Fatigue Behavior Analysis of Asphalt Mixes Containing Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) Steel Slag

Abstract

This research was conducted in order to evaluate fatigue behavior of asphalt mixes containing Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) steel slag. After initial evaluation of the properties of EAF steel slag using X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and Scanning Electric Microscope (SEM), six sets of laboratory mixtures were prepared. Each set were treated replacing various portions of limestone aggregates of the mix with EAF steel slag. Four point bending beam fatigue tests were performed in both controlled strain and stress mode of loading at various strain and stress levels to characterize the fatigue behavior of asphalt mixes containing different percentages of EAF slag. Different approaches based on stiffness and dissipated energy were used to analyze the fatigue tests data. The results show that the inclusion of EAF in mixes improved the fatigue life considerably under both stress and strain control mode of loading. In the stress control mode, very good correlations were observed between responses and fatigue life of mixes. However, correlation coefficients in the strain control mode were relatively lower than those in the stress control mode (particularly in the tests that were based on 50% reduction of initial stiffness).