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Low temperature cracking is a major distress in asphalt pavements. Several test configurations have been introduced to characterize the fracture properties of hot mix (HMA); however, most are considered to be research tools due to the complexity of the test methods or equipment. This dissertation describes the development of the indirect ring tension (IRT) fracture test for HMA, which was designed to be an effective and user-friendly test that could be deployed at the Department of Transportation level. The primary advantages of this innovative and yet practical test include: relatively large fracture surface test zone, simplicity of the specimen geometry, widespread availability of the required test equipment, and ability to test laboratory compacted specimens as well as field cores. Numerical modeling was utilized to calibrate the stress intensity factor formula of the IRT fracture test for various specimen dimensions. The results of this extensive analysis were encapsulated in a single equation. To develop the test procedure, a laboratory study was conducted to determine the optimal test parameters for HMA material. An experimental plan was then developed to evaluate the capability of the test in capturing the variations in the mix properties, asphalt pavement density, asphalt material aging, and test temperature. Five plant-produced HMA mixtures were used in this extensive study, and the results revealed that the IRT fracture test is highly repeatable, and capable of capturing the variations in the fracture properties of HMA. Furthermore, an analytical model was developed based on the viscoelastic properties of HMA to estimate the maximum allowable crack size for the pavements in the experimental study. This analysis indicated that the low-temperature cracking potential of the asphalt mixtures is highly sensitive to the fracture toughness and brittleness of the HMA material. Additionally, the IRT fracture test data seemed to correlate well with the data from the distress survey which was conducted on the pavements after five years of service. The maximum allowable crack size analysis revealed that a significant improvement could be realized in terms of the pavements performance if the HMA were to be compacted to a higher density. Finally, the IRT fracture test data were compared to the results of the disk-shaped compact [DC(t)] test. The results of the two tests showed a strong correlation; however, the IRT test seemed to be more repeatable.

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Cracking is an important potential failure mechanism for pavement structures. By combining a strain energy-based fracture criterion with conventional fracture mechanics based on the Energy Ratio (ER) concept, crack growth in asphalt can be investigated, and a low temperature Thermal Cracking model (TCMODEL) can be introduced. This thesis presents the implementation of the Florida cracking model into a Mechanistic-Empirical (ME) flexible pavement design framework. An improved analysis procedure for better converting raw data from the Superpave Indirect Tensile Test (IDT) into fundamental viscoelastic properties of the asphalt mixture allows for calibration of the TCMODEL. This thesis involves a detailed review of Florida cracking model and TCMODEL. Finally, a MATLAB tool is prepared for the thermal cracking model to investigate the cause and effect of the problems.

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In this study, low temperature cracking of asphalt concrete is investigated based on a laboratory experimental program including the design variables of aggregate type, gradation, asphalt content, binder grading, binder modification, and the experimental variables of cooling rate, and specimen size. The design of experiment is proposed according to the fractional factorial design principles to reduce the required number of test specimens. Mix designs are performed according to the Superpave mix design guidelines using materials obtained from the Turkish General Directorate of High-ways. In the course of this study, a test setup for thermal stress restrained specimen test for asphalt concrete is developed and used successfully to test a number of as-phalt concrete beam specimens. The same setup is also used for measuring the glass transition temperatures to obtain various thermo-volumetric properties of mixtures. Statistical methods are used to identify the effect of experimental variables on frac-ture strength, fracture temperature and other dependent variables obtained from the testing program. Statistical models are also developed to predict the fracture strength, fracture temperature and other thermo-volumetric properties of mixtures. Results of analyses show that aggregate type, binder modification, and asphalt content significantly affect both the fracture strength and fracture temperature of asphalt concrete. While the glass transition temperature is affected by only aggregate type, coefficients of contraction before and after the glass transition temperature are not influenced by any of the experimental variables. The results of this study provide an important basis to prevent low temperature cracking in asphalt concrete pavements.

A major distress mode in asphalt pavements is low temperature cracking, which results from the contraction and expansion of the asphalt pavement under extreme temperature changes. The potential for low temperature cracking is an interplay between the environment, the road structure and importantly the properties of the asphalt mixture. The thermal cracking performance of asphalt concrete mixtures can be evaluated by conducting thermal stress restrained specimen tests (TSRST) which is known to be correlated well with the fracture temperatures observed in the field. Although TSRST provides a good estimation of the field performance, it may be unrealistic to implement the obtained results in a design framework. On the other hand, recent studies showed Superpave indirect tension tests can be used to evaluate fracture performance (fatigue, moisture damage, low temperature cracking, etc.) of the asphalt concrete  mixtures. In addition, the obtained elastic and viscoelastic parameters from the Superpave IDT tests can be used as an input parameter to establish a design framework. The study presented in this thesis has a main objective to develop a framework using Superpave IDT test results as input parameters in order to evaluate the low temperature cracking performance of asphalt concrete mixtures. Moreover, the study aims to investigate micro-mechanically the low temperature cracking behavior of bitumen using atomic force microscopy (AFM) as a tool. The numerical model has been developed by integrating fracture energy threshold into an asphalt concrete thermal fracture model, considering non-linear thermal contraction coefficients. Based on the asphalt concrete mixture viscoelastic properties, this integrated model can predict thermally induced stresses and fracture temperatures. The elastic, viscoelastic and fracture energy input parameters of the model were measured by conducting indirect tension tests and the thermal contraction coefficients were measured experimentally. The proposed model has been validated by comparing the predicted fracture temperatures with the results obtained from TSRST tests. It was found that, while there is a quantitative discrepancy, the predicted ranking was correct. In the measurement of the thermal contraction coefficients it was observed that the thermal contraction coefficient in asphalt concrete is non-linear in the temperature range of interest for low temperature cracking. The implications of having non-linear thermal contraction coefficient were investigated numerically. In an effort to understand the effect of bitumen properties on low temperature fatigue cracking, AFM was used to characterize the morphology of bitumen. The AFM topographic and phase contrast image confirmed the existence of bee-shaped microstructure and different phases. The bitumen samples were subjected to both environmental and mechanical loading and after loading, micro-cracks appeared in the interfaces of the bitumen surface, confirming bitumen itself may also crack. It was also found that the presence of wax and wax crystallization plays a vital role in low temperature cracking performance of bitumen. / <p>QC 20120828</p>

Low temperature cracking is an important form of asphalt pavement deterioration in cold regions. The cracks develop when thermally induced stresses exceed the fracture resistance of the asphalt pavement. In this study, by incorporating HMA fracture mechanics into thermal cracking model, a new integrated model is introduced to investigate low temperature cracking performance. To evaluate its reliability and accuracy, the predicted thermally induced stress and failure temperature are compared with the fracture stress and fracture temperature obtained from thermal stress restrained specimen test. The findings indicate that this HMA fracture mechanics-based thermal cracking model has a great potential to reliably evaluate the performance of asphalt mixtures subjected to thermally induced damage.