A dissipated energy approach to fatigue evaluation

The fatigue behaviour of bituminous binders and/or bitumen-filler mastics has been postulated as having a strong correlation with the fatigue behaviour of asphalt mixtures. The binder is one of the major factors controlling-fatigue of the asphalt mixture and is considered as the leading media of energy dissipation. It is verified in this paper that the application of the Ratio of Dissipated Energy Change (RDEC) approach in terms of the fatigue characteristics of bituminous binders and mastics produces a unique energy parameter, known as the Plateau Value (PV), similar to the PV previously identified for asphalt mixtures. The relationship between PV and fatigue life (Nf) is found to be unique for asphalt mixtures and binders (mastics). This suggests the RDEC approach is a fundamental approach for fatigue analysis of HMA. Furthermore, the two PV-Nf curves for asphalt mixtures and binders are strongly related, which provides a new way to explain mixture fatigue behaviour from a binder's rheological characteristics.