Materials and Structures (2014) 47:895–909
DOI 10.1617/s11527-013-0101-x
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
The use of stress sweep tests for asphalt mixtures nonlinear
viscoelastic and fatigue damage responses identification
Renato P. Coutinho • Lucas F. A. L. Babadopulos
Reuber A. Freire • Verônica T. F. Castelo Branco
Jorge B. Soares
Received: 4 September 2012 / Accepted: 22 May 2013 / Published online: 12 June 2013
Ó RILEM 2013
Abstract Asphaltic materials are known to present a
behavior that can be approximated by the theory of
viscoelasticity. For these materials it is essential to
characterize fatigue damage. An important aspect
therein is the separation between nonlinear viscoelas-
tic and fatigue damage responses. This is a complex
issue, since both nonlinearity and damage have a
similar effect on the overall material mechanical
behavior, i.e. decrease in the stiffness and increase in
the phase angle. This paper presents an experimental
and a mathematical procedure to separate the nonlin-
ear viscoelastic from the fatigue damage response for
asphaltic materials. Stress sweep tests were used to
characterize a hot mixture asphalt at nine conditions
(three temperatures and three frequencies). Once all
strain values were obtained in a stress controlled
R. P. Coutinho  L. F. A. L. Babadopulos 
R. A. Freire  V. T. F. Castelo Branco (&)  J. B. Soares
Department of Transportation Engineering, Universidade
Federal do Ceará, Campus do Pici-703, Fortaleza, CE
60440-554, Brazil
e-mail: veronica@det.ufc.br
R. P. Coutinho
e-mail: renato@det.ufc.br
L. F. A. L. Babadopulos
e-mail: lucasbaba@hotmail.com
R. A. Freire
e-mail: reuber_freire@yahoo.com.br
J. B. Soares
e-mail: jsoares@det.ufc.br
•
•
sweep test, a statistical analysis was used to find the
maximum stress that can be applied to the material
without invoking the damage response. The results
showed that the transition stress value is directly
associated with material properties, the stiffness being
an important factor in this result. Consequently, stress,
temperature and frequency determine together the
mechanical response of the material (linear or nonlin-
ear viscoelastic, fatigue damage and/or plastic defor-
mation). Results from this study can be associated with
other fatigue damage approaches in order to better
select the stress or strain amplitude that should be used
in fatigue tests, and to eliminate the amount of energy
that is dissipated in the nonlinear viscoelastic region.
Keywords Nonlinear viscoelasticity 
Fatigue damage  Asphalt materials 
Stress sweep tests
1 Introduction
Asphaltic materials can be represented using a visco-
elastic model [12, 16, 20, 22, 23, 25, 28, 30].
Viscoelastic mechanical response can be interpreted
as a combination between elastic and viscous behav-
iors. When viscoelastic materials are submitted to fast
loading (high frequencies), they behave approxi-
mately like an elastic solid, deforming just as the load
is applied. When load is applied at a very slow rate
896
(low frequencies), the material accumulates strain
delayed from the stress, like a viscous fluid.
Asphalt cement (AC), as a viscoelastic material,
presents viscous components in its deformation, which
makes its response dependent on time and on rate of
loading [10, 26, 29]. Moreover, those materials are
characterized by the fact that the strain response in a
given instant is not only determined by the stress
amplitude applied at that instant, but also by the stress
history [10]. This hypothesis is valid for linear as well
as for nonlinear viscoelastic materials. However, the
theory of linear viscoelasticity is restricted to the
infinitesimal deformation condition, which is satisfied
in many theoretical problems [28], but cannot be
assumed in some real cases. According to Bahia et al.
[5], because of the large difference in stiffness between
AC and aggregates, for HMA, most of the bulk strain
will be concentrated in the binder domain. It is expected
a very complex strain distribution in this domain. The
referred authors observed that, applying a shear strain
of 1 % in typical HMA can result in a strain distribu-
tion, within the binder limits, from 0.3 to 32 %.
Park et al. [24] state that deformations range for
HMA is smaller than for AC. The stress–strain curves
at various temperatures and strain rates showed that
the peak strains range from 0.005 to 0.01, and the
fracture strains do not exceed 0.06 [7, 27]. It is a
consensus that, for HMA, the infinitesimal strain
theory applies for strains below 0.01. In order to
correctly characterize asphaltic materials, it is neces-
sary to obtain parameters that are compatible with the
theory of viscoelasticity [14, 17]. The nonlinear
viscoelastic properties depend on stress and on strain
amplitudes, time, and temperature [31]. According to
Ferry [15]; and Cheung and Cebon [8, 9], AC behaves
linearly at low stress amplitudes and nonlinearly at
higher stress amplitudes. The maximum stress (or
strain) that can be applied without inducing a nonlin-
ear viscoelastic response of the material depends on
the material type, frequency and temperature.
Zeng [32] states that the difference between these
two types of behavior (linear and nonlinear) lies in the
stress/strain relation. As opposed to what happens for
linear response, materials that present nonlinear
response do not present proportionality between stress
and strain. This nonlinear behavior depends on the
material properties, on the applied stress amplitude
and on the observation conditions (temperature and
frequency).
Materials and Structures (2014) 47:895–909
Bahia et al. [5] affirmed that, the nonlinearity is an
indication of damage. It is considered as a stage closer
to failure than to the linear range. Due to the repeated
nature of traffic load applications, AC performing in
the nonlinear region can accumulate damage faster
and show performance very different from what their
linear behavior is indicating. The referred authors also
affirmed that modified AC’s represent a multiphase
system known to present a nonlinear behavior, unlike
conventional AC’s. Airey et al. [3] stated that, for
some polymer modified AC’s, mainly with high
percentage of modifying agent, the principle of
linearity must not be assumed.
The fatigue damage (micro and macro cracks
formation and growth) caused by repeated loading is
one of the main distresses occurring in asphalt
pavements. This type of distress is mainly caused by
traffic and it is highly influenced by weather condi-
tions. Although some authors treat nonlinearity as a
result of damage initiation and growth [21], these
phenomena can be seen in a way where nonlinearity
does not necessarily produce crack growth, but only
represents the non-proportionality on the material
stress/strain behavior.
Some authors state that there is nonlinearity in
asphalt mixtures at the very beginning of the defor-
mation process, so linear viscoelasticity would not
apply even for initial load conditions and mostly for
higher deformation and lower rate of loading. For
those authors, nonlinear viscoelasticity of asphalt
mixtures can be caused by the rotation and slippage of
aggregates and the localized high strains in the AC
phase, which can influence the bulk behavior of the
mixture [2, 18, 19].
Di Benedetto et al. [13] investigated HMA behavior
under cyclic tests. Those authors stated that the
changes in the complex modulus and in the phase
angle during cyclic tests are due to four separated
phenomena, possibly occurring at the same time:
nonlinearity, heating, thixotropy and fatigue. Only the
latter is a totally irreversible process. For the tests
conducted by Di Benedetto et al. [13], which imposed
up to 122 l of deformation for 10,000 cycles in the
samples, no irreversible changes in modulus or phase
angle was observed (after 6 h at rest). Those authors
quantified the effects of each of the four phenomena
and obtained, for the conducted tests, that nonlinearity
is responsible for *30 % of the change in the dynamic
modulus.
Materials and Structures (2014) 47:895–909
Fig. 1 Dynamic modulus and phase angle for different stress
(strain) amplitudes [6]
For the purpose of this paper, nonlinear viscoelas-
ticity and damage are considered as two distinct
concepts so that damage differs from nonlinear
viscoelasticity by presenting the formation and the
propagation of micro and macro cracks. Although the
authors understand that the transition between those
two regions should rather be represented by a spec-
trum of stress or strain amplitude, a simplification
considered in the present paper is that only one value
of stress or strain amplitude represents the stress
transition limit.
One of the challenges in the characterization of
HMA fatigue damage is the separation of the visco-
elastic from the fatigue damage response. This is a
complex issue, because both nonlinearity and damage
have a similar effect on the overall material mechan-
ical behavior, i.e. a decrease in the dynamic modulus
and an increase in the phase angle [6]. This behavior is
illustrated in Fig. 1.
The transition point from the nonlinear to the
fatigue damage region is hard to find, since there is no
change in the trend of the decrease in the dynamic
modulus and in the increase of the phase angle. This is
the main topic discussed in this paper. The transition
limit is important to quantify the dissipated energy
during the nonlinear viscoelastic behavior and during
the damage response for different asphaltic materials
allowing a more realistic material behavior analysis.
The stress transition limit, or the dynamic modulus at
the stress transition limit, can be used as an input to the
analysis of fatigue test results to account or discount
the dissipated strain energy due to nonlinear visco-
elasticity without damage (crack) propagation.
897
2 Objectives
The present work aims at implementing an experi-
mental methodology for the separation of nonlinear
and damage responses for asphalt mixtures at different
conditions of loading frequency and temperature. In
addition, it intends to evaluate the impact of changes in
the experimental parameters on the determined tran-
sition limits between nonlinear and damage responses.
In order to accomplish the objectives, different load
schemes were tested. Stress sweep tests were con-
ducted similarly to what was proposed by Castelo
Branco [6] for fine aggregate matrices (FAM) charac-
terization and, more recently, by Coutinho et al. [11].
While Coutinho et al. [11] applied the methodology of
separation to different FAM at only one test condition
(same temperature and frequency for all tests), the
present work analyses the results of tests conducted at
different conditions (three frequencies and three
temperatures) for a conventional HMA.
3 Experimental information
3.1 Materials
This research was developed with materials from
Brazil. The AC is a PG 70-28 classified by penetration
as a 50/70 (produced by Petrobras/Lubnor). The
aggregates are from a granitic source typically used
in the state of Ceará: coarse aggregates of sizes 1/200
(12.5 mm) and 3/800 (9.5 mm); fine aggregates and
natural filler are from the same source.
3.2 HMA design
The HMA design followed the Superpave methodol-
ogy using 100 gyrations. The asphalt content used was
5.0 % in order to obtain compacted samples with
4.0 % air voids. For this binder content, the mixture’s
theoretical maximum specific gravity was 2.345. This
dense graded mixture presents nominal maximum
aggregate size of 12.5 mm (1/200 ) and is typically used
for pavement surface courses in Northeast Brazil,
mostly with unmodified binders, since there is no
heavy loaded traffic. Specimens have 100 mm in
diameter and 150 mm in height. The gradation of the
mixture is presented in Fig. 2.
898
Fig. 2 HMA gradation
3.3 Experimental procedures
As idealized by Castelo Branco [6], stress sweep tests
were performed to separate the nonlinear viscoelastic
from fatigue damage response. HMA stress sweep
tests were performed using a universal testing machine
25 (UTM-25). For each test, it was applied 50 different
compressive axial stress amplitudes (separated by
equal intervals) in haversine, with a fixed frequency
and controlled temperature, according to Coutinho
et al. [11]. Compressive tests were used due to
experimental issues. Nonlinear and damage behavior
can be considerably different under tension. Three
replicates were tested at each condition. Nine different
conditions were tested: three frequencies (5, 10, and
25 Hz) and three temperatures (4.4, 21.1, and
37.8 °C). The frequencies and the temperatures were
chosen based on the HMA dynamic modulus standard
procedure (AASHTO TP62-03) [1]. Two hundred load
cycles were applied for each stress amplitude. The
initial stress amplitudes were selected based on the
minimum stress values suggested by AASHTO TP62
(2003) (Table 1). This was done to guarantee that the
testing is beginning within the material linear visco-
elastic region and in order to limit axial strains
between 50 and 150 le [4]. The final axial stress
amplitude (test ending condition) was selected to
assure that the material had passed from the nonlinear
to the fatigue damage region.
The axial deformation response was monitored by
three linear variable differential transformers (LVDT’s)
with a positioning range of 120° between them. Tests
started with the application of low stress amplitudes,
increased gradually until it reached the test objective
(passing from the nonlinear viscoelastic to the fatigue
Materials and Structures (2014) 47:895–909
Table 1 Stress amplitudes used in the stress sweep tests with
different frequencies (5, 10, and 25 Hz)
Axial stress amplitude (kPa) Temperature (°C)
4.4 21.1 37.8
Initial 500 500 50
Final 2,700 2,500 970
damage region). For each test, around 30–50 different
axial compressive stress amplitudes were applied to
each sample (separated by equal intervals) following a
harmonic function. This difference in the number of
stress amplitudes applied is due to experimental issues
(LVDT’s limitations). For the highest temperature
tested (37.8 °C), the specimens had such low stiffness
that after the thirtieth compressive stress amplitude the
maximum deformation overpassed one of the LVDT’s
measurement range (gauge length). Then, the tests
needed to be stopped. For the lowest temperature
(4.4 °C), the specimens presented high stiffness and,
depending on the frequency, after the fortieth compres-
sive stress amplitude the equipment’s loading capacity
reached its limits. At these stress amplitudes, the
solicitation curve was not performed as programmed
due to the equipment limitations.
4 Results and analysis
For each stress amplitude applied, the peak strain
response was monitored. It is known that, as the stress
amplitude increases, the strain amplitude does not
always increase proportionally. This behavior can be
separated into three different stages. In the first stage,
the linear viscoelastic region, the amplitude strain
response is linear with respect to the applied stress
amplitude. This is found when low stress amplitudes
are applied. The second stage, the nonlinear visco-
elastic region, is characterized by the nonlinear strain
response when different stress amplitudes are applied,
and it usually occurs for intermediate stress levels. The
last stage, the damage region, is characterized by
damage that is induced to the material in each load
cycle during the application of high stress amplitudes,
even with constant stress amplitudes. This last stage is
also characterized by nonlinear strain response with
respect to the applied stress.
Materials and Structures (2014) 47:895–909
Fig. 3 Applied stress
(a) and corresponding strain
response (b) for two regions:
viscoelastic and damage [6]
For both regions, linear and nonlinear, the peak
strain response should not change as the number of
load cycles application increases, for the same stress
amplitude. In the damage region, for the same stress
amplitude the strain response tends to increase as the
number of load cycles increases (Fig. 3). In addition,
in the linear region the stress/strain relation (dynamic
modulus) is constant regardless of the stress amplitude
used. For the nonlinear region, the ratio between stress
and strain amplitude is different for each stress
amplitude applied (Fig. 1).
The analysis of the strain response at a given stress
amplitude for 200 load cycles allows the identification
of the change point from the nonlinear viscoelastic to
the damage region. Quantitatively, the value of the
stress amplitude where this change occurs can be
obtained determining the slope of the line connecting
the peaks of strain responses during the 200 cycles for
each stress amplitude applied. If the material is in the
linear or in the nonlinear viscoelastic regions, the
slope should be close to zero. Otherwise, the material
will be in the damage region (Fig. 3b). Some small
strain amplitude slopes can always be observed, which
can be explained by the fact that some heating and
thixotropy are occurring during cyclic loading. This
was also observed by Di Benedetto et al. [13]. To find
the transition stress amplitude a statistical analysis was
used.
The test methodology (specially the stress path, first
and last stress amplitudes used, stress increment, and the
number of load cycles per amplitude) was chosen based
on the following considerations. In order to evaluate the
proposed methodology for separating damage response
from nonlinear viscoelastic response, different load
schemes were used for the same conditions of temper-
ature and frequency (21.1 °C, and 10 Hz). Each one of
the red curves presented next (Figs. 4, 5, 6, and 7) in this
899
section was generated for tests conducted at 21.1 °C and
10 Hz using different load schemes. They were com-
pared to the results obtained at the same temperature
and frequency using a reference load scheme (blue
curves), described in Table 2.
4.1 Stress path evaluation
In order to evaluate the influence of the direction of the
stress sweep (increasing or decreasing stress ampli-
tudes) in the determined transition point, the results of
the tests conducted using decreasing stress amplitudes
were compared to the results obtained using the
reference load scheme (Table 2).
Given that the only difference between the test
conditions was the choice of the stress history
(increasing or decreasing), it was assumed that all
differences obtained were due to the stress history.
Using this methodology, it is expected to evaluate the
influence of the stress history in the selection of the
stress transition limits to reach the damage region. In
each figure, beside the labels of the curves, it is
presented the dynamic modulus measured for the first
and the last stress amplitudes.
First, it was chosen to test the HMA with decreasing
stress amplitudes instead of increasing ones (reference
load scheme). The first results presented here were
generated with stress amplitudes beginning at 70 % of
the reference stress transition limit. It was expected
that using such stress path no damage would be
generated in the sample. The load scheme to evaluate
the influence of the stress path is summarized in
Table 3. The reader can observe that a negative sign in
the mean stress increment indicates that the amplitude
sweep was performed from the highest to the lowest
stress amplitudes, which was called in this paper a
back sweep path.
900 Materials and Structures (2014) 47:895–909

Fig. 4 Proposed
methodology: stress path
evaluation

Fig. 5 Proposed
methodology: stress path
evaluation

Fig. 6 Proposed
methodology: stress
increment evaluation

The results obtained for this load scheme are
presented in Fig. 4.
The results for this load scheme showed that, in fact,
the damage evolution is slight (strain amplitude slope
close to zero), as expected. On the other hand, it was
verified that the algorithm finds a new stress transition
limit (the one found when the stress amplitudes were
decreased instead of increased) within the tested stress
amplitudes. The new stress transition limit is lower
(43 %) than the former one. One can conclude that the
stress path influences the stress transition limit deter-
mined following the methodology presented in this
paper. As the algorithm always finds a value for the
stress transition limit within the tested stress ampli-
tudes, it was decided to conduct the same test (using
decreasing stress amplitudes), but choosing similar
Materials and Structures (2014) 47:895–909 901

Fig. 7 Proposed
methodology: number of
load cycles per amplitude
evaluation

Table 2 Reference load scheme results for the load scheme described in Table 4 are
presented in Fig. 5.
Stress First stress Last stress Mean Number
Considering the curves presented in Fig. 5, it was
path amplitude amplitude stress of load
(kPa) (kPa) increment cycles/ observed that the strain amplitude slopes are nearly the
(kPa) amplitude same, as before. Now, the stress transition limits
determined using each one of the stress paths were also
Increasing 500 2,763 70 200
similar. Based on that, it can be said that the difference
previously obtained for the stress transition limit was
due to the values of the first and the last stress
Table 3 Load scheme to evaluate the influence of the stress
path amplitudes. Besides that, the direction of the stress
path (increasing or decreasing) does not appear to
Stress path First stress Last stress Mean Number
directly affect neither the strain amplitude slope at a
amplitude amplitude stress of load
(kPa) (kPa) increment cycles/ given stress amplitude nor the stress transition limit
(kPa) amplitude determination. This is possibly due to the fact that
HMA presents voids in its material volume, which
Decreasing 956 95 -25 200
creates a pre-damaged medium, in such a way that the
accumulated damage during the test is mostly due to
values of stress amplitude to the reference one. The new the pre-damage. So, independently of the stress path,
load scheme to evaluate the influence of the stress path at a given stress amplitude, the strain amplitude slope
is presented in Table 4. The mean stress increment is is almost the same. On the other hand, it can be said
negative, as before (back sweep). The target mean that the selected first and last stress amplitudes do
stress increment was -70 kPa, in order to obtain a influence the determined stress transition limit. This is
similar configuration to the reference load scheme, probably due to the sensitivity of the algorithm used to
changing only the direction of the sweep. However, the determine these values.
increment obtained during the test was -60 kPa. The
4.2 Stress increment

In order to evaluate the influence of the stress

Table 4 New load scheme to evaluate the influence of the
stress path increment in the determined transition point, the
results of tests conducted using a smaller stress
Stress path First stress Last stress Mean Number
increment (25 kPa) were compared to results obtained
amplitude amplitude stress of load
(kPa) (kPa) increment cycles/ using the reference stress increment (70 kPa). The red
(kPa) amplitude curve shown in Fig. 6 was obtained for an increasing
stress path, using lower stress increments than the
Decreasing 2,682 241 -60 200
reference one. The blue curve had been obtained using
902 Materials and Structures (2014) 47:895–909

Table 5 Load scheme to evaluate the influence of the stress where the damage is imminent for the evaluated
increment conditions. This algorithm is based on the analysis of
Stress First stress Last stress Mean Number the strain amplitude slope (y) obtained when the peak
path amplitude amplitude stress of cycles/ strain responses for 200 applied stress cycles (x) are
(kPa) (kPa) increment amplitude gathered. It fits the data with a horizontal line (y = a0)
(kPa)
connected at x0 value on the horizontal axis to another
Increasing 289 1,660 25 200 function. The second function can be either linear
(y = b0 ? b1x) or quadratic. Castelo Branco [6]
noticed that the function should be selected according
to the used mode of loading in order to produce better
70 kPa as the mean stress increment, while the red
data adjustment. For stress-controlled tests, it was
curve was obtained using 25 Pa. The load scheme is
observed that a linear function was more appropriated.
summarized in Table 5.
The parameter xo is called the change point and can be
Again, observing the results in Fig. 6, the strain
interpreted as the point where the derivative is different
amplitude slopes at a given stress amplitude are very
from zero. The algorithm uses the least squares criterion
similar, independently on the stress history. This
subjected to the constraint that the two pieces of the
agrees with the explanation previously given about the
function intersect at x0. Let x(i) denote the ordered x
HMA pre-damaged nature.
values and y*(i) denote the strain amplitude slope
response corresponding to a compression of x(i). Then
4.3 Number of load cycles per amplitude
the function to be minimized is:
0 1
In order to evaluate the influence of the number of load X X
cycles per stress amplitude in the determined transi- min@ ðyðiÞ 2
 a0 Þ þ ðyðiÞ  ðb0 þ b1 xðiÞÞÞ 2A

i:xðiÞ \x0 i:xðiÞ  x0

tion point, the results of tests conducted using more
load repetitions (300) were compared to results
obtained using the reference load scheme (Table 2),
i.e., 200 load cycles. The red curve presented in Fig. 7
was generated using an increasing stress path, and 300
load cycles per amplitude. This load scheme is
indicated in Table 6.
Observing Fig. 7 one can conclude that the strain
amplitude slopes are very similar. The same can be
observed for the stress transition limits determined
based on each curve.
ð1Þ
Considering that y = b0 ? b1x passes through (x0,
a) with respect to a0, b0, b1 and x0 for the case where
the function is considered linear, being a0, b1 and b0
the linear equations’ constants. The minimization is
achieved by first selecting a grid of points covering the
range of x data that corresponds to potential values of
x0. Then, for each potential value of x0 along the grid,
the minimization of a0, b0, b1 is carried out using
Excel’s Solver.

4.4 Statistical analysis

4.5 Results
The statistical analysis was performed using an algo-
The deformation values were measured and then the
rithm proposed by Castelo Branco [6]. This analysis
strain responses were obtained for each sample at each
aims at determining the value of the stress amplitude
temperature and frequency. For each condition, three
tests were performed. The mean stress and strain
amplitudes, obtained for the three replicates, were
Table 6 Load scheme to evaluate the influence of the number
of load cycles per amplitude taken into account to calculate the change point. The
slopes of the line that connects the peak strain
Stress First stress Last stress Mean Number
responses for the 200 cycles, for each applied stress
path amplitude amplitude stress of load
(kPa) (kPa) increment cycles/ amplitude, were determined. The data were analyzed
(kPa) amplitude using the statistical method previously presented. The
values of the transition stress x0 [and its coefficient of
Increasing 288 2,100 50 300
variation (CV)], i.e. where the transition from the
Materials and Structures (2014) 47:895–909 903

Table 7 Statistical parameters for the limit stress amplitude determination

Temp. (°C) Frequency (Hz) Statistical parameters CV (%)
-1
a0 b0 b1 (kPa ) x0 (kPa)

4.4 5 2.544 9 10-7 -5.779 9 10-5 2.002 9 10-8 2.900 9 10?3 0.24
-10 -5 -8
10 -1.123 9 10 4.200 9 10 -1.479 9 10 2.839 9 10?3 0.82
-11 -5 -8 ?3
25 -1.161 9 10 3.045 9 10 -1.301 9 10 2.340 9 10 6.14
21.1 5 6.169 9 10-6 -6.772 9 10-5 4.315 9 10-8 1.712 9 10?3 6.78
10 7.698 9 10-6 -5.357 9 10-5 4.153 9 10-8 1.475 9 10?3 3.70
25 5.074 9 10-6 -4.232 9 10-5 4.583 9 10-8 1.034 9 10?3 1.82
37.8 5 9.016 9 10-8 -2.610 9 10-6 5.753 9 10-8 4.693 9 10?1 60.78
10 5.885 9 10-8 -1.273 9 10-5 1.260 9 10-7 1.015 9 10?2 19.22
-10 -5 -7 ?2
25 6.078 9 10 -4.620 9 10 2.052 9 10 2.252 9 10 8.37

nonlinear viscoelastic to the damage region occurs,
were obtained (Table 7).
It is possible to note that as the temperature
increases the stress transition threshold decreases. It
is believed that this occurs because as the temperature
increases, the intermolecular bonds weaken, so that at
lower stress amplitudes damage initiation can be
noticed. Also, due to the material’s thermoviscoelastic
nature, its stiffness increases as the temperature
decreases. For the studied HMA, the increase in the
material stiffness results in an increase in the stress
transition threshold. The same fact was observed by
Coutinho et al. [11] when studying three different
HMAs, tested at the same condition (21.1 °C, and
10 Hz). With respect to the loading frequency influ-
ence on the stress transition threshold, the same trend
was not observed for every temperature tested.
Taking b1 as an indicator of the rate of damage
growth, it is possible to see that for the intermediate
temperature (21.1 °C), the rate of damage growth is
almost the same for all frequencies (around 4.3 9
10-8 kPa-1). On the other hand, at higher temperatures
(37.8 °C), the rate of damage growth changes from
5.75 9 10-8 kPa-1 at 5 Hz to 1.26 9 10-7 kPa-1 at
10 Hz (increase of 119 %). At 25 Hz the rate of damage
growth is equal to 2.05 9 10-7 kPa-1, which represents
a value 256 % higher than the one observed for 5 Hz.
Figure 8 shows that, for the tests conducted at
4.4 °C, the slope of the line connecting the maximum
strain amplitudes is close to zero for every tested
frequency. This result suggests that the evaluated
HMA is exhibiting viscoelastic behavior without
damage throughout the test and it was not possible to
determine the transition limit for this temperature. For
this condition, the material exhibits high stiffness
(around 20,000 MPa at 4.4 °C) and, therefore, high
load levels were required (outside the UTM-25
operational limits) to cause a deformation high enough
to reach the specimen damage region. For the higher
stress amplitudes (above 2,300 kPa for 25 Hz, and
2,800 kPa for 10 Hz), the UTM-25 was not capable of
maintaining a harmonic stress curve (Fig. 9), produc-
ing decreasing strain slopes.
For 21.1 °C, the results presented a downward trend,
i.e. the stress transition threshold decreases (from 1,714
to 1,034 kPa) as the frequency increases (from 5 to
25 Hz). For this temperature, fatigue damage has a
more important influence on the material response than
the permanent deformation process does. At higher
frequencies (25 Hz, for example) the material presents
higher stiffness (10,906 MPa) when compared to lower
frequencies (7,417 MPa at 5 Hz). Associated with the
material heterogeneity, this can locally produce stress
intensity factors higher than the material’s toughness
during the loading process, leading to crack initiation.
For 37.8 °C, the results presented an inverse trend
when compared with the ones found for 21.1 °C. As
the frequency increases the material needs higher
stress amplitude to enter in the damage region. This
could be due to the fact that at higher temperatures the
permanent deformation effect is predominant over
the fatigue damage one. As the frequency increases,
the stiffness also does, retarding the permanent
deformation process and allowing higher stresses to
be applied without fatigue damage initiation. How-
ever, entering in the fatigue damage region with higher
stresses, at higher frequencies, the damage evolution
seems to develop (Figs. 10, 11).
904
Fig. 8 Strain amplitude
slope versus stress at 4.4 °C
for different frequencies
a 5 Hz, b 10 Hz, and
c 25 Hz
(a)
Fig. 9 Stress curves for stress amplitudes: a below 2,300 kPa for 25 Hz and 2,800 kPa for 10 Hz, b above 2,300 kPa for 25 Hz and
2,800 kPa for 10 Hz
Figure 12 shows a comparison for the results found
for 21.1 and 37.8 °C in terms of the nonlinear
viscoelastic region size and the rate of damage
propagation. The results at 4.4 °C are not presented
in Fig. 12 because damage growth could not be
analyzed at this temperature, due to the high stress
amplitudes needed. The HMA evaluated in this study
showed the same tendency for both temperatures, i.e.
the higher the frequency, the higher the rate of damage
propagation. As it can be seen at the frequency of
25 Hz the curve showed the highest slope, followed by
Materials and Structures (2014) 47:895–909
(b)
(c)
the curve of 10 Hz, and then the curve of 5 Hz. This
result indicates that, for the analyzed material, the
higher the loading frequency the faster the damage
propagates independently of the temperature. Again,
this fact can be explained by the increased stiffness at
higher frequencies, producing stress intensity factors
in the heterogeneity points higher than the material’s
toughness. This leads to crack growth. So, indepen-
dently of the temperature, the slope in the diagram
strain amplitude slope versus stress is larger for higher
frequencies.
Materials and Structures (2014) 47:895–909 905

Fig. 10 Strain amplitude

slope versus stress at
21.1 °C and different
frequencies: a 5 Hz,
b 10 Hz, and c 25 Hz

Fig. 11 Strain amplitude

slope versus stress at
37.8 °C and different
frequencies: a 5 Hz,
b 10 Hz, and c 25 Hz

(a) (b)

(c)

Finally, the mechanical properties obtained at the
change point are summarized in Table 8. The residual
dynamic modulus was defined as the ratio between the
dynamic modulus measured at the change point
(Fig. 13) and the undamaged initial dynamic modulus
(|E*|change point/|E*|initial).
It can be seen that the residual dynamic modulus
varied for each test condition. Airey et al. [3] studied
the viscoelastic limits for different ACs defining 95 %
of the initial undamaged dynamic modulus as the
criterion to identify the end of the linear viscoelastic
region independent of the material or the test
906 Materials and Structures (2014) 47:895–909

Fig. 12 Damage
propagation at different
temperatures: a 21.1 °C, and
b 37.8 °C

(a)

(b)

conditions. Based on the presented results, this does
not appear to be a criterion to find the transition limits
between viscoelastic regions for HMA. The results
show that the residual dynamic modulus tended to be
higher when the stress transition threshold was lower.
So, the residual dynamic modulus depends on the
material, on its stress transition threshold and on the
test conditions. At higher temperatures (e.g., at
37.8 °C), the residual dynamic modulus tends to be
almost equal to the material undamaged initial
dynamic modulus value. At lower temperatures, it
tends to be lower. Also the strain found at the change
point varied with the tested condition, with higher
strains being obtained for higher stress transition
thresholds. For higher temperatures, the strain at the
change point tended to be lower. Most of the strains
values at the change point are outside the limit
(50–150 le) proposed by Ali et al. [4] to ensure
linearity. Some of them (5 and 10 Hz at 37.8 °C, and
25 Hz at 21.1 °C) are under these limits. This

Table 8 Mechanical
Temperature Frequency Stress Undamaged Residual Strain at the
properties at the change point
(°C) (Hz) transition dynamic modulus dynamic change point
for the HMA studied
limit (kPa) (MPa) modulus (%) (le)

4.4 5 2,899 19,112 94.2 161

10 [3,000a 21,226 \93.8a [151
25 [3,000a 22,697 \95.4a [139
21.1 5 1,712 7,417 91.5 252
10 1,475 8,699 96.1 176
25 1,034 10,906 99.2 96
37.8 5 47 2,046 98.0 23
a
The UTM-25 has reached its 10 101 2,450 Same as initial 41
load application capacity and 25 225 4,078 Same as initial 55
the test could not be continued
Materials and Structures (2014) 47:895–909 907

(a)

(b)

(c)
Fig. 13 Results of dynamic modulus for each stress amplitude: a 4.4 °C, b 21.1 °C, and c 37.8 °C

indicates that, these limits may vary not only with the
material but also with the test conditions.
5 Conclusions and suggestions
An experimental and analytical procedure was eval-
uated to separate HMA nonlinear viscoelastic from the
fatigue damage response at different conditions
(frequencies and temperatures). Stress sweep tests
were performed at three different temperatures (4.4,
21.1, and 37.8 °C) and three different frequencies (5,
10, and 25 Hz). Although fatigue damage would not
be a primary concern at 37.8 °C in comparison to
permanent deformation, this temperature was studied
in order to give more information about the kind of
trends observed in the stress transition limit with
respect to the temperature variation. A dense graded
908
HMA was tested for nine different conditions. The
results were analyzed to verify the influence of
frequency and temperature in the material responses,
i.e. the stress transition limit to enter in the damage
region and the rate of damage propagation.
From the stress sweep test results, it was observed
that the mixture behaves quite differently for the three
analyzed temperatures. At 4.4 °C the mixture has
greater stiffness compared to 21.1 and 37.8 °C,
impacting the transition limit from the nonlinear
viscoelastic to the damage region. For the HMA
evaluated in this study, the greater the material
stiffness, the greater was the stress amplitude at which
the material passes from the nonlinear viscoelastic to
the fatigue damage region. This same conclusion was
observed by Coutinho et al. [11] for three different
HMAs tested at the same condition (10 Hz and
21.1 °C).
For low temperature (4.4 °C) it was not possible to
determine the viscoelastic transition threshold using a
UTM-25. The results for 21.1 °C showed an upward
trend in the stress transition threshold as the frequency
increases. For 37.8 °C as the frequency increases the
material takes longer to enter in the damage region
(higher stress transition). Part of the results was
assumed to be influenced by the fact that the fatigue
damage and the permanent deformation mechanisms
do not occur in a separate manner, i.e. there is
permanent deformation involved in the fatigue process
especially for temperatures higher than 21.1 °C.
The authors suggest to extend the testing method-
ology and the analysis process proposed in this paper
to other HMA types and even other asphalt materials
scales, such as the FAM and binder, so that the
transition limit between the nonlinear viscoelasticity
and fatigue damage regions can be better understood
for different conditions. Finally, it would be interest-
ing to perform linearity tests (test for homogeneity and
superposition principles) in the same material to find
the transition limit between the linear and the nonlin-
ear viscoelastic regions, stress sweep tests under
another mode of loading, such as tension, and finally
to analyze the phase angle data and not only the
dynamic modulus. The knowledge of this limit is
important because most of the tests to obtain the
viscoelastic properties are performed taking as a
premise the fact that the materials’ response lies on
the linear region.
Materials and Structures (2014) 47:895–909
The results of the stress transition limit presented in
this paper can be used as a starting point to determine
stresses to perform commonly used fatigue tests, in
such a way that the dissipated energy by viscoelastic
mechanisms could be separated from the energy
dissipated in the damage process. This can be done
by choosing as the reference modulus the dynamic
modulus at the change point, instead of using the
undamaged initial dynamic modulus.
Acknowledgments The authors gratefully acknowledge the
financial support of CNPq, ANP, Petrobras, FINEP and
FUNCAP.
References
1. AASHTO (2005) Standard method of test for determining
dynamic modulus of hot-mix asphalt concrete mixtures.
TP62-03
2. Abbas A, Papagiannakis T, Masad E (2004) Linear and non-
linear viscoelastic analysis of the microstructure of asphalt
concretes. J Mater Civ Eng ASCE 16(2):133–139
3. Airey GD, Rahimzadeh B, Collop AC (2002) Linear vis-
coelastic limits of bituminous binders. J Assoc Asph Paving
Technol 71:160–196
4. Ali O, Mohamed EH, Adam Y, Zeghal M (2007) Control
over strain in the dynamic modulus test. Transportation
Research Board, TRB, Washington, DC
5. Bahia HU, Zhai H, Bonneti K, Kose S (1999) Non-linear
viscoelastic and fatigue properties of asphalt binders. J
Assoc Asph Paving Technol 68:1–34
6. Castelo Branco VTF (2008) A unified method for the
analysis of nonlinear viscoelasticity and fatigue cracking of
asphalt mixtures using the dynamic mechanical analyzer.
Ph.D. Dissertation, Texas A&M University, College Sta-
tion, TX
7. Chehab GR, Kim YR, Schapery RA, Witczak MW, Bona-
quist R (2002) Time–temperature superposition principle
for asphalt concrete with growing damage in tension state.
J Assoc Asph Paving Technol 71:559–593
8. Cheung CY, Cebon D (1997) Deformation mechanisms of
pure bitumen. J Mater Civil Eng 9:117–129
9. Cheung CY, Cebon D (1997) Thin film deformation
behavior of power-law creeping materials. J Eng Mech
123:1138–1152
10. Christensen RM (1982) Theory of viscoelasticity, 2nd edn.
Academic Inc., New York
11. Coutinho R, Freire RA, Castelo Branco VTF, Soares JB
(2011) Identificação do Comportamento Viscoelástico Não-
Linear e de Dano em Misturas Asfálticas Utilizando Testes
de Varredura de Tensão. Rev Transp (in Portuguese)
12. Daniel JS, Kim YR (2002) Development of a simplified
fatigue test and analysis procedure using a viscoelastic
continuum damage model. J Assoc Asphalt Paving Technol
71:619–659
Materials and Structures (2014) 47:895–909
13. Di Benedetto H, Nguyen QT, Sauzéat C (2011) Nonlin-
earity, heating, fatigue and thixotropy during cyclic loading
of asphalt mixtures. Int J Road Mater Pavement Des
12(1):129–158
14. Evangelista F Jr, Parente E Jr, Soares JB (2005) Viscoelastic
and elastic structural analysis of flexible pavements. In:
XXVI Iberian Latin-American congress computational
methods in engineering, CILAMCE, Guaraparı́
15. Ferry JD (1961) Viscoelastic properties of polymers. Wiley,
New York
16. Goodrich JL (1991) Asphaltic binder rheology, asphalt
concrete rheology and asphalt concrete mix properties.
J Assoc Asphalt Paving Technol 60:80–120
17. Huang YH (2004) Pavement analysis and design. Pearson
Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River
18. Huang CW, Masad E, Muliana A, Bahia H (2007) Nonlin-
early viscoelastic analysis of asphalt mixes subjected to
shear loading. Mech Time-Depend Mater 11(2):91–110
19. Kose S, Guler M, Bahia H, Masad E (2000) Distribution of
strains within hot-mix asphalt binders. Transp Res Rec
1728:21–27
20. Lee HJ, Kim YR (1998) Viscoelastic constitutive model for
asphalt concrete under cyclic loading. J Eng Mech 124:32–40
21. Lee HJ, Park HM, Lee JH (2007) Development of a sim-
plified design procedure for determining layer thickness in
long life pavements. Transportation Research Board, TRB,
Washington, DC
22. Momm L (2001) Comportamento Viscoelástico do Con-
creto Asfáltico. 33a Reunião Anual de Pavimentação,
ABPv, Florianópolis, pp 471–487 (in Portuguese)
23. Park SW, Kim YR (1998) Analysis of layered viscoelastic
system with transient temperatures. J Eng Mech 124:223–231
909
24. Park P, Wineman A, El-Tawil S (2011) Uniaxial nonlinear
viscoelastic constitutive model for asphalt concrete. J Assoc
Asph Paving Technol 80:317–346
25. Pinto S (1991) Estudo do Comportamento à Fadiga de
Misturas Betuminosas e Aplicação na Avaliação Estrutural
de Pavimentos. Ph.D. Dissertation, COPPE/UFRJ, Rio de
Janeiro, RJ, Brazil (in Portuguese)
26. Schapery RA (1969) On the characterization of nonlinear
viscoelastic materials. Polym Eng Sci 9(1969):295–310
27. Schwartz CW, Gibson NH, Schapery RA (2002) Time-
temperature superposition for asphalt concrete at large
compressive strains. Transp Res Rec 1789:101–112
28. Soares JB, Souza FV (2002) Verificação do Comportamento
Viscoelástico Linear em Misturas Asfálticas. 168 Encontro
de Asfalto, IBP, Rio de Janeiro, RJ (in Portuguese)
29. Souza FV, Soares JB (2002) Previsão do Comportamento
Mecânico de Misturas Asfálticas a Partir dos Resultados do
Ensaio de Creep Estático. XVI Congresso de Pesquisa e
Ensino em Transportes, ANPET, Natal, pp 29–41 (in
Portuguese)
30. Taira C, Fabbri GTP (2001) Modelação Viscoelástica de
Ensaios de Fluência Estática e Dinâmica de Misturas As-
fálticas com Asfalto Convencional e Modificado por Polı́-
mero SBS. 33a Reunião Anual de Pavimentação, ABPv,
Florianópolis, pp 250–265 (in Portuguese)
31. Yoo PJ, Al-Qadi IL (2007) Effect of transient dynamic
loading on flexible pavements. Transportation Research
Board, TRB, Washington, DC
32. Zeng M (1997) Nonlinear viscoelastic behavior of asphalt
concrete in stress relaxation. Master Thesis, University of
Manitoba, USA