PURPOSES : A mechanistic-empirical (ME) predictive design logic that can compute the reflective cracking life of hot-mix asphalt (HMA) overlaid on top of a composite pavement is proposed herein.
METHODS : The overlay thickness design and analysis logic of the HMA were formulated based on the ME concept of reflection crack propagation. Climate data, traffic load data, the pavement material properties, and the thickness of each layer of the pavement are the main inputs for the ME-Reflective Cracking Rate (RCR) prediction algorithm. An Microsoft Excel Virtual Basic for Application (VBA) program was created to aid designers in assessing the expected performance of an HMA overlay design. Calibration was done using data from the Long-Term Pavement Performance (LTPP) sections. Sensitivity analysis was conducted to compare the results yielded by the program and data from a report by the Texas Transportation Institute.
RESULTS : The predictive model performance effectively generates the dynamic and relaxation modulus curves. The correlation value of the calibration factors, R2, is 0.79. The calibration factors used for the Asphalt Overlay Thickness Design (AOTD) program and the sensitivity analysis, i.e., k1, k2,, and k3,, are set to 5, 5, and 150, respectively. The sensitivity of the AOTD program affords reasonable results. Additionally, the program yields results similar to the trends presented in a report by the Federal Highway Administration.
CONCLUSIONS : The proposed ME design logic is successfully translated into an Excel VBA program, AOTD, which can perform routine assessments of laboratory tests for HMA overlays. The program can effectively perform numerous iterations and computations to predict an HMA overlay. The predictive model can generate reasonable dynamic modulus and relaxation modulus curves for the characterization of HMA overlays. Under the same asphalt binder grade and HMA type, doubling the HMA overlay thickness yields three times the expected reflective cracking service life.
도로측구는 도로 노면배수 기능 및 도로포장 양단면에 구조적 지지력을 제공하고, 주행차로로부터 분리된 공간을 확보함으로써 차량이 도보로 침입하는 것을 방지하여 안전성 확보를 하는 기능을 가지고 있다. 하지만, 도로측구는 예상치 못한 차량하중 재하 및 극심한 환경 및 기후조건 등의 영향으로 손상을 입는 경우가 많으며, 특히 측구 시공 시 기존면 처리 미숙으로 인한 반사균열이 발생하는 사례가 많다. 본 연구에서는, 도로측구 반사균열 저감을 위해서 합성 분리막의 적용성을 실내, 수치해석, 현장실험을 통해 평가하였으며, 평가결과 도로측구 시공 및 유지보수에 효율성이 있을 것으로 판단된다.
Asphalt pavement overlay method is one of widely chosen construction methods for remodelling existing aged concrete pavement layer. However, in this case reflective cracking is a challenging issue due to movement of transverse joints: built in existing concrete pavement layer with constant interval length. In this paper, collecting field data: collection of displacement and temperature data on existing concrete pavement layer for further complicated pavement performance analysis, was performed. To fulfil this objective, various types of thermometer were embedded into concrete layer with different depth level. Then, movement of existing concrete layer was measured numerically. Each Displacement Measuring Gauge (DMG) along with thermometer was embedded with depth of 3cm and 15cm, respectively. Additional thermometers were embedded at the middle depth of overlaid asphalt pavement layer for further extensive analysis and data collection. Total four testing sites were considered based on different asphalt mixture type and construction method. The 1st site was constructed with conventional construction approach, the 2nd site was constructed with a new pavement equipment contains simultaneous tack-coating function, the 3rd site was similar to 1st site but Guss-asphalt was constructed as a binder course, and in 4th site Noise-Reduction Porous Asphalt (NRPA) was constructed as a surface course and regular Dense Grade Asphalt (DGA) was constructed as a binder course. A field asphalt pavement layer sample coring works: along with basic material property tests, were also performed to acquire not only overlaid asphalt but also existing concrete pavement materials. This gauge measuring work in this study is an initial step therefore, long-term movement data of each pavement layer was not able to be collected, unfortunately. However through collecting and analysing initial data on each test site, two crucial findings were acquired. First, in all four tested site highest temperature variations were observed at the upper asphalt pavement layer and the variation trends decreased with increase of pavement depth (in case of concrete pavement layer, temperature and movement variations also decreased with increase of pavement depth). Secondly, when Guss-asphalt was applied as a binder course temperature variations of existing concrete pavement layer was crucially smaller than those of other comparison cases. These current findings and collected data set can provide successful input information for further pavement structure analysis such as 2D (and/or 3D) Finite Element Method (FEM) analysis as a future study.