Study on Structural Performance of Asphalt Concrete and Hot Rolled Sheet Through Viscoelastic Characterization

Abstract

The aim of this study is to assess the viscoelastic parameters (i.e., phase angle and dynamic modulus) of asphalt concrete-wearing course (AC-WC) and hot rolled sheet-wearing course (HRS-WC) mixtures obtained from the dynamic modulus test. This study was accomplished in four stages: determining optimum asphalt content using Marshall mix design procedure, stability and flow parameters from Marshall test, viscoelastic parameters from dynamic modulus testing and finally the generation of dynamic modulus master curves at a reference temperature of 25 °C. The results showed that at the same temperature, the dynamic modulus of AC-WC and HRS-WC mixtures tended to increase with escalating the loading frequency, while dynamic modulus decreases with an increase in the test temperature at constant loading frequency. Furthermore, the dynamic modulus of the AC-WC mixture was recorded as 100% higher than the HRS-WC asphalt mixture. The phase angle, however, showed contradictory behavior with that shown in dynamic modulus. The phase angle of the AC-WC mixture and HRS-WC asphalt mixture showed almost the same behavior. Similarly, the dynamic modulus master curves of AC-WC and HRS-WC asphalt mixtures can be used to predict the dynamic modulus at the frequency range of 0.01 to 10 Hz and a reference temperature of 25 °C. The results were also used to evaluate the rutting and fatigue performance of AC-WC and HRS-WC.