Use of the Modified Ramberg-Osgood Material Model to Predict Dynamic Modulus Master Curves of Asphalt Mixtures

Dynamic modulus master curves are usually constructed by using sigmoid functions, but the coefficients of these functions are not independent of each other. For this reason, it is not possible to clearly identify their physical mean. Another way of describing the dynamic modulus master curves is to choose the Ramberg-Osgood (RAMBO) material model, which is also well-suited for modelling the cyclic behaviour of soils. The Ramberg-Osgood model coefficients are completely independent of each other, so the evaluation of the fitted curve is simple and straightforward. This paper deals with the application of the Ramberg-Osgood material model compared to the usual techniques for constructing a master curve, determining the accuracy in describing the material behaviour of asphalt mixtures, and seeking any surplus information that cannot be derived by traditional techniques. Because the dynamic modulus and phase angle master curves are strictly related, in the present study, the asymmetric bell-shaped frequency curve of Toranzos was used to describe the phase angle for four types of asphalt mixtures (RmB, PmB, RA, and NB). The results show that the RAMBO model is a good alternative to the sigmoid function in describing the master curve of the dynamic modulus. We successfully used the Toranzos asymmetric bell-shaped frequency curve to describe the phase angle master curve. We also found a promising relationship between the independent RAMBO model parameters and the physical properties of the investigated binders, but this requires further research.