Challenges in Using Disc Compact Tension Test to Investigate Effect of Asphalt Mix Design Variables at Low Temperatures

Thermal cracking in asphalt pavement is a major issue in colder regions as well as in areas which experience extreme daily temperature variances. As the temperature drops the restrained pavement tries to shrink, causing tensile stresses to build up to a critical point at which a crack is formed. There have been a number of fracture tests – the Thermal Stress Restrained Specimen Test (TSRST), the Single-Edge Notched Beam (SENB) test, the semicircular bend (SCB) test, the Indirect Tensile (IDT) Test, and the Disc-Shaped Compact Tension (DCT) test – developed to understand this distress. Among these tests, the DCT test is the most recent test method developed that has gained significant interest as an effective tool to differentiate between mixtures for low temperature cracking performance. This paper includes a large study to measure the effect of different mixture design parameters including percent binder replacement from recycled asphalt pavement (RAP), binder modification, low temperature binder grade, oxidative aging, and mix design traffic level using the DCT test. The results show that the DCT test was not able to differentiate between the different mix design parameters included in the study which covers a wide range of factors defining mixtures widely used in the state of Wisconsin. To investigate the significance on the factors controlled, ANOVA and multi-linear regression analyses are used to show that only a few factors can be considered significant, but the significance of those factors could not explain the range in response variables. The trends in change in DCT response with aging and some other factors are also found to be illogical. The study does not offer solutions, but highlights some of the challenges experienced when applying the DCT test to performance specifications.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • This paper was sponsored by TRB committee AFK10 Standing Committee on Critical Issues and Emerging Technologies in Asphalt. Alternate title: Challenges in Using the Disc Compact Tension (DCT) Test for Investigating Effect of Asphalt Mix Design Variables at Low Temperatures
• Corporate Authors:

  Transportation Research Board

  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001
• Authors:
  • Mandal, Tirupan
  • Hanz, Andrew J
  • Bahia, Hussain U
• Conference:
  • Transportation Research Board 96th Annual Meeting
  • Location: Washington DC, United States
  • Date: 2017-1-8 to 2017-1-12
• Date: 2017

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; Photos; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 16p
• Monograph Title: TRB 96th Annual Meeting Compendium of Papers

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Aging (Materials); Asphalt pavements; Low temperature; Mix design; Pavement cracking; Recycled materials; Thermal degradation
• Uncontrolled Terms: Binder grade; Disc compact tension tests; Oxidative hardening
• Geographic Terms: Wisconsin
• Subject Areas: Highways; Materials; Pavements;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01626223
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: 17-05932
• Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
• Created Date: Feb 19 2017 5:12PM