ANALYTICAL MODELING AND FIELD PERFORMANCE TESTING OF GEOCOMPOSITE MEMBRANE IN FLEXIBLE PAVEMENT SYSTEMS

Two sections at the Virginia Smart Road were instrumented and constructed to quantify the effectiveness of a geocomposite membrane as a moisture barrier and as a strain energy absorber. Results of ground penetrating radar (GPR) surveys and time domain reflectometer (TDR) moisture sensors validated the effectiveness of the geocomposite membrane in abating water infiltration into the subbase layer even in the event of heavy rain. The potential of the geocomposite membrane to mitigate the reflection of cracks was theoretically investigated using the finite element (FE) analysis approach. A model was developed to simulate a cracked pavement structure by creating a singularity at the crack tip. Four contour lines were simulated around the crack to calculate the path-independent integral. Analysis of results indicates that the geocomposite membrane is effective in dissipating a large amount of energy around the cracked region. This has been verified by field cores and falling weight deflectometer (FWD) data analyses. The study showed that a soft interlayer system might increase the number of cycles for crack initiation by several orders of magnitude. For the covering abstract see ITRD E117244.

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/isbn/9058095231
• Corporate Authors:

  AA Balkema

  P.O. Box 1675
  Rotterdam,   Netherlands  BR-3000
• Authors:
  • Al-Qadi, I L
  • Elseifi, M A
• Publication Date: 2002-9

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: References;
• Pagination: p. 907-12
• Serial:
  • GEOSYNTHETICS: STATE OF THE ART - RECENT DEVELOPMENTS. PROCEEDINGS OF THE SEVENTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON GEOSYNTHETICS, 7-ICG, HELD 22-27 SEPTEMBER 2002, NICE, FRANCE.
  • Volume: 3
  • Publisher: AA Balkema

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Conferences; Flexible pavements; Geotextiles; Moisture content
• Uncontrolled Terms: Membranes
• Old TRIS Terms: Membranes (Biology)
• ITRD Terms: 8525: Conference; 2944: Flexible pavement; 4568: Geotextile; 4525: Membrane; 5920: Moisture content
• Subject Areas: Data and Information Technology; Geotechnology; Highways;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00943211
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Transport Research Laboratory
• ISBN: 90-5809-523-1
• Files: ITRD
• Created Date: Jun 11 2003 12:00AM