Fatigue Properties of Asphalt Materials at Low

In-Service Temperatures
Dong Wang 1; Wang Linbing, M.ASCE 2; Druta Christian, Aff.M.ASCE 3; and Guoqing Zhou, M.ASCE 4

Abstract: Fatigue damage is one of the most common distresses observed in the asphalt-concrete pavements. Both the initiation and propa-
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gation of fatigue cracking are complicated and very difficult to detect because they develop generally within pavement structure. To under-
stand the fatigue performance of asphalt concrete thoroughly, the behaviors of the major components of asphalt concrete under cyclic loading
were investigated in this study. A new experimental method was developed to evaluate the performance of asphalt binder, mastic, and fine-
aggregates mixture under cyclic tensile loading. The test results showed that fatigue performance of asphalt binder is closely related to the
loading magnitude, temperature, and loading frequency. Mastic specimens with varied filler contents were tested. It was found that the mastic
specimen with 30% filler content had better fatigue resistance and higher permanent strain. The differences between the test results of mastic
and mixture were then compared and analyzed using X-ray tomography imaging. It was indicated that the fatigue resistance is closely related
to the air-void content of the specimens. Three-dimensional digital specimens of asphalt binder, mastic, and mixture were developed and
tested in the numerical simulation of fatigue tests based on the finite-element method. Both mastic and mixture were modeled as hetero-
geneous composite materials in which the asphalt binder, filler, and aggregate were described by different mechanical models. Fatigue
damage of asphalt concrete was simplified by a damage model, which characterizes the degradation of the elastic modulus of the asphalt
binder. It was found that with proper selection of damage parameters, the simulation results agree well with laboratory test results and can be
used as a basis for future fatigue research. Finally, the reinforcement effect of basalt fiber was evaluated as an additive to improve the fatigue
resistance of asphalt-binding materials. It was found that with proper content, the fatigue resistances of asphalt binder and mastic were
significantly improved. The numerical simulation analysis also showed that fibers release the stress concentration in the interface area
of two fillers and mitigate the fatigue damage caused by cyclic loading. DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)MT.1943-5533.0000694. © 2013 American
Society of Civil Engineers.
CE Database subject headings: Fatigue; Asphalts; Binders (material); Finite element method; Radiography; Temperature effects.
Author keywords: Fatigue; Asphalt binder; Mastic; Finite-element method; X-ray tomography; Basalt fiber.

Introduction mixture during the fatigue process becomes very necessary to

Fatigue cracking is one of the major distresses in asphalt-concrete
pavements. It is defined as failure of pavement structure due to re-
peated stresses, which are not large enough to cause immediate
fracture. In general, fatigue cracking is described as a process in
which microcracks accumulate and connect to each other until vis-
ible cracks are formed and then propagate through the pavement.
This is a complicated phenomenon because both the initiation and
propagation of fatigue cracking are very difficult to detect. Because
the performance of the asphalt concrete is largely dependent on its
components, an investigation of each component of the asphalt
1
Postdoctoral Research Associate, Virginia Tech Transportation
Institute, Blacksburg, VA 24061. E-mail: wangd@vt.edu
2
Professor, Via Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Virginia
Polytechnic Institute and State Univ., Blacksburg, VA 24061. E-mail:
wangl@vt.edu
3
Senior Research Associate, Virginia Tech Transportation Institute,
Blacksburg, VA 24061. E-mail: cdruta@vtti.vt.edu
4
Professor, Guangxi Key Laboratory for Spatial Information, Guilin
Univ. of Technology, Guilin, Guangxi 541004, China (corresponding
author). E-mail: glitezhou@yahoo.com
Note. This manuscript was submitted on March 6, 2012; approved on
September 19, 2012; published online on September 22, 2012. Discussion
period open until February 1, 2014; separate discussions must be submitted
for individual papers. This paper is part of the Journal of Materials in Civil
Engineering, Vol. 25, No. 9, September 1, 2013. © ASCE, ISSN 0899-
1561/2013/9-1220-1227/$25.00.
thoroughly understand the mechanism of this distress. In this
composite material consisting of multiple phases, aggregate is a
major component forming the skeleton of the structure. Because
of the high stiffness and strength, damage of aggregate caused
by fatigue is limited. Compared with aggregate, strength of binding
materials is much lower, making the medium around the aggregates
more vulnerable and sensitive to fatigue damage. In this paper, the
binding materials, that is, asphalt binder and mastic, are evaluated
about the fatigue performance and compared with fine-aggregates
asphalt mixture. An X-ray tomography was incorporated to find
critical factors of fatigue damage in the microstructure. Numerical
simulation based on finite-element method (FEM) was conducted
to simulate the cyclic tensile fatigue test of asphalt materials with
realistic three-dimensional (3D) internal structure and experiment-
calibrated material properties. Finally, basalt fiber was evaluated
as a reinforcement additive to improve the fatigue resistance of
binding materials.
Background
Traditional research investigating the fatigue of asphalt mixture
has focused on the theoretical model development and experi-
mental testing to evaluate the fatigue life of asphalt mixture. Theo-
retical models developed can be classified into four categories,
namely, experiment-dependent models (Ghuzlan and Carpenter
2003), models based on dissipated energy concept (Aglan and

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J. Mater. Civ. Eng. 2013.25:1220-1227.

 Figueroa 1993; Bonnetti et al. 2002; Carpenter and Shen 2006;
Daniel and Bisirri 2005; Si et al. 2002), models based on fracture
mechanics (Abdulshafi and Majidzadeh 1985; Button et al. 1987;
Majidzadeh et al. 1972; Mull et al. 2002; Ramsamooj 1999;
Sulaiman and Stock 1995), and models based on damage mechan-
ics (Bodin et al. 2004; Castro and Sanchez 2007; El-Basyouny and
Witczak 2005; Lee et al. 2000; Suo and Wong 2009; Wen and
Bahia 2009). Other theoretical models used to describe the fatigue
of the asphalt mixture are the damage model based on mixture
bonding energy (Rodrigues 2000), the artificial neural network
approach (Huang et al. 2007), and the fuzzy-logical approach
(Tigdemir et al. 2001).
As the major laboratory test method for evaluating the fatigue
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properties of the asphalt mixture, repeated flexural bending test
recommended by the AASHTO is widely used in the research
of the asphalt-concrete fatigue (Epps and Monismith 1969; Harvey
and Tsai 1996; Monismith et al. 1971; Sousa et al. 2007; Sousa
et al. 1993; Tayebali 1994). However, research about fatigue of
asphalt binder and mastic is much less compared with research
about fatigue of asphalt mixture. One main reason that kept re-
searchers from focusing on the asphalt-binder fatigue is that it is
very challenging to apply repeated loading to the virgin asphalt
binder due to its stickiness. Although dynamic shear rheometer
(DSR) was accepted to evaluate the fatigue properties of asphalt
binder by Strategic Highway Research Program, some research has
proved that limitations exist with using the DSR as a test method to
study the fatigue properties of asphalt binder (Anderson et al. 2001;
Deacon et al. 1997; Shenoy 2002). Because most research about the
fatigue of asphalt mastic was also conducted using DSR (Kim et al.
2003; Smith and Hesp 2000), the understanding of fatigue proper-
ties of binding medium will be affected due to these limitations.
Furthermore, as one common fatigue damage, the top-down crack-
ing is generally caused by tensile loading, which is not possible in
the DSR test. An important initiative of this study is to develop a
test procedure that is able to apply cyclic tensile loading on both
binding materials and asphalt mixture.
Methodology
Experimental Test
Direct tension test (DTT) following the AASHTO standard test
procedure T314 (AASHTO 2007) and a newly developed fatigue
Fig. 1. (a) Direct tension tester; (b) procedures of the tester builder
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J. Mater. Civ. Eng. 2013.25:1220-1227.
test were two major experimental tools used in this work. The direct
tension tester [Fig. 1(a)] from Interlaken Company was used to con-
duct both DTT and fatigue tests. A software package called Test
Builder provided by Interlaken Company was used to develop
the new fatigue test for binding materials. A customized testing
procedure was written, which configures the direct tension tester
to step through a user-defined test procedure [Fig. 1(b)]. The Load-
ing mode option of the software enables a cyclic tensile loading to
be applied on the specimen with loading level and frequency speci-
fied. The testing temperature was controlled by a climate chamber.
The new fatigue-test procedure includes four major steps. First,
a small loading command, 0.01 N, is given so that the driving
motor can be smoothly started. The loading rate is a small value
(0.01 N=s). When the desired load is reached, the test proceeds
to the next step in which a 2-N loading is applied on the loading
end of the specimen at a rate of 0.1 N=s to make a full contact
between the loading pin and the specimen. After the desired load
value is reached, a stress-controlled fatigue test is started and a
cyclic tensile loading is applied at this step from level 1 to level
2 following a sinusoidal curve. Level 1, which is the lower loading
level of the sinusoidal loading, is 2 N, which is the same with the
previous step. Level 2 is the peak value of the sinusoidal loading,
which needs to be determined for different specimens. Both the
applied loading and the axial displacements of specimen are mea-
sured in this step. After a certain number of loading cycles, the
specimens fail and the results data including both loading history
and axial deformation of the specimen during the test process are
automatically documented. The axial deformation of the specimen
can be used to calculate the axial strain of the material after the
fatigue process. The fatigue resistance of the materials is evaluated
by the number of loading cycles each material can hold before they
fail under cyclic tensile loading.
Compared with the DSR test, the newly developed fatigue-test
procedure has several merits: (1) cyclic tensile stress can be directly
applied to the asphalt-binder specimen; (2) instead of using the
term=G
=sin δ to measure the fatigue damage, cyclic loading can
be applied to the asphalt-binder specimens until failure occurs;
fatigue life as number of loading cycles can be directly measured
for asphalt binder; (3) mastic and fine-aggregates specimens can be
tested using the new method; fiber-reinforced asphalt binder or
mastic can also be evaluated by the test; and (4) the new fatigue
test avoids the problem caused by gap spacing, which happened
in the DSR test.
 Sample Preparation numerical simulation. The different components in the model have
different constitutive models for different components and the
The materials used in this study were pure asphalt binder, a mixture
parameters for each model were calibrated by laboratory test.
of binder and filler (referred to mastic), a mixture of binder and fine
The SkyScan 1174 and Xradia-400 systems were the X-ray
aggregates, and a mixture of asphalt materials and reinforcement
tomography systems used in this work. The scanned images of the
fibers. The preparation followed AASHTO standard test procedure
mastic/mixture specimens were processed for the mesh generation
for DTT (AASHTO 2007). The binder was heated at 149°C (300°F)
used in FEM simulation of fatigue testing [Figs. 2(a–c)]. The X-ray
for 45 min, and then mixed with the fillers, aggregates, or fibers for
attenuation is different for each component of the material; pixels
different specimens. The heated material was then poured into
on the images belonging to different components of the mixture
the bone-shaped specimen mold and allowed to cool down. The
have different values. For a binary image, the pixel value ranges
specimen mold has an effective length of 40 mm and an effective
from 0 to 255, with 0 referring to black and 255 referring to white.
cross-sectional area of 36 × 10−6 m2 . The asphalt binder used in
Dense materials such as aggregates are shown as brighter pixels
this work was PG 70-22 based on Superpave binder specification
with the pixel value closer to 255. Air voids with negligible density
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and the filler used for mastic specimen was quartz filler, which is a
are shown as darker pixels and the pixel value is close to 0. The
very common ingredient in fine aggregates. The size of the filler
binder, which has an intermediate density, is shown as gray. Based
is smaller than 0.075 mm controlled by number 200 sieves. For
on the stereology theory (Bay et al. 1999), the area of an object in a
asphalt-mixture specimens, coarse aggregates were added. How-
two-dimensional image can be expanded to give the volume of the
ever, the size of the coarse aggregates was limited by the size of
object. Two threshold values were determined to discriminate these
the specimen mold. Thus, fine aggregates passing through number
three major components of the asphalt-mixture material. The pixels
4 sieves but retained on number 35 sieves, which have a size rang-
with values lower than 70 were considered as air voids. A preset
ing from 0.5 to 4.76 mm, were used to mix with asphalt binder. For
higher threshold value was given to discriminate aggregates and
the fiber-reinforced materials, the basalt fiber was selected as a new
asphalt binder and adjusted many times until the calculated weight
additive due to its good performance in terms of strength, suitability
ratio matched the laboratory measurement. The spatial resolution of
for large temperature ranges, and durability. Compared with the
the X-ray scanner used in this study, SkyScan 1174, is 6 μm. There-
other two prevalent strengthening additives of the asphalt concrete,
fore, fillers smaller than 6 μm were not able to be recognized due to
polyester fiber and lignin fiber, the basalt fiber has higher tensile
the resolution limit of the system, which may cause minor errors in
strength and elastic modulus and a lower elongation rate (Wang
recognizing some image pixels. The image resolution used in this
2011). Because the basalt fiber is traditionally used in cement
work was 100 × 100, and 11 images were combined together for
concrete (Ludovico et al. 2010; Ramakrishnan et al. 1998; Sim et al.
3D reconstruction. Each 3D-reconstructed voxel was modeled by
2005), this study is intended to provide an initial evaluation of
an element in FEM.
the basalt fiber used in asphalt materials. The content of filler, fine
aggregates, and fiber added into asphalt materials were controlled
by the weight ratio between the additives and the asphalt binder. Results and Discussions
After preparation, the samples were placed into the climate cham-
ber for 1 h of conditioning and then in the loading frame to perform
the DTT and fatigue tests. Fatigue Test of Asphalt Binder
The DTT gives the tensile strength of asphalt binder; therefore, the
maximum tensile loading can be calculated with the effective cross-
X-Ray Tomography and Numerical Simulation
sectional area of the specimen. The peak value of the cyclic fatigue
X-ray tomography is widely used in the microstructure analysis loading was set to be 75% of the maximum tensile loading. Three
of asphalt concrete (Chehab et al. 2007; Wang et al. 2001, 2003, asphalt-binder specimens were tested at −20°C. Based on the aver-
2004; You et al. 2009). In this work, X-ray tomography was used to age measured tensile strength (0.72 MPa) and the effective cross-
capture the microstructure and address the key factors for the sectional area (36 × 10−6 m2 ), the maximum tensile loading was
fatigue performance of asphalt materials. The microstructure of calculated to be 26 N. The initial peak value of the fatigue cyclic
the asphalt mastic/mixture specimens was used to generate digital loading was set to be 20 N. The experiments included three dif-
specimens with realistic 3D internal structure for FEM-based ferent loading levels, three test temperatures, and three loading

Fig. 2. (a) Image processing; (b) 3D reconstruction; (c) FEM simulation

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 Table 1. Fatigue-Test Results of Asphalt Binder
Asphalt-binder Loading Average CV of final Average number CV of number of
specimens Loading level (N) Temperature (°C) frequency (Hz) final strain strain (%) of loading cycle loading cycles (%)
Group number 1 20 −20 0.5 0.0221 7.1 6,094 6.8
Group number 2 15 −20 0.5 0.0285 8.9 9,790 8.4
Group number 3 10 −20 0.5 0.0314 7.4 12,457 7.2
Group number 4 20 −20 0.5 0.0221 6.7 6,094 7.5
Group number 5 20 −15 0.5 0.026 10.1 11,975 9.6
Group number 6 20 −10 0.5 0.043 7.6 18,312 6.4
Group number 7 20 −20 0.5 0.0221 8.8 6,094 7.4
Group number 8 20 −20 1 0.0214 8.4 5,217 7.1
Group number 9 20 −20 2 0.0198 7.9 4,564 6.8
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Note: CV = coefficient of variance.

frequencies, and each series was repeated three times. The test following two types of aggregates composition were used in sample
condition and corresponding fatigue-test results for each series preparation: one was pure limestone aggregates and the other was
are listed in Table 1. The results showed that external loading a combination of filler and limestone aggregates. The filler content
affects the fatigue performance of asphalt binder significantly. was same with mastic specimen, 30%. The weight ratio between
Asphalt binder showed better fatigue performance at lower loading aggregates and asphalt binder was controlled at 50%. The peak
level than at the higher loading level. It was also found that the values of cyclic loading, test temperature, and the loading fre-
asphalt binder becomes more ductile at higher temperatures and quency were the same as the previous tests for asphalt binder
stands larger number of loading and final strain. Compared with and mastic. Three specimens were prepared and tested for each
external loading level and test temperature, the influence of loading kind of asphalt mixture. The average final strain and number of
frequency is not very significant at −20°C. The number of load- loading cycles for each kind of asphalt mixture are listed in Table 3.
ing cycles and final strain slightly decreases when the loading The mixture with fine aggregates also has better fatigue perfor-
frequency is increased. mance than the asphalt binder. However, addition of fine aggregates
into the mastic specimen does not necessarily improve the fatigue
performance of the material. Comparing the performances of two
Fatigue Test of Asphalt Mastic
types of asphalt mixture, the addition of the fillers strengthens the
The performance of asphalt mastic with varied filler content (from material by forming a stronger skeleton, and therefore, the mixture
10% to 50%) was evaluated at −20°C. To keep a consistent test with fillers retains a higher final strain level and a larger number of
condition, the loading level was 20 N and the loading frequency loading cycles.
was 0.5 Hz. When the filler content was higher than 50%, the
mastic specimen becomes very brittle and the fluidity decreases
Effect of Air-Void Content on the Fatigue Performance
significantly, which causes failure of sample preparation. The aver-
of Asphalt Mixture
age test results are presented in Table 2. It was found that the in-
troduction of the fillers changes the fatigue property of the asphalt Compared with fine asphalt-mixture specimen, the mastic speci-
binder significantly. Both the final strain and the total number of men with 30% filler content has better fatigue performance, which
loading cycles were increased as compared with asphalt-binder indicates that for specimens with such a small size, fatigue resis-
specimen. The fatigue resistance of the mastic does not linearly tance of the materials is not necessarily increased by adding large-
increase as the filler content increases. The final strain and number sized aggregates into it. A microstructure analysis was conducted to
of loading cycles reach the maximum values when the mastic con- analyze the internal structural differences between the 30% filler
tains 30% of fillers. As a result, a filler content of 30% is suggested mastic specimen and two types of fine-aggregates asphalt-mixture
for future mastic specimen preparation. specimen. It was assumed that three types of specimens had the
same lower threshold value to determine the air-void content, with
the elements belonging to air voids being counted for each type of
Fatigue Test of Fine-Aggregates Asphalt Mixture
specimen. One-hundred slices of scanned images were used to re-
As mentioned previously, the aggregates in the mixture were construct the 3D model. It was shown that asphalt mixture with no
relatively fine due to the size limit of the sample mold. The filler had 11.09% elements counted as air void, the mixture with
30% filler had 4.75%, and the 30% filler mastic had the lowest
air-void content among the three kinds of materials, 3.18%. Con-
Table 2. Fatigue-Test Results of Mastic with Different Filler Content
sidering the fatigue-test performance of three types of specimens,
Average CV of Average CV of number air void is a critical factor that affects the fatigue resistance of the
Mastic filler final final number of of loading
content (%) strain strain (%) loading cycles cycles (%)
10 0.0475 8.4 10,559 9.5 Table 3. Fatigue-Test Results of Fine-Aggregates Mixture
15 0.0536 8.9 13,142 10.4
Average CV of Average CV of number
20 0.0587 7.6 16,395 8.9
final final number of of loading
25 0.0660 6.8 17,531 9.7
Mixture strain strain (%) loading cycles cycles (%)
30 0.0684 6.9 19,208 8.7
35 0.0666 7.2 18,529 10.2 Mixture with 0.0275 7.4 8,647 7.6
40 0.0652 9.2 17,457 7.9 no filler
45 0.0614 7.5 16,417 8.3 Mixture with 0.0459 6.9 12,227 8.5
50 0.0592 7.7 15,484 8.4 30% filler

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 Table 4. Direct Tension Test Results of Basalt Fiber–Reinforced Asphalt Binder
Fiber content (%) 0 0.1 0.3 0.5 0.7 0.9 1.1 1.3
Average break stress (MPa) 1.203 1.270 1.268 1.275 1.214 1.155 1.025 1.009
CV of break stress (%) 13.3 8.6 17.3 10.1 15.6 8.6 22.4 13.8
Average break strain 0.492 0.477 0.476 0.480 0.422 0.434 0.349 0.310
CV of break strain (%) 22.3 12.5 27.3 10.4 14.2 18.4 31.5 35.4
Average modulus (MPa) 2.694 2.865 2.872 2.813 3.091 2.955 3.308 3.434
CV of modulus (%) 6.68 5.2 6.2 6.1 4.5 7.7 6.3 5.5

asphalt material. Large-sized aggregates added into the specimen Simulation of Fatigue Using FEM
introduce more air voids leading to low fatigue resistance. It is also
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The fatigue tests of asphalt binder, mastic, mixture, and fiber-

inferred that these small fillers have the effect of filling the void reinforced materials were simulated using the FEM-based software
between larger aggregates and the asphalt binder and strengthening ABAQUS. For the heterogeneous materials, asphalt mastic and
the asphalt mixture. asphalt mixture, real-specimen internal structures were achieved
by the image processing technology described previously. In the
Fatigue Test of Basalt Fiber–Reinforced Asphalt model, the aggregates, fillers, and asphalt binder were treated as
Mixture different materials while the air-void elements are removed. In
addition, the fillers and aggregates were considered as linear elastic
Basalt fibers are dispersed into both asphalt binder and mastic materials with high stiffness. Their elastic modulus was 50 GPa and
materials as a reinforcement additive of binding materials. Because Poisson’s ratio was 0.25. An elastoplastic model developed by
the behavior of fiber-reinforced asphalt materials is closely related Lemaitre and Chaboche (1990) was used to describe the elastic
to the fiber content, binder specimens with varied fiber content are behavior and the unrecoverable deformation of the asphalt-binder
prepared. During the preparation of the specimens, it was observed specimen at low temperature. The elastic modulus of asphalt binder
that when the fiber content was increased to 1.3%, the fluidity of was calculated from the linear part of the stress-strain curve, which
the specimen decreased significantly and caused the failure of the was 0.27 GPa; the Poisson’s ratio was set as 0.35. The plastic part
specimen preparation. As a result, the weight ratio between the of the model was described by a combined isotropic/kinematic
fiber and asphalt binder was 0.1%, 0.3%, 0.5%, 0.7%, 0.9%, 1.1%, hardening model. The isotropic hardening component described
and 1.3%. Three specimens were prepared for each type of specimen the change of the size of the yielding surface as a function of
and tested using DTT at −20°C. The slope of the stress-strain curve equivalent plastic strain
obtained from DTT was considered as the stiffness modulus of the
σ0 ¼ σj0 þ Q∞ ð1 − e−bε̄ Þ ð1Þ
pl
specimen. The break stress, strain, and stiffness modulus for each
type of specimen were measured and the average values are listed
in Table 4. The DTT results of asphalt binder are also listed in where σ0 = size of the yield surface; σj0 = yield stress at zero plastic
the table as having 0% fiber content. Compared with pure asphalt strain; Q∞ = maximum change in the size of the yield surface; b =
binder, the break stress and stiffness modulus of the asphalt binder rate at which the size of the yield surface changes as plastic strain-
were significantly increased but break strain was limited by the ad- ing develops; and ε̄pl = equivalent plastic strain.
dition of basalt fiber. Break stress reached its highest value when the The kinematic hardening component described the translation of
fiber content was 0.5%. Fatigue tests were conducted on pure binder, the yield surface in stress space through the back stress α
binder with 0.5% fiber, mastic with 30% filler, and mastic with 0.5%
fiber and 30% filler for comparison, with the average results listed in
· pl 1 · pl
α_ ¼ Cε̄ 0
ðσ − αÞ − γαε̄ ð2Þ
Table 5. It was observed that the addition of the fibers can signifi- σ
cantly improve the number of loading cycles for both binder and
mastic specimens. In addition, compared with the quartz fillers, where C = initial kinematic hardening modulus; ε̄pl = equivalent
the basalt fibers restrain the axial deformation of both binder and plastic strain; σ0 = size of the yielding surface defined in the iso-
tropic hardening component; γ = parameter that determines the rate
mastic specimens under cyclic loading.
at which the kinematic hardening modulus decreases with increas-
ing plastic deformation. Ultimately, C and γ need to be determined
to define the evolution of the back stress α. More details of the
parameter calibration method can be found in the ABAQUS Analy-
Table 5. Fatigue-Test Results of Basalt Fiber–Reinforced Asphalt Binder sis Users’ Manual (ABAQUS 2011). The first half-cycle of the
and Mastic fatigue test of the asphalt binder was used to calibrate the model
Average total CV of CV of parameters. The value of Q∞ was assumed to be the same as the
number number Average final initial yielding stress σj0 and the very next point after initial yield-
of loading of loading final strain ing was assumed on the yield surface. All the model parameter
Specimen cycles cycles (%) strain (%) input values used in this work are listed in Table 6.
Asphalt binder 6,094 6.8 0.0221 7.1
Asphalt binder 14,669 7.5 0.0185 8.6 Table 6. Parameters of Plastic Model for Asphalt Binder
(0.5% basalt fiber)
Mastic (30% quartz 19,208 8.7 0.0684 6.9 Isotropic component σj0 Q∞ b
filler) 0.45 MPa 0.45 MPa 70
Mastic (30% quartz 34,703 7.8 0.0233 7.4 Kinematic component σ1 εpl
1 σ2 εpl
2
filler, 0.5% basalt fiber) 0.4528 MPa 2.19 × 10−4 0.5151 9.97 × 10−4

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 Table 7. Comparison of FEM Simulation Results and Laboratory Test Results
Damage Damage Damage Damage Laboratory test result of Simulation result of
Specimen parameter c1 parameter c2 parameter c3 parameter c4 axial strain axial strain
Asphalt binder 1,750 −1.45 5 1.15 0.0196 0.0221
Asphalt mastic (30% filler) 10,000 −1.45 5 1.15 0.0656 0.0684
Asphalt mixture (30% filler) 16,500 −1.45 5 1.15 0.0429 0.0459

The fatigue damage of the asphalt binder was addressed by
the damage model of Darveaux (2000). In this model, the fatigue
damage initiates due to stress reversals and the accumulation of
inelastic strain.
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Table 7. It was shown that the developed numerical model was able
to quantitatively describe the designed fatigue test.
The effect of basalt fiber on the fatigue performance of binding
materials was also analyzed using FEM-based simulation. The

X-ray tomography was incorporated to obtain the microstructure

N 0 ¼ c1 Δwc2 ð3Þ
where c1 and c2 = material constants; and Δw = inelastic hysteresis
energy.
The damage evolution is modeled by the rate of the damage in a
material point per cycle and is given as follows:
dD c3 Δwc4
¼ ð4Þ
dN L
where c3 and c4 = material constants; L = characteristic length
associated with an integration point; and D = damage variable that
describes the stiffness decrease of the material. The characteristic
length L is determined by the element geometry and formulation.
For the first-order element, it is typical length of a line across an
element.
During the analysis, the stress σ at any given loading cycle in the
material is given as follows:
σ ¼ ð1 − DÞσ̄ ð5Þ
where σ̄ = effective stress tensor when there is no damage in the
material. The load-carrying capacity of the material is lost
when D ¼ 1.
The damage parameters c1 , c2 , c3 , and c4 used for joint solder
material in Darveaux’s work were initially used and the parameter
c1 was adjusted by the fatigue-test data. In the simulation of fatigue
test, when the measured number of loading cycles is reached, the
axial strain predicted value was compared with the laboratory test
measurements; c1 was determined when the simulation results
agreed with the laboratory test results. Because it was assumed that
the fatigue damage occurs in the asphalt-binder material only, c1
used for mastic and mixture model was much larger than the asphalt
binder because the introduction of the aggregate/filler elements in
the model makes the fatigue damage much harder to initiate. The
damage-model parameters used and the corresponding simulation
results of axial strain of each model are listed in Table 7. The sim-
ulation results of axial strain are compared with the laboratory test
results of axial strain for each kind of specimen and listed in the
of fiber-reinforced asphalt materials. Both the fiber-reinforced
asphalt binder and mastic specimen were scanned using the Xradia
CT-400 system. Because of the resolution capability of the system,
the realistic internal structure of the fiber-reinforced mastic speci-
men was not obtained. However, from the projection view of fiber-
reinforced mastic samples, it was observed that the fibers were
relatively flexible and tangled with fillers forming a new structure.
This characteristic was considered to develop an ideal fiber-
reinforced mastic model trying to provide a potential explanation
of reinforcement effect of basalt fiber to the mastic materials. The
elastic modulus of the fiber was 100 GPa and Poisson’s ratio was
0.15. Asphalt binder, mastic, and fiber-reinforced mastic were
modeled with the same size—20 × 20 × 20 mm—as shown in
Figs. 3(a–c). The mastic model [Fig. 3(b)] contains three fillers
with different shapes. The fiber-reinforced mastic model has the
same fillers as the mastic model but there is one fiber added
between filler number 1 and filler number 2 and another fiber added
between the filler number 1 and filler number 3. Approximately 1 ×
1 × 1 mm brick element is used for all three models, the back
surface of the models was fixed, and a 0.6-MPa tensile loading
was applied on the front surface in Z direction. The axial stress
analysis indicated that the axial stress was concentrated in the inter-
face area between two fillers. Because the stress concentration may
cause the initiation of damage cracks, the response of elements in
the interface area between two fillers for both mastic and fiber-
reinforced mastic models was measured and compared. The iden-
tification numbers of the elements in this area are shown in Fig. 4.
For the fiber-reinforced mastic model, elements 966, 986 1006,
1026, and 1046 were replaced by fiber elements. Therefore, only
the remaining 10 elements surrounding the fiber elements are mea-
sured for comparison. The results showed that the average axial
stress of these elements decreases by 85%, which indicated that the
stress concentration between filler number 1 and filler number 2
was significantly released due to the addition of the fiber elements.
The resulting axial strain decreased by 97.7% for the elements in
this area. Similar effect was also observed for the fiber placed
between filler number 1 and filler number 3.

Fig. 3. FEM models: (a) asphalt binder; (b) mastic; (c) fiber-reinforced mastic

JOURNAL OF MATERIALS IN CIVIL ENGINEERING © ASCE / SEPTEMBER 2013 / 1225

J. Mater. Civ. Eng. 2013.25:1220-1227.

 cyclic loading. The new fatigue test provides a tool to evaluate the
fatigue performance of the binding materials and another way to
unify test methodology of both asphalt binder and mixture.
The fatigue-test results showed that fatigue performance of as-
phalt binder is closely related with loading level, temperature, and
loading rate. Asphalt mastic material with 30% quartz filler showed
better fatigue resistance among all types of mastic specimens with
varied filler content. Coarse aggregates added into asphalt binder
and mastic specimen introduce more air voids, making the speci-
mens easy to fail in the fatigue test. Basalt fiber significantly im-
proves the fatigue performance of the asphalt binder and mastic at
low temperatures.
The fatigue tests of different materials were simulated using the
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FEM-based software ABAQUS. The test results were validated, and

the effect of high-stiffness fiber on the interface between fillers was
illustrated. The developed fatigue-test simulation methodology
Fig. 4. Identification number of elements in the interface area of mastic with partial laboratory-calibrated fatigue properties can serve as
model a basis for further fatigue research.
It also needs to be pointed out that with the current limitation,
some assumptions made to determine constitutive model parame-
ters of asphalt binder, accurate damage initiation, and propagation
Table 8. Stiffness Loss of the Elements in the Interface Area cannot be captured and the temperature effect is not considered in
Element identification Fiber-reinforced the numerical model. The developed numerical model might be
number Mastic model mastic model more suitable for the specific designed test and needs to be further
965 100 0 refined if used in other researches.
985 100 0
1005 90 0
1025 100 0 References
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