Laboratory Studies to Assess the Fatigue Behavior of Bituminous Concrete Mix

Abstract

Bituminous concrete is a premix widely used in road construction as a surface course. A high amount of expenditure is required for the construction of pavement structure. Due to increase in the magnitude of commercial vehicles, bituminous mixes are now exposed to greater stresses, and hence the performance of bituminous mixes is not good enough for paving applications. The present investigation, primly emphasizes to study the effect of filler materials and stress levels based on tensile strength on the number of load repetition sustained against the initiation of the first crack of a bituminous concrete mix. At controlled test temperature 25 °C, Indirect tensile fatigue test is conducted on bituminous concrete mix prepared using Stone dust and Cement as filler materials at 10%, 20%, and 30% stress level. Further regression analysis Based on the data obtained from Indirect Tensile Fatigue test and cost estimation per km for the construction of one kilometer of bituminous concrete mix prepared using both types of filler materials is carried out. As per the limited laboratory studies carried out, It can be concluded that no of load repetition varies with the addition of filler content and filler type. Fatigue life against the cracks decreases with an increase in stress level irrespective of filler materials. In the mathematical model Stress level and tensile stress are statistically significant with fatigue life, i.e., no of load repetition of a bituminous concrete mix.