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SEMI-CIRCULAR BENDING TEST; SIMPLE BUT USEFUL?
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2002
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Highway PavementPavement EngineeringEngineeringSemi-circular Bending TestMechanical EngineeringPavement DesignStructural PerformanceDiagnosticsStructural EngineeringGeotechnical EngineeringPavementsMechanicsStrength PropertySouth AfricaMarshall TestExperimental TestingNondestructive TestingTesting TechniqueStructural Health MonitoringQuality ControlCivil EngineeringStructural MechanicsConstruction Engineering
A rapid, simple test that yields decisive material characteristics for pavement design and quality control is needed, yet existing tests such as Marshall or triaxial lack simplicity or specimen accessibility, driving the search for better fundamental tests. The study asks whether such a simple test exists. The semi‑circular bending test is evaluated in the Netherlands and South Africa as a straightforward method to determine asphalt mixture modulus and tensile properties. The paper demonstrates that the semi‑circular bending test fulfills the simplicity and information requirements for pavement design.
A rapid and simple test that can be performed on easy to prepare specimens, which gives decisive answers on the material characteristics needed for pavement design, and which can also be used for quality control and quality assurance purposes, is a test that pavement engineers are looking for. The question is, however, does such a simple test exist? Unfortunately the answer seems to be no. A simple test like, e.g., the Marshall test doesn't fulfill all these requirements and is therefore abandoned in many countries. Developments in the field of performance related and performance based specifications have resulted in a search for more appropriate fundamental tests like, e.g., a triaxial test. The problem with many of these tests, however, is that they lack simplicity and that specimens cannot easily be obtained from the pavement. Furthermore the need to do repeated load testing complicates the applicability of such tests. In the Netherlands as well as in some other countries, like, e.g., South Africa, the possibilities of the so-called semi-circular bending test are therefore investigated since it is believed that this test is a simple tool to obtain information on the modulus and the tensile characteristics of asphalt mixtures. In this paper this test is described and it is shown to what extent this test is indeed the simple test that fulfills all the requirements mentioned above.