Analysis of the fatigue life of neat and modified bitumens using linear amplitude sweep test

Abstract

The paper presents an evaluation of the fatigue resistance of selected Polish bituminous binders: neat bitumen 50/70, polymer modified bitumen PMB 45/80-55 and polymer highly modified bitumen PMB 45/80-80. The linear amplitude sweep (LAS) test, which is a new bitumen performance grading test developed in the USA, and was used to assess the fatigue life of the bitumens. Highly modified bitumen 45/80-80 showed 10-20 times higher fatigue durability than neat bitumen 50/70 and modified bitumen PMB 45/80-55. The differences in fatigue durability between neat bitumen 50/70 and modified bitumen PMB 45/80-55 were much smaller, which means that the bitumens are characterized by similar fatigue reliability. Also the effect of different test temperatures on the fatigue life and mode of failure of the bitumen binders were examined. It has been shown that the quality of a bitumen can be more accurately assessed on the basis of results of the durability test carried out for several different temperatures than for one equivalent temperature.