Relating the rheology of recovered binders from asphalt surfacing in the field to their fatigue performance

Abstract

G*.Sind and TC are two of many rheological parameters that have been proposed as potential specification properties for control of fatigue performance for hot mix asphalt. This paper assesses the extent of correlation between the values of these parameters and the presence of cracking in the hot mix asphalt surfacing from 11 sites carefully selected to represent a wide range of fatigue performance over periods ranging from 5 to 20 years. The binders were recovered using a modified Abson recovery process that accurately represents the properties of the aged in-situ binder. Results indicate that TC correlates better with the condition of the asphalt surfacing, compared with G*.Sind. The results also demonstrate that although binder fatigue parameters may be an indicator of fatigue performance, the actual fatigue performance is also determined by other factors such as binder film thickness of the mix, traffic loading, climate and rate of ageing.