CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK FOR THE ANALYSIS OF SHEAR DAMAGE IN FOAMED BITUMEN STABILISED MATERIALS

: The road building and rehabilitation industry worldwide utilises quality virgin natural aggregate materials, for the construction and maintenance of critical road infrastructure. Depleting natural deposits and limited supplies of high quality aggregates have prompted global emphasis on material selection. The foamed bitumen stabilisation technique offers the industry a sustainable and economical pavement engineering solution. Increased applications involving the enhancement of reclaimed pavement materials and wide range of locally available aggregate materials require pavement practitioners to possess adequate knowledge of its properties, behaviour and performance. Its shear characteristics and damage response have been identified as significant influential factors in determining long term performance. Notwithstanding these, an analysis of existing guidelines and mix design methodologies establish emphasis on stiffness and strength properties, for material characterisation and classification, highlighting the need for further research in modelling performance characteristics. The conceptual framework includes the use of dissipated energy in determining the effect of varying binder and active filler contents on Foamed bitumen stabilised materials (FBSMs) behaviour and performance. This paper highlights significant factors of the study which contribute to the understanding of FBSMs and determination of optimal FBSMs mix formulations.