Determination of Shear and Bulk Moduli of Viscoelastic Solids from the Indirect Tension Creep Test

Because of its efficiency in analyzing complex viscoelastic problems, the finite-element (FE) analysis has been widely used to identify the time- and rate-dependent effects of viscoelastic materials on various structural conditions. When performing the FE analysis on a viscoelastic structure, most FE programs require fundamental material properties, shear and bulk moduli, of the given viscoelastic material as their input. However, the shear and bulk modulus tests are difficult to perform, so they have been commonly estimated from a single material test on the basis of the assumption that the Poisson’s ratio of viscoelastic materials is a time-independent constant. Such an assumption, however, might not be suitable because the Poisson’s ratio of the viscoelastic materials is also a function of time. Therefore, this study developed computation algorithms for determining the time-dependent Poisson’s ratio and shear and bulk moduli of asphalt mixtures, which have been well recognized as a viscoelastic material, by employing the indirect tension testing system. The shear and bulk moduli determined by the developed approach appear to be reasonable and realistic. Their applicability and reliability were also verified by comparing experimental data to the results of the FE analysis performed on the same circular specimen as that used in the indirect tension creep test.