Experimental Study on Torsional Shear Testing of Asphalt Mixture

In order to research investigations on the shear behavior of asphalt mixture, a new shear testing device is developed which can apply torque to a prismatic specimen. This test configuration incorporates a loading application and instrumentation systems to measure and record the response of these mixtures. The loading application can be subjected to individual or combined axial and torsional loads; in particular, the axial load can be dynamically controlled to remain constant. The paper first uses the mechanical theory to analyze the stress state of a prismatic specimen under a torsional load in unconfined compression and confined compression, respectively, and illustrates the influence factor, the shear strength parameter, and the failure criterion for the torsional shear test of the asphalt mixture. Then, the size and the preparation procedure of specimen are explained, and the experimental plan is described. Finally, the torsional shear test apparatus is used to conduct two types of shear tests of asphalt mixtures. The type I test in unconfined compression consists of two conditions: under a constant loading speed (2.4 rad/min) at four temperatures (30 ∘C, 40 ∘C, 50 ∘C, and 60 ∘C), and under a constant temperature (40 ∘C) at three loading speeds (2.4 rad/min, 4.0 rad/min, and 8.5 rad/min). The type II test in confined compression is performed under a loading speed of 2.4 rad/min and a temperature of 40 ∘C, at 0.125 MPa, 0.200 MPa, 0.355 MPa, 0.465 MPa, and 0.570 MPa normal stress levels, respectively. The results prove that (1) temperatures, loading speeds, and normal stress levels are the issues to be considered on torsional shear testing; (2) the pure shear model can be realized by the prismatic specimen, therefore, the cohesion average value obtained is 0.519 MPa; (3) the compression-shear model can be achieved by the prismatic specimen similarly, so the cohesion and the friction angle are simulated based on the Mohr–Coulomb failure criterion, which are 0.546 MPa and 44.15°, respectively; and (4) at the high temperature and low normal stress level, the Mohr–Coulomb failure criterion does not agree well with measured data, so the nonlinear failure envelope should not be ignored.