Determining Hardness and Elastic Modulus of Asphalt by Nanoindentation
Publication: International Journal of Geomechanics
Volume 10, Issue 3
Abstract
Nanoindentation is a relatively new technique which has been used to measure nanomechanical properties of surface layers of bulk materials and of thin films. In this study, micromechanical properties such as hardness and Young’s modulus of asphalt binders and asphalt concrete are determined by nanoindentation experiments. Indentation tests are conducted on a base binder and two polymer-modified performance grade (PG) binders such as PG-70-22 and PG76-28. In addition, two Superpave asphalt mixes such as SP-B and SP-III are designed using these PG binders, and the corresponding mixes are compacted to prepare asphalt concrete. Aggregate, matrix (Materials Passing No. 4 sieve) and mastic (Materials Passing No. 200 sieve) phases of each asphalt concrete sample are indented using both Berkovich and Spherical indenters. In nanoindentation, an indenter penetrates into asphalt material and the load (milli-Newton) and the depth (nanometers) of indentation are recorded continuously. Indentation load versus displacement data are analyzed using Oliver and Pharr method to measure hardness and Young’s modulus. The unloading data of base binder is a straight line and therefore could not be analyzed using Oliver and Pharr’s method. However, the indentation data of the PG grade binders are successfully analyzed. Young’s modulus value is less than 3 GPa for mastic, 3 to 12 GPa for matrix, and greater than 12 GPa for aggregate studied herein. Based on the hardness data, mastic is 2 to 15 times softer than matrix materials, and matrix is 10 times softer than aggregate materials. The fact that the properties of the mastic can be measured while in the mixture, this study has great potential for realistic characterization of asphalt mixture components. In this study, spherical indenter is found to be suitable for asphalt binders based on the fact that the spherical indenter produces higher indentation depths than the Berkovich indenter. The study contributes significantly to the use of nanoindentation for transportation material characterization.
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Acknowledgments
This project is funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) through prestigious CAREER program. NSF Grant No. NSF0644047 and Program: Infrastructure Materials and Structural Mechanics. Thanks to Mr. Robert Meyers and Mr. Parveez Anwar of NMDOT and Mr. John Galvin of the Lafarge North America Quality Assurance Laboratory in obtaining the material needed for this study. Finally, the writers thank Mr. Evan Kias at the University of New Mexico for his assistance in the laboratory.
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Published In
International Journal of Geomechanics
Volume 10 • Issue 3 • June 2010
Pages: 106 - 116
Copyright
© 2010 ASCE.
History
Received: Jun 20, 2009
Accepted: Nov 3, 2009
Published online: May 14, 2010
Published in print: Jun 2010
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