NON-LINEAR VISCOELASTIC AND FATIGUE PROPERTIES OF ASPHALT BINDERS
Bahia, HU;Zhai, H;Onnetti, K;Kose, S
Abstract
A study was conducted to relate linear visco-elastic properties of asphalt binders of the same PG-Grade to
the rheological properties of asphalt mixtures of same aggregate source, gradation, and volumetric
proportions. The only variable was the type of modifier used in the production of the binder. Results
indicated that linear properties are not good indicators of mixture response. The study was expanded to
evaluate the role of non-linear viscoelastic properties in mixture response. The results collected indicate
that modified and un-modified asphalt binders vary significantly in the non-linear behavior. The non-linear
study was expanded to include fatigue performance of binders at various strain levels in the linear and nonlinear range. The paper presents a parametric study showing factors that influence strain dependency of
asphalt binders of a wide variety of chemical composition and modification techniques. The results of
fatigue testing of the binders are also presented to show factors that influence fatigue behavior. This paper
is intended to stimulate the research on the non-linear behavior of binders and to suggest that non-linear
properties are essential for effective estimation of the role of binders in mixture behavior.