Correlation of asphalt binder linear viscoelasticity (LVE) parameters and the ranking consistency related to fatigue cracking resistance

• Evaluate the ability of various parameters as indicators of fatigue resistance. • Discuss the new intermediate temperature definition based on NCHRP 9–59 project. • Evaluate the correlations among various parameters of fatigue cracking resistance. • Assess the parameters suitable for evaluating the fatigue property of asphalt binder. Fatigue cracking is a common distress in asphalt pavements. Different cracking parameters obtained from asphalt binder testing have been proposed to measure cracking resistance. In this work, binder tests were conducted on both polymer-modified and unmodified binders, spanning a wide range of binder grades and sources. Linear viscoelastic parameters (i.e., stiffness- or relaxation-based) and binder fatigue damaged-based parameters were both assessed. Test methods included the dynamic shear rheometer (DSR) consisted of temperature-frequency sweep and linear amplitude sweep (LAS) testing, bending beam rheometer (BBR). Parameters selected in this work include |G*|·sinδ (G* is the dynamic shear modulus, δ is the phase angle), Glover-Rowe parameter (GRP), R-value, ΔT c , and number of cycles to failure (N f ) from viscoelastic continuum damage (VECD) analysis. Some calculations, thresholds and fatigue testing temperatures of these parameters are based on the recommendations of the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Project 9–59. The purpose of this work is to compare different binder parameters that have been proposed as indicators of cracking resistance. The potential changes of intermediate temperature definition are also evaluated. The results show that generally the different stiffness-based binder parameters from the DSR correlate well with each other. A correlation is observed between binder GRP and LAS damage parameters from VECD analysis.