Establishing a resilient modulus test protocol for miniature cylindrical asphalt mix specimens

• Published in: IOP conference series. Materials Science and Engineering 2019-04, Vol.512 (1), p.12058
• Main Authors: Muniandy, Ratnasamy, Anthoney, F X, Hassim, Salihudin, Hamid, Hussain
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Asphalt mixes; Diameters; Load tests; Parameter identification; Pavement design; Repeated loading; Tensile tests; Test procedures; Thickness
• ISSN: 1757-8981; 1757-899X; 1757-899X
• DOI: 10.1088/1757-899X/512/1/012058

The resilient modulus is a very important parameter to be identified and used in pavement design. The indirect tensile test is the most common repeated load test to measure the resilient modulus of asphalt mixtures and the easiest method to test laboratory compacted specimens and field core specimens. The resilient moduli of asphalt mixtures are measured using the indirect tensile procedure (ASTM D4123). A metal loading strip with a concave surface with the radius of the test specimen is required to apply load to the specimen. Typically, specimens are either a nominal 100mm or 150mm in diameter with a minimum thickness over diameter ratio of 0.4. However, typical 100mm diameter core samples with 40mm to 50mm thickness taken from the site most often do not fulfil the minimum ratio of 0.4 after the samples are trimmed for testing. As such, a new procedure was developed to test specimens smaller than 100mm in diameter. This expected to be very useful and minimize the volume requirement from the field. This novel protocol for resilient modulus test using miniature specimens of 37.5mm and 56.3mm in diameter has great potential for practical relevance for the industry.