Tension-Compression Fatigue Test Evaluation Using Fracture Mechanics and Field Data

ABSTRACT Fatigue cracking is one of the main distresses that affect asphalt pavements. In order to evaluate the cracking potential of several asphalt mixtures equivalent to the ones used in the sections of an accelerated loading pavement testing facility (PTF), uniaxial stress-controlled and strain-controlled direct tension-compression laboratory tests were performed. The laboratory-acquired data was analyzed using a crack growth equation with two separate techniques for estimating the dissipated pseudostrain energy. The results were compared to the observed PTF performance after subjecting the field sections to repeated load using a super-single truck tire accelerated loading device. The rankings of the mixtures based on their observed field performance and on the results of the crack growth equation were different, yielding parallel results for the strain-controlled laboratory test and opposite trends for the stress-controlled loading mode. The cause of the discrepancies could be explained by the onset and evolution of damage in each test protocol.