Model CS7600 
Asphalt Fatigue Testing Fixture

 General Description

The Model CS 7600 Asphalt Fatigue Testing Fixture is used to determine the fatigue life of asphalt aggregate mixtures. The fixture was designed by James Cox & Sons under the direction of Professor Carl Monismith and is based on SHRP asphalt research performed at the University of California at Berkeley and the Strategic Highway Research Program’s M009 standard method of test for determining the fatigue life of compacted bituminous mixtures subjected to repeated flexural bending.
 
The Bending Beam Fixture is proven to meet SHRP M009 and UC Berkeley specifications for fatigue life testing of asphalt aggregate mixtures. The electromechanical specimen clamps provide translation and rotation at the clamping points which allows for pure blending moments through the specimen neutral axis (tension and compression). This cannot be achieved with a simple bend fixture. The clamps grip the specimen with a constant force throughout the test, which cannot be achieved with mechanical clamps due to the deformation of the specimen during long term cyclic testing.