Performance Testing and Evaluation of Bituminous Materials 257

SEMI-CIRCULAR BENDING TEST TO ASSESS THE

RESISTANCE AGAINST CRACK GROWTH
R. Hofman, B. Oosterbaan, S.M.J.G. Erkens and Jo van der Kooij

Road and Hydraulic Engineering Institute, Directorate Public Works and Water Management,
Ministry of Transport, Public Works and water Management, P.O. Box 5044, 2600 GA Delft,
Netherlands

Abstract
In the near future asphalt pavement will be subjected to more extreme conditions, like higher axle
loads, increased number of vehicles passing and so on. Due to this the resistance against cracking
and crack propagation will become a more important factor. Amongst others this means that a
good test method will be necessary to determine the crack resistance and the crack growth rate of
bituminous mixtures. In the Netherlands in the nineties of the last century a simple test was
developed to measure these properties, the semi-circular bending (SCB) test. This test will be a
part of the 12697-CEN test methods for characterisation of hot asphalt mixes. Recently a large
number of tests were performed both on laboratory mixtures and on specimens obtained from the
road to study the possibilities of the pseudo-static SCB test as a practical tool to determine the
fracture toughness (=crack growth resistance). From the results of these tests it was concluded that
the repeatability, the reproducibility and the discrimination between good and bad materials
was good. Next to these tests also a cyclic SCB-test was developed to determine the Paris Law
constants, i.e. crack growth rate parameters A and m. The tests performed with bituminous
mixtures made in the laboratory indicate that the cyclic SCB-test is very promising for
determination of the Paris constants, possibly enabling ranking of asphalt mixtures.

1. Introduction

The SCB test is developed to measure the cracking susceptibility of asphalt [1]. The static SCB
test on notched specimens - used for determining the fracture toughness K1C of the asphalt - has
already been used in various projects [2]. With this material property it is possible to calculate the
critical load at which a construction with a certain crack length fails. With this parameter it is also
possible to predict the critical crack length at which a construction fails when a specific axle-load
passes. However, based on the K1C it is not possible to predict how long it takes before
maintenance is required.
The cyclic SCB test, in which a test specimen is loaded with a haver sine signal, does provide
information on the crack growth rate, e.g. by a direct determination of the 'A' and 'm' parameters
from Paris' law. These constants are currently determined in an indirect manner using the
Jacobs/Shapery method [3]. Determination of the crack length during the cyclic SCB-test is rather
complex [4]. In the past experiments with optical registration by a lab technician, by crack foil, by
crack opening displacement (COD) and by mortar displacement [5] have been performed.
258 6th RILEM Symposium PTEBM'03, Zurich, 2003

The visual method is not satisfactory because it is expensive dependents on the lab technician and
the crack foil method cannot be use because the measured values do not match the optically
measured crack lengths [4,5]. Besides the COD measurement and the mortar displacement
measurement, in this paper also results of an optical registration using a camera linked to image-
processing equipment are reported [6].

2. Experimental

2.1 Static SCB test

All static SCB experiments were conducted according to the DWW test procedures [7], i.e. a
halved asphalt core at 0r1C is subjected to a compression load with continuous strain rate of
0.085 mm/s = 0.51 cm/min (0.1* the Marshall speed). The maximum force (Fmax), at which the
specimen fails, is converted into the fracture toughness (K1C)[7] using the following formulas:
4.263. Fmax
V max = [N/mm2] (1)
D. t
a [N/m1/2] (2)
K Ic = V max Sa f
W
where
2 3 4 5
a a a a a a (3)
f( ) = -0.623 + 29.29 . - 171.2 . + 457.1 - 561. 2 .  265.54.
W W W W W W
In these equations Vmax: is the maximum stress, Fmax: the maximum load, K1C: the fracture
toughness, a: the initial crack (i.e. the notch) length and W: the height of the test specimen. The
correction factor f is determined by means of 2D finite element analysis and only valid for SCB
specimens as described in the test procedure.

2.2 Cyclic SCB test

During the cyclic SCB test a halved asphalt core is placed in a climatic box of 0r1 C, is loaded
with a haver-sine force-driven load. The frequency of the load is 29.3 Hz, the maximum force is
3.0 kN and the minimum load 0.3 kN.
The crack growth rate is determined using three methods, namely optically using a digital camera,
a crack opening displacement (COD) meter and on the basis of the mortar displacement.
The crack growth process consists of three phases; initiation, propagation and termination phase.
During the propagation phase the crack growth rate per cycle (N) is described by Paris' law [8]:
da m
A 'K  (4)
dN
The 'A' and 'm' in this equation are empirical material constants, which determine the crack growth
rate of the tested material and K = Kmax - Kmin = (a) -0.5.

2.3 Test set-up static experiments

In order to determine the repeatability, the reproducibility and the discriminative ability of the test,
AC 0/16 plates (see table 1) with various compaction degrees (based on Marshall compaction),
various bitumen contents and various bitumen types were made. The specimens were made in
duplicate in two laboratories (series A and B) while per studied variation three different
laboratories tested each 5 specimens per variation.
 Performance Testing and Evaluation of Bituminous Materials 259

Table 1: Tested AC 0/16 variations

Variation bitumen content (%) compaction degree (%) bitumen types
1 standard value standard value 45/60
2 standard 2 standard value 45/60
3 standard 1 standard value 45/60
4 standard + 1 standard value 45/60
5 standard + 2 standard value 45/60
6 standard value standard 2 45/60
7 standard value standard + 2 45/60
8 standard value standard value 20/30
9 standard value standard value 80/100
The standard values for laboratory A were bitumen content = 6 % and compression ratio = 99 % and, for
laboratory B, bitumen content = 6 % and compression ratio = 100 %.

2.4 Test set-up cyclic experiments

For the cyclic experiments three different mixes were used; standard AC 0/16, standard AC 0/16
with 1 % extra bitumen and standard SMA 0/11 type 2 [6], in order to study the effect of the mix
composition on the 'A' and 'm' of Paris' law.

3. Results and discussion

3.1 Static SCB test

The results measured by the different laboratories, the averages of 5 static SCB tests per variation,
are close to each other (table 2 ).

Table 2: The measured average fracture toughness values (K1C in N.m-0.5) for AC 0/16
plates code A of the different variations examined
Serie A
variation Average lab a deviation lab b deviation lab c deviation
lab a in lab b in lab c in
relation to relation to relation to
total total total
1 32.6 33.11 0.49 32.80 0.18 31.94 -0.68
2 20.0 18.68 -1.34 19.88 -0.14 21.50 1.48
3 27.3 27.80 0.48 26.94 -0.38 27.22 -0.10
4 31.0 31.80 0.85 30.52 -0.44 30.54 -0.41
5 28.7 28.39 -0.33 29.22 0.50 28.56 -0.17
6 29.7 30.80 1.07 29.14 -0.59 29.25 -0.48
7 32.1 33.88 1.81 31.48 -0.58 30.83 -1.23
8 31.6 31.90 0.29 32.78 1.17 30.14 -1.46
9 27.4 28.81 1.40 27.56 0.15 25.86 -1.55
260 6th RILEM Symposium PTEBM'03, Zurich, 2003

Table 2 (continued)
Serie B
variation Average lab a deviation lab lab b deviation lab lab c Deviation lab
a in relation b in relation c in relation
to total to total to total
1 33.6 32.34 -1.28 33.5 -0.13 33.4 -0.21
2 25.3 22.91 -2.42 26.80 1.47 26.28 0.95
3 36.9 37.76 0.88 38.44 1.55 34.45 -2.43
4 33.1 32.50 -0.59 34.76 1.66 32.03 -1.07
5 29.7 30.78 1.11 30.60 0.93 27.62 -2.05
6 33.9 33.71 -0.23 34.54 0.60 33.56 -0.37
7 34.2 33.37 -0.81 34.80 0.63 34.36 0.18
8 31.7 31.39 -0.33 32.38 0.66 31.40 -0.32
9 32.3 32.48 0.20 32.42 0.14 31.94 -0.34

The repeatability and the reproducibility per individual test were determined (table 3). The
reproducibility appears only to depend on the laboratory and not on the mix composition [9].
It turns out that the fracture toughness clearly dependents on the bitumen content (figure 1). With
the low filling rates, voids reduce the resistance to cracking, whereas with the high filling rates,
among others non-elastic behaviour will play a role. Consequently, the applied LEFM-model can
no longer be used [8].

Table 3 : Repeatability (stdev) and reproducibility (stdev) per individual SCB test,
obtained from the study with 9 AC 0/16 variations, 2 different asphalt plates
per variation and three different laboratories.
K1C (N.m-0.5)
repeatability 2.44
repeatability lab a 1.92
repeatability lab b 2.49
repeatability lab c 2.76
reproducibility 2.49
 Performance Testing and Evaluation of Bituminous Materials 261

lab a lab b lab c average serie A average serie B

40

35
)
-0.5

30
K1C (N.m

25

20

15
3.0 4.0 5.0 6.0 7.0 8.0
bitumen content (%)

Figure 1: Fracture toughness (K1C) of AC 0/16 variations with various bitumen content

3.2 Cyclic SCB test

Crack length determination with the camera combined with image processing appears to be
difficult. This is mainly caused by the irregular crack patterns and the voids present in this type of
materials. For one of the variations examined, AC 0/16 +1 % bitumen, a curve has been
constructed as an example. (figure 2).
From both the mortar displacement and the COD meter (figure 3) the various mixes can be
distinguished. The crack growth rate in SMA 0/11 is the highest, while the crack growth rate for
AC with extra bitumen is higher than that of the standard AC 0/16. This might be explained by the
fact that in case of a higher bitumen content cracks propagated in the bitumen are less hindered by
the aggregate, and therefore can grow faster.
40
35
crack length a (mm)

30
25
20
15
10
5
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
time (hours)
Figure 2: Optical crack length for AC0/16+1% bitumen determined with the digital
camera linked to image-processing equipment
262 6th RILEM Symposium PTEBM'03, Zurich, 2003

6
355

5 353
355 357
351
359
4
Stroke (mm)

3 254
255
253
2 261 256
103
101 109 107
1 105

0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
Time (hours)
Figure 3: Crack length determined from the mortar displacement (101 to 109 = AC 0/16,
251 to 261 = AC 0/16+1% bitumen and 351 to 359 = SMA 0/11 type 2)

With the camera a significant difference in crack pattern is observed when AC 0/16 is compared
with SMA 0/11(figure 4). The cracks in the AC test specimens propagate, independent of the
bitumen percentage, in a straight line. The crack pattern in the SMA test specimens is more
irregular, the cracks branch and sometimes a crack stops while crack growth continues at a
different branch of the crack. This means that in many cases the stress condition at the tip of the
crack in SMA does not correspond with the Paris theory. This irregular crack growth pattern
argues in favour of using a camera to determine the crack length and crack growth rate. The other
techniques are not capable of registering the observed irregularities.

Figure 4: Crack pattern in AC0/16 (top) and SMA 0/11 type 2 (bottom) at various points
in time.
 Performance Testing and Evaluation of Bituminous Materials 263

4. Conclusions

4.1 Static SCB test

The experiments conducted show that both the repeatability and the reproducibility of the static
SCB test is low, when comparing it to other mechanical tests for asphalt. It also turns out that
certain compositional changes in the asphalt mix, which are expected to change the fracture
toughness, indeed have a significant effect on the fracture toughness..

4.2 Cyclic SCB test

It still proves to be difficult to measure the crack length and the crack growth rate in actual
practice However, measuring with a camera is even necessary when the crack patterns become
more complicated. Furthermore, for irregular crack patterns the Jacobs/Shapery method cannot be
used.
Besides measuring the crack length, it is becoming increasingly interesting to follow the crack
growth on a microscopic scale with acoustic emission.

5. Acknowledgement

The cyclic SCB tests presented in this publication were performed by Ms S. E. Geuzebroek. The
authors owe many thanks to her for this.

6. References
[1] R.L. Krans, F. Tolman and M.F.C. van de Ven, Semicircular bending test: a practical crack growth test
using asphalt concrete cores, RILEM Conference, Maastricht, 1996.
[2] M.M.J. Jacobs, E.J.F. Koenders en C.A.P.M. van Gurp, 'Bepaling functionele eigenschappen van
STAB 0/22 mengsels' [Determination of functional properties of STAB 0/22 mixes], KOAC report
A00.0231, 2000.
[3] T.O. Medani and A.A.A. Molenaar, A simplified practical procedure for estimation of fatigue and
crack growth characteristics of asphaltic mixtures, Road Materials and Pavement Design 1(4) ,451-465,
2000.
[4] M.I. Arbouw, 'Vaststellen van de meetmethode voor het meten van scheurgroei in asfalt SCB
proefstukken' [Determination of the test method for measuring crack growth in asphalt SCB test
specimens], DWW [Road and Hydraulic Engineering Division, Department of Transport and Public
Works, The Netherlands] report number IL-R-98.048, 1998.
[5] B. Oosterbaan, 'Scheurgroeimetingen aan cyclische SCB proeven' [Crack growth measurements
according to cyclic SCB tests] , DWW report number IL-R-00.36, 2000.
[6] S.E. Geuzebroek, 'Onderzoek naar 4 scheurgroeparameters voor de karakterisering van scheurvorming
in DAB en SMA' [Study of 4 crack growth parameters for the characterisation of fracturing in DAB
and SMA], DWW report number IL-R-01.092, 2001.
[7] R. Hofman, Description of Semi Circular Bending (SCB) Test, version 3.1, DWW report number IL-R-
98.037, 1999.
[8] H.L. Ewalds and R.J.H. Wanhill, Fracture Mechanics, Arnold and Delftse Uitgevers Maatschappij,
ISBN 90 6562 024 9, 1996.
[9] M. Bakker, SCB test results, statistical analysis, TNO [Dutch Organisation for Applied Scientific
Research] report FSP-RPT-010048, July 2001.