Fatigue life cycles of dense graded (DG14) asphalt pavement beams

This report summarizes the fatigue test results of asphalt (DG14) beams conducted in the Universal Materials Testing Apparatus (UMATTA). The system has facilities to test pavement materials and display cyclic stress, strain, and stiffness data from the specimen for extended periods of time or numbers of loading cycles. A four-point test is being carried out. This test is used to estimate the fatigue life of compacted asphalt beams subjected to repeated flexural moments. The test program included un-reinforced specimens as a control against which to compare the reinforced specimen (Paving fabrics type PF1, PF2 and PF2/SS20, geofabric-grid composite) in temperature controlled cabinet. A comparison of the number of load cycles to reduce the stiffness to half of its initial value reflects the fatigue life against repeated traffic loading. These results clearly indicate that the inclusion of geo-fabrics increase the fatigue life of a pavement-wearing surface..