAS test showed good correlation with asphalt mix fatigue resistance. Finally, it was identified that both...