Pavement Analysis and Design

TE-503

Lecture-9
16-11-2017

Dr. Zia-ur-Rehman
DTEM
 Material Characterization
DYNAMIC MODULUS OF BITUMINOUS MIXTURES
In addition to the resilient modulus, the dynamic complex modulus and the
dynamic stiffness modulus have also been used for pavement design.

Dynamic Complex Modulus

The difference between a resilient modulus test and a complex modulus
test for bituminous mixtures is that the former uses loadings of any
waveform with a given rest period, while the latter applies a sinusoidal or
haversine loading with no rest period.

The complex modulus is one of the many methods for describing the stress-
strain relationship of viscoelastic materials. The modulus is a complex
quantity, of which the real part represents the elastic stiffness and the
imaginary part characterizes the internal damping of the materials. The
absolute value of the complex modulus is commonly referred to as the
dynamic modulus.

Pavement Analysis and Design

 Material Characterization
Dynamic Complex Modulus
The complex modulus test is usually conducted on cylindrical specimens
subjected to a compressive haversine loading (Papazian, 1962). The same
equipment described previously for the resilient modulus can be used for
the complex modulus test.

The dynamic modulus varies with the loading frequency. A frequency that
most closely simulates the actual traffic load should be selected for the test,
so that the dynamic modulus thus determined will be equivalent to the
resilient modulus for design purposes. The dynamic modulus test is
specified by ASTM (1989b) in "D3497 - 79 Standard Test Method for
Dynamic Modulus of Asphalt Mixtures." In the ASTM Method, a
haversine compressive stress is applied to the specimen for a minimum of
30 s and not exceeding 45 s at temperatures of 41, 77 and 104°F (5, 25 and
40°C) and at load frequencies of 1, 4 and 16 Hz for each temperature.

Pavement Analysis and Design

 Material Characterization
Dynamic Complex Modulus
The axial strains are measured by bonding two wire strain gauges at
midheight of the specimen opposite to each other. The ratio between the
axial stress and the recoverable axial strain is the dynamic modulus.

Most of the complex modulus tests are made by applying a compressive

haversine loading to the specimens. If the specimens are truly viscoelastic,
any other testing modes should yield the same results.

Kallas (1970) investigated the complex modulus of HMA under a tension

haversine loading and a tension-compression full sine loading. The
dynamic modulus and phase angle in tension and tension-compression
were compared to those in compression.

Pavement Analysis and Design

 Material Characterization
Dynamic Complex Modulus
The following conclusions were drawn for dense-graded HMA with asphalt and air
void contents within the normal ranges:
1. Differences in dynamic modulus are generally insignificant or relatively small
among tension, tension-compression and compression tests for temperatures ranging
from 40 to 70°F (4 to 21°C) and loading frequencies from 1 to 16 Hz.
2. Differences in dynamic modulus are significant between the tension or tension-
compression test and the compression test at a frequency of 1 Hz and temperatures
ranging from 70 to 100°F (21 to 38°C). Under these conditions, the dynamic modulus
in tension or tension-compression averages about one-half to two-thirds of that in
compression.
3. Differences in phase angle are pronounced between tension and compression and
are less pronounced between tension-compression and compression.
4. The phase angle is greatest in tension, least in compression, and intermediate in
tension-compression. On the average, the phase angle in tension exceeds that in
compression by about 50%, and the phase angle in tension-compression exceeds that
in compression by about 25%.

Pavement Analysis and Design

 Material Characterization
Dynamic Complex Modulus
The preceding conclusions might indicate that, if a design is based on the elastic
theory with a given dynamic modulus for the HMA, any of the foregoing three testing
modes may be used. However, if the design is based on the viscoelastic theory with
both the dynamic modulus and phase angle as design variables, a testing mode
consistent with the actual loading conditions should be used. This will probably be a
tension-compression test, as suggested by Witczak and Root (1974).

The dynamic modulus can also be determined from a bending test. A two point
bending apparatus was developed by Shell for determining the modulus of asphalt
mixtures (Bonnaure et al., 1977). In this test a trapezoidal specimen fixed at the
bottom is subjected to a sinusoidal load at the free end. A continuous plot of load and
deformation at the free end is obtained, and the stiffness modulus of the sample can
be calculated.

Another means is provided to calculate the stiffness modulus by measuring the strain
on the surface at midlength of the beam with a strain gauge. Due to the use of
sinusoidal loads, the stiffness modulus obtained from Shell nomographs, described in
Section 7.2.3, is actually the dynamic modulus. The test can also be used to determine
the phase angle. From the stiffness modulus and the phase angle, the complex
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modulus can be obtained.
Pavement Analysis and Design
 Material Characterization
Dynamic Stiffness Modulus
In the fatigue testing of asphalt beam specimens, the elastic modulus at the initial
stage must be determined, so that the initial strain can be computed. The elastic
modulus based on the resilient deformation of the beam at the 200th repetition is
called the dynamic stiffness modulus.
Test Method
A variety of methods have been developed for the fatigue testing of bituminous
mixtures. Most of the methods employ the bending of beams, although the bending of
plates has also been used (Jimenez and Gallaway, 1962 ; Jimenez, 1972). In the beam
tests, a simple beam with third-point (Deacon, 1965) or center-point loading
(Franchen and Verstraeten, 1974) or a cantilever beam with rotating bending (Pell,
1962) has been used. The repeated load indirect tensile test has also been employed
(Adedimila and Kennedy, 1976). In this section, only the beam test with third-point
loading is described.

The advantage of third-point loading over the center-point loading is the existence of
a constant bending moment over the middle third of the specimen, so any weak spot
due to nonuniform material properties will show up in the test results. In view of the
fact that fatigue tests are expensive and require a large number of specimens,
nomographs and equations for predicting fatigue life will also be discussed.
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Pavement Analysis and Design

 Material Characterization
Dynamic Stiffness Modulus
Test Method
Two types of controlled loading can be applied: constant stress and constant strain, as shown in
Figure. In the constant stress test, the stress remains constant but the strain increases with the
number of repetitions. In the constant strain test, the strain is kept constant, and the load or stress is
decreased with the number of repetitions. The constant stress type of loading is applicable to thicker
pavements, wherein the HMA is more than 6 in. (152 mm) thick and is the main load-carrying
component. As the HMA becomes weaker under repeated loads, the strain should increase with the
number of repetitions. The constant strain type of loading is applicable to thin pavements with HMA
less than 2 in. (51 mm) thick because the strain in the asphalt layer is governed by the underlying
layers and is not affected by the decrease in stiffness of HMA. For intermediate thicknesses, a
combination of constant stress and constant strain exists.

Pavement Analysis and Design

 Material Characterization
Dynamic Stiffness Modulus
Test Method
As can be seen in Figure, both stress and strain are larger in the constant stress test,
so the use of constant stress is more conservative. The use of constant stress has the
further advantage that failure occurs more quickly and can be more easily defined,
while an arbitrary failure criterion, such as a stress equal to 50% of the initial stress,
is frequently used for the constant strain test.

Pavement Analysis and Design

 Material Characterization
Dynamic Stiffness Modulus
Test Method
Figure is a schematic diagram of the
fatigue testing equipment. The load is
applied upward through the piston rod to
a beam specimen, 15 in. long with a width
and depth not exceeding 3 in. An
electrohydraulic or pneumatic testing
machine capable of applying repeated
tension–compression loads in the form of
haversine waves for 0.1-s duration with
0.4-s rest periods can be used. A sufficient
load, approximately 10% of the upward
load, is applied in the downward
direction, forcing the beam to return to
its original horizontal position and
holding it at that position during the rest
period. Adjustable stop nuts installed on
the loading rods prevent the beam from
bending below the initial horizontal
position during the rest period. 10

Pavement Analysis and Design

 Material Characterization
Dynamic Stiffness Modulus
Test Method
The dynamic deflection of the beam at
the midspan is measured with a linear
variable differential transformer (LVDT).
The LVDT core is attached to a nut
bonded with epoxy cement to the center
of the specimen. The repeated flexure
apparatus is enclosed in a controlled
temperature cabinet. A range of stresses
should be selected so that the specimens
will fail within a range from 1000 to
1,000,000 repetitions. Normally, 8 to 12
specimens are required to establish the
fatigue relationship for a given
temperature. Tests at several different
temperatures are required so the effect of
stiffness or temperature on the fatigue
life can be evaluated.

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Pavement Analysis and Design

 Material Characterization
Dynamic Stiffness Modulus
Test Method
Repeated haversine loadings with a load duration of 0.1 s
and a rest period of 0.4 s are applied at the third points, as
shown in Figure.

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Pavement Analysis and Design

 Material Characterization
Dynamic Stiffness Modulus
The size of specimens used by the University of California at Berkeley
(Deacon, 1965) was 1.5 in. (38 mm) in width and depth and 15 in. (381 mm)
long. To reduce test variability, the width and depth of beams were
increased to 3 in. (76 mm) by the Asphalt Institute (Kallas and
Puzinauskas, 1972). The following formulas based on the elastic theory
have frequently been used to compute the stress, stiffness modulus and
strain:

in which σ is the extreme fiber stress, a is the distance between the load and the
nearest support, P is the total dynamic load with P/2 applied at each third point, b is
the specimen width, h is the specimen depth, Es is the stiffness modulus based on
center deflection, L is the span length between supports, Δ is the dynamic deflection at
beam center and εt is the extreme fiber tensile strain. 13

Pavement Analysis and Design

 Material Characterization
Dynamic Stiffness Modulus
When a = L/3, Eq. becomes

After considering the shear deformation, Irwin and Gallaway (1974)

suggested the use of the following equation for Es:

In this equation, v is Poisson ratio of the beam. Note that the expression in
the bracket is the correction factor for shear deformation. The correction
factor varies with h/L.

For a beam with L = 12 in. (305 mm) and v = 0.35, the correction factor is
1.04 for h = 1.5 in. (38 mm) but increases to 1.16 for h = 3.0 in. (76 mm).14
Pavement Analysis and Design
 Material Characterization
Dynamic Stiffness Modulus-Numerical problem
A beam with a span length of 12 in. and a width and depth of 3 in. is
subjected to a dynamic load of 300 lb at third points. The dynamic
deflection measured at the center of the beam is 6.25 x 10-4 in. Determine
the extreme fiber stress and the stiffness modulus. Take a Poisson ratio of
0.35.
Solution: Given P = 300 lb, a = 4 in., b = h = 3 in.

σ = 3 x 4 x 300 / (3 x 32) = 133.3 psi.

Given L = 12 in. and Δ = 0.000625 in.

Es = 23 x 300 x 123 /(108 x 3 x 33 x 0.000625) = 2.18 x 106 psi.

Es = 2.53 x 106 psi.

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Pavement Analysis and Design

 Material Characterization
Dynamic Stiffness Modulus-Analysis
The stiffness modulus and the initial strain of each test are determined at
the 200th repetition by using following eqs. respectively.

The initial strains are plotted versus the number of repetitions to failure on
log scales. The plot can be approximated by a straight line, as shown in
Figure and expressed by:

in which Nf is the number of repetitions to failure, c2 is a fatigue constant

that is the value of Nf when εt = 1 and f2 is the inverse slope of the straight
line.
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Pavement Analysis and Design

 Material Characterization
Dynamic Stiffness Modulus-Analysis
Under the same initial strain, laboratory tests show that the number of
repetitions to failure decreases with the increase in stiffness modulus, so
last eq. can also be written as:

Note that above Eq. is similar to Eq. 3.6. However, above Eq. is based
purely on laboratory fatigue tests, whereas Eq. 3.6 is the extension from
laboratory specimens to actual prototype pavements. The factor f1 for
prototype pavements should be much greater than c1 for laboratory
specimens due to the fact that wheel loads on actual pavements do not
apply at the same location and have longer rest periods, both of which
increase the fatigue life. Also, for thicker pavements, it takes more
repetitions for cracks to appear on the surface to be considered as failure.
The Asphalt Institute's fatigue criterion is based on the assumption that f1
is 18.4 times greater than c1.
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Pavement Analysis and Design

 Material Characterization
Dynamic Stiffness Modulus-Analysis-Numerical problem
Fatigue tests were performed on 3-in. x 3-in. beams by the third-point
loading with a span of 12 in. The deflection at the center of beam and the
number of repetitions to failure are shown in Table 7.8. Develop an
equation relating the number of repetitions to failure and the tensile strain.

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Pavement Analysis and Design

 Material Characterization
Dynamic Stiffness Modulus-Analysis-Numerical problem
Tensile strain

= 12 x 3 x 0.0129/ (3 x 144-4 x 16)

= 12.6 x 10 - 4
Plot graph between log tensile strain
and log number of repetitions to
failure.
f2 = log (1,000,000/1,000) / log (11.9/1.34)
= 3.163

f2 = (log Nf - log c2 ) / (log 1 – log εt )

log c2 = log Nf + f2 log εt

= log 1000 + 3.163 x log (11.9 x 10 -4)
c2 = 5.62 x 10 -7
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Pavement Analysis and Design