Evaluation of Overlay Tester Test Procedure to Identify Fatigue Cracking Prone Asphalt Mixtures

Fatigue cracking is a major problem on asphalt pavements and airfields. Design and production procedures continually result in lean asphalt mixtures, while the use of recycled asphalt pavement (RAP) and recycled asphalt shingles (RAS) increases the relative stiffness and aged condition of the asphalt mixture, significantly decreasing the material's flexibility and natural ability to withstand crack initiation and propagation. The literature has shown that the Overlay Tester is a test method that can identify cracking prone asphalt mixtures and is highly sensitive to recycled asphalt, asphalt content, polymer modification, and asphalt mixture volumetrics. The purpose of the study is to evaluate the Overlay Tester using field cores from the recently completed Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Accelerated Loading Facility (ALF) Sustainability study. The study comprised of 10 different test lanes, each produced to the same target volumetrics, while varying recycled asphalt contents, base asphalt binder grades, and the addition of warm mix asphalt technologies. Each lane was trafficked until fatigue cracking failure, and therefore, provided an excellent means to compare field and laboratory performance. The results of the study showed that the Overlay Tester, as well as the Semi-Circular Bend (SCB) Flexibility test, are test methods capable of discriminating between “Good” and “Poor” fatigue cracking performing asphalt mixtures. The general ranking of performance from both test methods were shown to compare well with the field performance. Additionally, asphalt binder testing, performed on recovered asphalt binder from the top ½ - ¾” of the asphalt surface, correlated very well with the measured cracking performance of the FHWA ALF. The Loss Tangent², Glover-Rowe Parameter, and DTc parameter showed excellent to good agreement to the Number of Cycles to 1st Crack at the ALF. Ultimately, the research study provided asphalt mixture and binder test methods capable of capturing the fatigue cracking performance in asphalt mixture produced with varying amounts of recycled asphalt binders, PG grades, and warm mix asphalt technologies.

• Record URL:
  https://cait.rutgers.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/cait-utc-nc57-final.pdf
• Record URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/55252
• Supplemental Notes:
  • This document was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Transportation, University Transportation Centers Program.
• Corporate Authors:

  Center for Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation

  Rutgers University
  100 Brett Road
  Piscataway, NJ  United States  08854-8058

  New Jersey Department of Transportation

  1035 Parkway Avenue
  Trenton, NJ  United States  08625

  Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology

  University Transportation Centers Program
  Department of Transportation
  Washington, DC  United States  20590

  Federal Highway Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Authors:
  • Bennert, Thomas
  • Haas, Edwin
  • Ericson, Christopher
  • Wass Jr, Edward
• Publication Date: 2019-9

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Edition: Final Report
• Features: Figures; Photos; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 39p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Asphalt mixtures; Bend tests; Bituminous binders; Core samples; Evaluation and assessment; Fatigue cracking; Overlays (Pavements); Recycled materials; Test procedures; Warm mix paving mixtures
• Subject Areas: Highways; Materials; Pavements;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01736190
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: CAIT-UTC-NC57
• Contract Numbers: DTRT13-G-UTC28
• Files: UTC, NTL, TRIS, ATRI, USDOT, STATEDOT
• Created Date: Apr 15 2020 1:47PM