IMPROVEMENTS TO THE MATERIALS CHARACTERIZATION AND FATIGUE LIFE PREDICTION METHODS OF THE TEXAS RIGID PAVEMENT OVERLAY DESIGN PROCEDURE

This report presents certain improvements to the Texas Rigid Pavement Overlay Procedure (RPOD2) with regard to materials characterization and fatigue life predictions. Suggestions are made for characterizing rigid pavement layers from Dynaflect deflections and material tests, and some guidelines for selecting design sections along the length of a road are presented. Finite element analysis is used to quantify the effect of pavement discontinuities on the stresses obtained from layered theory. Further finite element analysis is used in an attempt to relate the critical reflection stresses in an AC overlay to deflection measurements obtained before overlaying. A fatigue equation is derived from AASHO Road Test data on rigid pavements in a mechanistic manner, using few simplifying assumptions. Failure of CRC pavements is defined using condition survey data in terms of a rate of defect (punchout and patch) occurrence, and the predictions of the above fatigue equations are compared to the lives of inservice CRC pavements. The predictions made by RPOD2 of the fatigue lives of asphalt overlaid rigid pavements are compared to existing condition survey data of these pavements, and improvements are suggested. (FHWA)

• Corporate Authors:

  University of Texas, Austin

  Center for Transportation Research, 3208 Red River Street
  Austin, TX  United States  78705

  Texas State Department of Highways & Public Transp

  P.O. Box 5051
  Austin, TX  United States  78763

  Federal Highway Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Authors:
  • Taute, A
  • McCullough, B F
  • Hudson, W R
• Publication Date: 1981-11

Media Info

• Pagination: 328 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Asphalt concrete; Continuously reinforced concrete pavements; Deflection; Dynaflect; Equations; Fatigue (Mechanics); Finite element method; Forecasting; Overlays (Pavements); Patching; Pavement design; Rigid pavements
• Uncontrolled Terms: Fatigue life
• Old TRIS Terms: Dynaflect deflections; Finite elements
• Subject Areas: Design; Highways; Pavements; I22: Design of Pavements, Railways and Guideways; I23: Properties of Road Surfaces;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00362026
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: FHWA/TX-81/30+249-1 Intrm Rpt.
• Contract Numbers: 3-8-79-249
• Files: TRIS, USDOT, STATEDOT
• Created Date: Sep 30 1982 12:00AM