Fatigue and thermal cracking of hot and warm bituminous mixtures with different rap contents

Abstract

This paper presents results of laboratory tests on hot and warm bituminous mixtures produced with Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement (RAP). Additives were used to produce warm bituminous mixtures. Fatigue behaviour and thermomechanical behaviour at low temperature were investigated. Fatigue was studied by analysing the tension/compression fatigue test results. Four different failure criteria were used in order to evaluate fatigue life. The low temperature behaviour of the materials was characterized using the Thermal Stress Restrained Specimen Test (TSRST). For each material, three replicates were performed. The experimental device was improved so that radial strains in two directions could be measured during the tests. Tri-dimensional behaviour could thus be investigated. The results of both tests were analysed and the influence of the void content, RAP content, type of additives and manufacturing process was evaluated. The results show that RAP addition and warm bituminous mixtures could be combined to obtain mixtures with performances comparable to classical hot mixtures.