Fracture Performance of a Large-Stone Asphalt Mixture Based on a Monotonic Tensile Overlay Test

Abstract

A large-stone asphalt mixture (LSAM) is usually used as the base course of asphalt pavement to prevent the generation of cracks. However, there are few studies on the fracture performance and crack resistance of LSAMs. Under the monotonic tensile loading mode, the overlay test (OT) was explored to investigate the influence of different test factors on the cracking resistance and fracture performance. The study results indicated that a change in temperature and aging results in a variation in fractal dimension, the fracture energy of crack growth is higher than that of crack initiation, and fracture energy is increased to a certain extent by decreased temperature, an increased loading rate or increased aging. Finally, a constitutive model is established based on the disturbed state concept (DSC), and the proposed constitutive model is consistent with the test results.