A new approach for the study of fatigue cracking phenomenon in bituminous mixtures

Abstract

In spite of the fact that many studies have been carried out to improve the understanding of fatigue cracking in bituminous materials, there are still some aspects that should be clarified and which prevent an accurate analysis. During cyclic loading, fatigue damage co-exist with other phenomena (plastic deformations, thixotropy, heating, etc.) that could distort its measurement and make more difficult its precise quantification. In addition, the damage caused by fatigue loads has global and local effects that cannot be separated. Because of this fact, it is not easy to establish a homogeneous failure criterion. Based on these considerations, this study presents a new approach that allows the identification of the different phenomena appeared during cyclic loading and therefore, to establish a homogenous failure criterion. In addition, using this approach is possible to make an accurate quantification of the cracking damage produced in bituminous mixtures, considering global and local effects.