Laboratory Evaluation of Semicircular Bending Tensile Strength Test for Hot-Mix Asphalt Mixtures (05-0130)
Baoshan Huang, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Xiang Shu, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Gang Zuo, AMEC Earth & Environmental, Inc.

This paper presents the results of a laboratory study in which the Semi-Circular Bending (SCB) test was evaluated for its suitability to characterize the tensile strength of hot-mix asphalt (HMA) mixtures. Analytical and numerical simulations were employed to interpret the experimental results. Indirect tensile test (IDT), a standard test method of AASHTO and ASTM, was used to compare with SCB test. The results from this study indicated that SCB was capable to provide consistent results with reasonable variability. In addition, SCB exhibited several advantages over IDT in characterizing HMA mixtures, such as testing mixtures at elevated temperatures.