Comparative Testing of Asphalt Concrete for Fatigue Life Using Various Modern Laboratory Methods

Abstract

Statement of the problem. At present, one of the most significant tasks in the road industry is the actua-lization of the methodology for designing flexible pavements. In order to ensure extended pavement service life, design issues are of particular relevance, which requires the improvement of existing and the development of new calculation criteria, one of which is the calculation of asphalt concrete layers for fatigue life. Results. Comparative tests of various types of asphalt concrete selected at road construction sites were carried out using modern laboratory methods to evaluate their fatigue properties. The dependences between the relative tensile deformation of asphalt concrete and the number of load application cycles during tests by various methods are obtained. Conclusions. Through the course of the research, possible reasons for the heterogeneity of the results obtained on four-point bending installations were identified. For further research, the indirect stretching method is set forth as the main method, as it provides greater uniformity and determinism of the results, and the four-point bending method is proposed to be considered as an additional one, confirming the results obtained with indirect stretching.