Page 87 - MODELING OF ASPHALT CONCRETE

CHAPTER 3

Comprehensive Overview

of the Stiffness

Characterization of

Asphalt Concrete

Robert L. Lytton

Abstract
Stiffness of asphalt concrete is a material property that is central to the performance of
asphalt pavements. This chapter reviews various factors affecting the stiffness of asphalt
concrete, methods of measuring stiffness, and importance of stiffness in pavement
response and performance prediction. Special attentions are given to describe how
asphalt concrete stiffness is affected by different factors in a mechanics sense.

Introduction
The first part of this chapter is conceptual and only the latter part becomes analytical.
The chapter starts with five basic questions concerning asphalt stiffness and some
conceptual answers to those questions. The questions are
What is asphalt concrete?
What is stiffness?
How is stiffness measured?
Why is stiffness important?
How is stiffness used in computations?
Although the first of these questions has been answered in the previous chapters, it
is answered again here as a preparation for the conceptual answers concerning stiffness.
The remaining parts of the chapter present the tests that can determine asphalt concrete

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