Experimental Facility for Simulating the Initiation and Propagation of Fatigue Damage in Bituminous Road Paving Materials

An exoerimental simulation facility was designed and constructed for the purpose of investigating the initiation and development of fatigue damage in bituminour road paving material. The design of the test facility was based upon a cicular wheel track which incorporated four pavement monitoring stations. Hot Rollede Asphalt specimens were manufactured and prepared for testing in order to verify the operation of this experimental facility. The variation of strains, deformations, and the distribution of pavement damage, in the form of cracking, were monitored digitally with increasing cycles of fatigue loading. Failure of pavement specimen due to local tensile strains, propogated through the complete thickness of the specimen and became apparent on the top surface.