Comparison of Relaxation Modulus Converted from Frequency- and Time-Dependent Viscoelastic Functions through Numerical Methods

Abstract

Due to the difficulty of obtaining relaxation modulus directly from experiments, many interconversion methods from other viscoelastic functions to relaxation modulus were developed in previous years. The objectives of this paper were to analyze the difference of relaxation modulus converted from dynamic modulus and creep compliance and explore its potential causes. The selected methods were the numerical interconversions based on Prony series representation. For the dynamic to relaxation conversion, the time spectrum was determined by the collocation method. Meanwhile, for the creep to relaxation conversion, both the collocation method and least squares method were adopted to perform the Laplace transform. The results show that these two methods do not present a significant difference in estimating relaxation modulus. Their difference mostly exists in the transient reduced time region. Calculating the average of two methods is suggested to avoid great deviation of single experiment. To predict viscoelastic responses from creep compliance, the collocation method yields comparable results to the least squares method. Thus, simply-calculated collocation method may be preferable in practice. Further, the master curve pattern is sensitive to the Prony series coefficients. The difference in transient reduced time region may be attributed to the indeterminate Prony series coefficients.

Keywords

• asphalt mixture
• linear viscoelastic theory
• dynamic modulus
• creep compliance
• relaxation modulus
• master curve