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Influence of Rest Period and Confinement Pressure on the Measurement of

Dynamic Modulus of Bituminous Mixtures

Conference Paper · July 2018

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 Influence of Rest Period and Confinement Pressure on
the Measurement of Dynamic Modulus of Bituminous
Mixtures

Devika. R1, Sriram. V2, J. Murali Krishnan3

1
Project Associate, Dept. of Civil Engineering, IIT Madras, Chennai, 600036, India
2
Final Year B.Tech. Student, Dept. of Civil Engineering, SASTRA University, Thanjavur,
613401, India
3
Professor, Dept. of Civil Engineering, IIT Madras, Chennai, 600036, India
jmk@iitm.ac.in

Abstract. This paper investigates the variation of dynamic modulus and phase
lag with confinement pressure and rest period. In this investigation, bituminous
mixtures fabricated with unmodified VG30 binder were used and tested as per
AASHTO: TP-79 (2010) protocol incorporating confinement pressure and rest
period between successive frequencies. The analysis of the data showed that
there is a considerable change in the modulus of the material with the applica-
tion of confinement pressure. The phase lag at higher temperature exhibited de-
creasing values at lower frequencies similar to what is seen in test procedure
without any rest period.

Keywords: Dynamic modulus, phase lag, confinement pressure, rest period.

1 Introduction

Majority of the Indian highways are bituminous. A robust design procedure is to be

followed to achieve the full advantage of the pavement during its design life. Current-
ly, the Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide (M-EPDG) [7] recommends
dynamic modulus as a parameter for the mechanical characterisation of the bitumi-
nous mixtures.
Determination of dynamic modulus is carried out using an Asphalt Mixture Per-
formance Tester (AMPT). The AASHTO: TP-79 (2010) [1] test method for the de-
termination of dynamic modulus as a function of frequency is carried out in AMPT.
Ten different frequencies (25, 20, 10, 5, 2, 1, 0.5, 0.2, 0.1 and 0.01 Hz) are suggested,
and the test is conducted from the highest to the lowest frequency without any rest
period between subsequent frequencies. The UTS 006 [8] software calculates the
required load to be applied in such a way that the targeted strain lies between 75 and
125 micro-strain. It is assumed that in this strain range the response of the material is
linear. Considerable issues exist in the computation of dynamic modulus and phase
lag when using this test protocol.
2

Since only dynamic modulus and the associated master curve are used in pave-
ment design, not much attention is focused on the variation of phase lag as a function
of frequency. Deepa et al. (2017) [3] has shown from a careful analysis of the dynam-
ic modulus data that a phase lag can decrease as the frequency decreases especially
for temperatures above 35°C. While this is considered as an ‘anomalous’ behavior in
many literatures [2 and 5], Deepa et al. (2017) have shown that it is indeed the charac-
teristic trait of a viscoelastic material when subjected to loading without rest periods.
It is expected that such variation of phase lag will influence the dynamic modulus
computed. Also, it is not clear how the application of confinement pressure during
testing can change the dynamic modulus and phase lag.
This paper aims at determining whether the inclusion of rest periods will lead to a
decrease of phase angle for a decrease in frequency. Also, in these test protocol, the
influence of confinement pressure during testing was investigated.

2 Experimental Investigation

2.1 Test Matrix

A total of 4 set of testing conditions were used, and the associated results were
collected. These correspond to a) without rest period and confinement condition
(NCNRP) (control sample), b) with a rest period and without confinement condition
(NCRP), c) without rest period and with confinement condition (CNRP) and d) with a
rest period and confinement condition (CRP). The test matrix followed for carrying
out the experimental investigation is given in Table 1. A total of 24 samples were
tested. Some of the trials were repeated for checking the repeatability and was found
to be well within limits.

Table 1. Test Matrix – dynamic modulus

Pressure applied Rest Period Temperature Total number
Sample
(kPa) (minute) (°C) of samples
5, 15, 25, 35,
VG 30 0 , 200 0,2 2×2×6 = 24
45, 55

2.2. Material Properties

As a part of this study, an unmodified VG30 binder was used to fabricate samples.
The binder was tested as per IS: 73-13(2013) [4]. The binder test results are tabulated
in Table 2. The bituminous mixture chosen was Bituminous concrete (BC – Grade 2)
with a nominal maximum aggregate size of 13.2 mm. The current study employed
mid-gradation with a binder content of 5.2%. The gradation as per MORTH (2013)
[6] is shown in Figure 1.
 3

Table 2. Material properties of unmodified binder (IS: 73-13 2013)

Characteristics Result
Penetration at 25°C,100g, 5s, 0.1mm 40
Absolute viscosity at 60°C, Poises 3438
Kinematic viscosity at 135°C, cSt 544
Softening Point, (R&B), (°C) 51
Viscosity ratio at 60°C 2
Ductility at 25°C after rolling thin film
100+
oven test, cm

Fig. 1. Aggregate Gradation

2.3. Sample Preparation

The batching of aggregate was done as per the mid-gradation. The mixing and com-
paction temperature for the binder was determined using the viscosity-temperature
relationship. Based on this, the binder was heated to a temperature of 165°C. The
mixing of aggregate and binder was carried out in an automatic mixer machine. After
mixing, the mixture was short-term aged for 4 hours at 135°C and 0.5 hours at 155°C
for compaction. At the end of 4.5 hours, cylindrical samples were cast using a Super-
pave gyratory compactor. A vertical pressure of 600 kPa and 205 gyrations were ap-
plied to the sample at an angle of 1.25° to produce specimens of 165 mm height and
150 mm diameter. The samples were then cored and sliced to 150 mm height and 100
mm diameter specimen for testing. The samples used for carrying out the test had air
voids in the range of 4 ± 0.5 %.
The test specimens were then fixed with hexagonal studs to which the LVDT’s
were clamped before the test. The studs were glued to the specimens using a stud
fixing jig maintaining a gauge length of 70 ± 1mm. Three axial LVDT’s were
4

mounted on the specimen at an angle of 120°. Figure 2 shows the procedure followed
for the stud fixing.

Fig. 2. Stud fixing

3. Test Results and Analysis

3.1. Test protocol

Figure 3 depicts the load application with a rest period and confinement pressure. The
UTS006 software records the axial deformation using the three displacement trans-
ducers as a function of time for all the twenty cycles. This data is used to calculate the
dynamic modulus and phase lag.

Fig.3. Schematic representation of the modified protocol

3.2. Variation of dynamic modulus with confinement

The variation of dynamic modulus with frequency for three different temperatures is
shown in figure 4(a)-(c). It can be observed from the plots that the dynamic modulus
increases considerably with the application of confinement pressure, especially at
higher temperatures.
 5

a) 5°C b) 35°C

c) 55°C

Fig.4. Dynamic modulus vs frequency for different temperatures

At low temperatures and high frequency (for instance 5°C and 25 Hz), the dynamic
modulus at confined conditions is almost 6% less than the unconfined conditions. At
intermediate conditions (for instance 35°C and 1 Hz), the dynamic modulus at con-
fined conditions is nearly 17% more than of the unconfined conditions. At the very
high temperature and low frequency (for instance 55°C and 0.01 Hz), the dynamic
modulus at confined conditions is 90% more than that at unconfined conditions.
6

3.3. Trends in phase lag data

The variation of phase lag with the frequency at different temperatures for all the four
conditions is shown in figure 5 and 6. It can be seen from the plots that the phase lag
increases with decreasing frequency at a lower temperature for all the conditions. A
reverse trend in phase lag was observed at a higher temperature that is the phase lag
was seen decreasing with a decrease in frequency even when tested using the modi-
fied protocol, by providing confinement and rest period.

Fig.5. Phase lag vs frequency for 5°C

Fig.6. Phase lag vs frequency for 55°C

 7

4 Conclusion

This paper looked into modifying the existing AASHTO: TP-79 (2010) protocol to
determine the dynamic modulus and phase lag. From the analysis of the data, it was
seen that there is an appreciable increase in the dynamic modulus with the application
of the 200kPa confinement pressure at higher temperatures. This may be attributed to
the fact that the mastic in the bituminous mixtures exhibits considerable pressure
sensitive nature at high temperature (45, and 55°C) and all frequencies. One of the
possible reasons for the decrease in phase lag with decreasing frequency at high tem-
peratures even with the application of confinement and rest period may be due to the
increase in strain after the initial decrease in strain when the sample is subjected to a
hydrostatic state of stress.

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Department of Science and Technology, Govt. of India [grant
number DST/TSG/STS/2011/46] for the funding and IPC Global, Australia for the
technical support provided during the experimental investigation.

References

1. AASHTO: TP-79, 2010. Standard method of test for determining the dynamic modulus
and flow number for hot mix asphalt using the asphalt mixture performance tester
(AMPT). American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, Washing-
ton, DC (2010).
2. Bonaquist, R.: NCHRP Report – 629, ruggedness testing of the dynamic modulus and flow
number tests with the simple performance tester. Washington, DC: Transportation Re-
search Board (2008).
3. Deepa, S., Saravanan, U., and Murali Krishnan, J.: On measurement of dynamic modulus
for bituminous mixtures. International Journal of Pavement Engineering,
DOI:10.1080/10298436.2017.1380809 (2017).
4. IS: 73-13, 2013. Paving bitumen – specification, Bureau of Indian Standards, New Delhi,
India (2013).
5. Lee, K., et al.,: Dynamic modulus of asphalt mixtures for development of Korean pave-
ment design guide. Journal of Testing and evaluation, 35 (2), 143-150 (2007).
6. MORTH, 2013. Specification for roads and bridge works, 4th revision, Ministry of Ship-
ping, Road Transport and Highways, New Delhi, India (2013)
7. NCHRP: 1-37A, ed. Guidelines for the mechanistic-empirical design for new and rehabili-
tated pavement structures. Washington, DC: Transportation Research Board (2004).
8. UTS006, 2017. SPT dynamic modulus test software reference. Australia: IPC Global
(2017).

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