Ruggedness of Laboratory Tests for Asphalt Mixture Cracking Resistance (2022)

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2022 N A T I O N A L C O O P E R A T I V E H I G H W A Y R E S E A R C H P R O G R A M NCHRP RESEARCH REPORT 987 Ruggedness of Laboratory Tests for Asphalt Mixture Cracking Resistance Fujie Zhou David Newcomb Sheng Hu Texas A&M Transportation Institute College Station, TX Subscriber Categories Materials Research sponsored by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials in cooperation with the Federal Highway Administration

NATIONAL COOPERATIVE HIGHWAY RESEARCH PROGRAM Systematic, well-designed, and implementable research is the most effective way to solve many problems facing state departments of transportation (DOTs) administrators and engineers. Often, highway problems are of local or regional interest and can best be studied by state DOTs individually or in cooperation with their state universities and others. However, the accelerating growth of highway transporta- tion results in increasingly complex problems of wide interest to high- way authorities. These problems are best studied through a coordinated program of cooperative research. Recognizing this need, the leadership of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) in 1962 ini- tiated an objective national highway research program using modern scientific techniques—the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP). 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Published research reports of the NATIONAL COOPERATIVE HIGHWAY RESEARCH PROGRAM are available from Transportation Research Board Business Office 500 Fifth Street, NW Washington, DC 20001 and can be ordered through the Internet by going to https://www.mytrb.org/MyTRB/Store/default.aspx Printed in the United States of America NCHRP RESEARCH REPORT 987 Project 09-57A ISSN 2572-3766 (Print) ISSN 2572-3774 (Online) ISBN 978-0-309-09457-3 Library of Congress Control Number 2022930203 © 2022 National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. COPYRIGHT INFORMATION Authors herein are responsible for the authenticity of their materials and for obtaining written permissions from publishers or persons who own the copyright to any previously published or copyrighted material used herein. Cooperative Research Programs (CRP) grants permission to reproduce material in this publication for classroom and not-for-profit purposes. Permission is given with the understanding that none of the material will be used to imply TRB, AASHTO, FAA, FHWA, FTA, GHSA, NHTSA, or TDC endorsement of a particular product, method, or practice. It is expected that those reproducing the material in this document for educational and not-for-profit uses will give appropriate acknowledgment of the source of any reprinted or reproduced material. For other uses of the material, request permission from CRP. NOTICE The research report was reviewed by the technical panel and accepted for publication according to procedures established and overseen by the Transportation Research Board and approved by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 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C O O P E R A T I V E R E S E A R C H P R O G R A M S AUTHOR ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The research reported herein was performed under NCHRP Project 09-57A by the Texas A&M Trans- portation Institute (TTI), a member of The Texas A&M University System. Dr. Fujie Zhou, senior research engineer at TTI, served as the principal investigator, and Dr. David Newcomb, senior research engineer at TTI, served as the co-principal investigator. The other author of this report is Dr. Sheng Hu, associate research engineer at TTI. NCHRP Project 09-57A updated eight previous cracking test videos. The research team thanks Dr. Sheng Hu, Mr. Ethan Karnei, Mr. David Martin, Mr. Rick Davenport, and Mr. Tony Barbosa for their time and efforts in the video production. CRP STAFF FOR NCHRP RESEARCH REPORT 987 Christopher J. Hedges, Director, Cooperative Research Programs Lori L. Sundstrom, Deputy Director, Cooperative Research Programs Waseem Dekelbab, Associate Program Manager, National Cooperative Highway Research Program Edward Harrigan, Senior Program Officer Anthony P. Avery, Senior Program Assistant Natalie Barnes, Director of Publications Heather DiAngelis, Associate Director of Publications NCHRP PROJECT 09-57A PANEL Field of Materials and Construction—Area of Bituminous Materials Jeff S. Uhlmeyer, QesPavements, Conneaut Lake, PA (Chair) Thomas A. Bennert, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ Peter C. Capon, Rieth-Riley Construction Company, Inc., Bristol, IN Gisel Carrasco, Texas Department of Transportation, Austin, TX Dale S. Decker, Dale S. Decker, LLC, Eagle, CO Ervin L. Dukatz, Jr., Flyereld Consulting, LLC, La Crosse, WI Hyung Suk Lee, Applied Research Associates, Inc. (ARA), Champaign, IL Murari Pradhan, Arizona Department of Transportation, Phoenix, AZ Richard B. Duval, FHWA Liaison David J. Mensching, FHWA Liaison James Richard Willis, National Asphalt Pavement Association Liaison Nelson H. Gibson, TRB Liaison

This report presents the results of ruggedness testing of eight laboratory tests for the cracking resistance of asphalt mixes and proposed revisions to the test methods based on these results. Thus, the report will be of immediate interest to engineers in state and local transportation agencies and in industry with responsibility for evaluating the performance of asphalt mixes. Cracking is a primary distress mode of asphalt pavements that creates the need for their rehabilitation. All types of asphalt pavement cracking—thermal, reflection, fatigue, and top-down—are affected by numerous factors and their interactions. Research has evaluated a variety of laboratory tests and models to assess the resistance of asphalt mixes to cracking, and several are now recommended for routine use, e.g., as components in balanced mix design procedures such as AASHTO MP 46-20: Balanced Mix Design. NCHRP Project 09-57, “Experimental Design for Field Validation of Laboratory Tests to Assess Cracking Resistance of Asphalt Mixtures,” developed experimental designs for the ruggedness testing and field validation of candidate laboratory tests to assess the resistance of asphalt mixes to the four cracking types noted above. The findings and conclusions of the project are summarized in NCHRP Research Results Digest 399: Field Validation of Laboratory Tests to Assess Cracking Resistance of Asphalt Mixtures: An Experimental Design. Under NCHRP Project 09-57A, “Ruggedness of Laboratory Tests to Assess Cracking Resis- tance of Asphalt Mixtures,” Texas A&M Transportation Institute was tasked with conducting ruggedness testing of eight candidate test methods in anticipation of future field validation experiments. The ruggedness testing was accomplished in accordance with ASTM E1169: Standard Practice for Conducting Ruggedness Tests. The key outcomes of this research are the ruggedness testing results and proposed revisions to the following eight asphalt cracking test methods identified in NCHRP Project 09-57 as likely candidates for future field validation: • ASTM D7313-20: Standard Test Method for Determining Fracture Energy of Asphalt- Aggregate Mixtures Using the Disk-Shaped Compact Tension Geometry. • AASHTO TP 105-13: Standard Method of Test for Determining the Fracture Energy of Asphalt Mixtures Using the Semicircular Bend Geometry (SCB). • AASHTO TP 124-18: Standard Method of Test for Determining the Fracture Potential of Asphalt Mixtures Using the Flexibility Index Test (FIT). • ASTM D8044-16: Standard Test Method for Evaluation of Asphalt Mixture Cracking Resistance Using the Semi-Circular Bend Test (SCB) at Intermediate Temperatures. • ASTM D8225-19: Standard Test Method for Determination of Cracking Tolerance Index of Asphalt Mixture Using the Indirect Tensile Cracking Test at Intermediate Temperature. F O R E W O R D By Edward Harrigan Staff Officer Transportation Research Board

• Tex-248-F: Overlay Test. • AASHTO T 321-17: Standard Method of Test for Determining the Fatigue Life of Compacted Asphalt Mixtures Subjected to Repeated Flexural Bending. • University of Florida Indirect Tension Test Method. The proposed revisions to the test methods listed above in addition to a one-page summary of several cracking tests can be found on the TRB website (trb.org) by searching for NCHRP Research Report 987. The appendices are titled as follows: • Appendix A: Proposed Revision to ASTM D7313-20 • Appendix B: Proposed Revision to AASHTO TP 105-13 • Appendix C: Proposed Revision to AASHTO TP 124-18 • Appendix D: Proposed Revision to ASTM D8044-16 • Appendix E: Proposed Revision to ASTM D8225-19 • Appendix F: Proposed Revision to Tex-248-F Overlay Test • Appendix G: Proposed Revision to AASHTO T 321-17 • Appendix H: Proposed Revision to UF-IDT Resilient Modulus (MR) Test Method • Appendix I: Proposed Revision to UF-IDT Creep and Fracture Test Method • Appendix J: One-Page Summary for Ten Cracking Tests

Note: Photographs, figures, and tables in this report may have been converted from color to grayscale for printing. The electronic version of the report (posted on the web at www.trb.org) retains the color versions. 1 Summary 2 Chapter 1 Introduction 2 Background 2 Research Objective 3 Report Organization 4 Chapter 2 Research Approach 4 Introduction 4 Selection of Eight Cracking Tests 12 Experimental Design for Ruggedness Evaluation of Selected Cracking Tests 24 Summary 26 Chapter 3 Findings and Applications 26 Introduction 26 Ruggedness Evaluation of ASTM D7313-20: DCT—Findings and Application 34 Ruggedness Evaluation of AASHTO TP 105-13: SCB-LT—Findings and Application 42 Ruggedness Evaluation of AASHTO TP 124-18: SCB-FI—Findings and Application 48 Ruggedness Evaluation of ASTM D8044-16: SCB-Jc—Findings and Application 52 Ruggedness Evaluation of ASTM D8225-19: IDEAL-CT—Findings and Application 58 Ruggedness Evaluation of Tex-248-F: OT—Findings and Application 73 Ruggedness Evaluation of AASHTO T 321-17: BBF—Findings and Application 82 Ruggedness Evaluation of UF-IDT—Findings and Application 90 Summary 91 Chapter 4 Cracking Test Recommendations for Field Validation 91 Introduction 92 Recommended Cracking Tests for Field Validation 99 Summary 100 Chapter 5 Conclusions and Recommendations 100 Conclusions 100 Proposed Revisions 101 Future Research 103 References 105 Appendices A–J C O N T E N T S