PREDICTING LOW-TEMPERATURE CRACKING FREQUENCY OF ASPHALT CONCRETE PAVEMENTS

LOW-TEMPERATURE SHRINKAGE CRACKING OF ASPHALT PAVEMENTS IS A SERIOUS AND COSTLY PROBLEM THROUGHOUT MUCH OF CANADA AND THE NORTHERN UNITED STATES. THE LARGE AMOUNT OF EFFORT DEVOTED TO THE PROBLEM HAS PROVIDED SEVERAL DESIGN APPROACHES. THIS PAPER DESCRIBES THE LATEST AND MOST COMPREHENSIVE OF SUCH A DESIGN APPROACH. A MATHEMATICAL MODEL BASED ON FIELD OBSERVATIONS HAS BEEN DEVELOPED AND IS CAPABLE OF PREDICTING THE FREQUENCY OF CRACKING AT VARIOUS AGES IN THE PAVEMENT LIFE. THE VARIABLES USED INVOLVE STIFFNESS OF THE ORIGINAL ASPHALT CEMENT, WINTER DESIGN TEMPERATURE, SUBGRADE SOIL TYPE, THICKNESS OF THE ASPHALT CONCRETE, AND AGE OF THE PAVEMENT. DATA FOR THE VARIABLES ARE COMMONLY RECORDED BY HIGHWAY AGENCIES. THE MODEL PROVIDES A VERY POWERFUL DESIGN APPROACH IN THAT SERVICEABILITY LOSSES AND MAINTENANCE COSTS ARE DIRECTLY RELATED TO DEGREE OF CRACKING. IF THESE ARE INTOLERABLE, NEW DESIGNS CAN BE GENERATED AND VERY QUICKLY AND EASILY TESTED BY THE MODEL. THE PAPER PROVIDES A NUMERICAL EXAMPLE, INCLUDING A NOMOGRAPH FOR SOLVING THE MODEL. THE MODEL IS "REASONABLE" IN ITS USE OF THE VARIABLES, AND THE DEGREE OF ERROR INVOLVED IS ACCEPTABLE.

• Record URL:
  • http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/hrr/1972/407/407-005.pdf
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Sponsored by Committee on Flexible Pavement Design. Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
• Authors:
  • Hajek, J J
  • Haas, R C
• Conference:
  • 51st Annual Meeting of the Highway Research Board
  • Location: Washington District of Columbia, United States
  • Date: 1972-1-17 to 1972-1-21
• Publication Date: 1972

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 39-54
• Monograph Title: Pavement technology
• Serial:
  • Highway Research Record
  • Issue Number: 407
  • Publisher: Highway Research Board

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Age; Asphalt pavements; Cracking; Low temperature; Mathematical models; Nomographs; Pavement cracking; Pavements; Service life; Shrinkage; Subgrade (Pavements); Thickness
• Uncontrolled Terms: Pavement thickness
• Old TRIS Terms: Pavement life; Shrinkage cracks
• Subject Areas: Design; Highways; Pavements;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00207495
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Jul 24 1973 12:00AM