Journal Published Online: 22 November 2021
Volume 50, Issue 2

Full-Scale Pavement Testing of a High Polymer-Modified Asphalt Concrete Mixture

CODEN: JTEVAB

Abstract

This paper presents the validation process for the structural layer coefficient determined mechanistically for high polymer (HP) asphalt mixtures (i.e., 0.54) through full-scale laboratory testing of asphalt pavements. Two instrumented full-scale pavement experiments were conducted in the PaveBox setup at the University of Nevada, Reno. A flexible pavement structure with a conventional polymer-modified asphalt layer was evaluated in Experiment No. 1. Meanwhile, a flexible pavement structure with a reduced-thickness HP asphalt concrete (AC) layer was evaluated in Experiment No. 2. Similar vertical surface deflections (except under the center of the applied surface load), higher vertical stresses at the middle of the base layer, and similar vertical stresses below the subgrade surface were observed with the reduced thickness of the HP AC layer. Moreover, better overall fatigue and rutting performance in the AC layer, slightly higher rut depths in the unbound layers, and similar total rut depths were observed by means of mechanistic analysis with the use of HP AC pavement. In general, the results and findings of this study supported the selection of 0.54.

Author Information

Habbouche, Jhony
Pavements Team, Virginia Transportation Research Council, Charlottesville, VA, USA
Piratheepan, Murugaiyah
Pavement Engineering and Science Program, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Nevada, Reno, NV, USA
Hajj, Elie Y.
Pavement Engineering and Science Program, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Nevada, Reno, NV, USA
Bista, Sailesh
Corsair Consulting LLC, Cedar Park, TX, USA
Sebaaly, Peter E.
Pavement Engineering and Science Program, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Nevada, Reno, NV, USA
Pages: 24
Price: $25.00
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Stock #: JTE20210283
ISSN: 0090-3973
DOI: 10.1520/JTE20210283