Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of South Florida, 4202 E. Fowler Avenue, Tampa, FL 33613, USA; bSchool of
Transportation, Southeast University, SiPaiLou 2#, Nanjing 210096, P.R. China
(Received 24 October 2011; final version received 13 August 2012)
A laboratory simulation of load-induced reflective cracking was carried out using Hamburg wheel tracking tester (HWTT).
The simulation, compared with some previous fatigue tests, is more reasonable and applicable because, instead of static
load, the cyclic dynamic load is applied to the specimens and the test is relatively time and cost saving. The purpose of this
study was to evaluate the effectiveness of various stress-absorbing interlayers to retard the development of reflective
cracking, including styrene-butadiene-styrene (SBS)-modified asphalt sand concrete interlayer, asphalt-rubber sand
concrete interlayer, fibreglass-polyester paving mat interlayer and stress-absorbing membrane interlayer (SAMI).
Specimens without any anti-reflective cracking measure were also included to serve as a control. This paper first describes
material properties, aggregate gradations and the simulation apparatus. Then, it assesses the effectiveness of different
measures to prevent reflective cracking based on laboratory test results. It reveals that asphalt-rubber sand concrete
interlayer performed best and fibreglass-polyester paving mat interlayer ranked next, whereas both SBS-modified asphalt
sand concrete interlayer and SAMI showed similar and less sound performances compared with the former two under
laboratory test environments. However, SAMI may witness an improved field performance due to the limitation of
laboratory test set-up and any of the four measures could prolong the fatigue life of the specimens substantially. A finite
element model simulation was followed to explain the anti-reflective cracking mechanism and support the HWTT results.
Keywords: reflective cracking; Hamburg wheel tracking tester; stress-absorbing interlayer; finite element model
Background
Semi-rigid base is widely used in the expressway of China
for its high strength to support the traffic load and reliable
ability to maintain the performance. However, the semirigid base material tends to crack prematurely due to
temperature and moisture change. The cracks in the base
will be reflected to the surface layer under the combined
effects of temperature fluctuation and vehicle passes.
Many research efforts have been devoted to reflective
cracking and a variety of anti-reflective cracking measures
have been suggested, ranging from material property
enhancement to pavement structure optimisation. Some
frequently adopted measures are (1) improving the
performance of surface layer material, (2) improving
the performance of base layer material, (3) increasing the
thickness of surface layer and (4) providing a stressabsorbing interlayer.
Evaluation of the effectiveness of various antireflective cracking alternatives is a significant task and
mainly realised by three methods: field project observation, finite element model (FEM) simulation and
laboratory simulation. Using the first method, Jones et al.
(2007) and Steven et al. (2007) carried out a series of
research efforts to investigate the overlay strategy for the
rehabilitation of cracked asphalt concrete in California
using heavy vehicle simulator (HVS). Their reports
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B. Yu et al.
Figure 1.
Specimen structures.
Gradation of AC-13.
Table 2.
13.2
96.3
9.5
80.9
4.75
57.9
2.36
40.4
1.18
33.9
0.6
23.6
0.3
12.4
0.15
8.2
0.075
5.4
Test condition
Table 3.
555
Asphalt-rubber
SBS-modified asphalt
65.5
53.1
93.5
8.0
206.4
58.9
62.5
12.1
64.0
2365.7
58.5
65.7
100.5
91.3
2017.1
2 0.133
55.8
4.3
262.8
0.119
73.6
2.2
2182.9
0.055
65.9
24.1
2462.8
2.7
0.87
14.7
0.6
5.3
0.53
119
0.41
98.1
0.42
75.5
0.41
9.5
100.0
4.75
93.3
2.36
74.2
1.18
52.5
0.6
34.0
0.3
21.3
0.15
14.0
0.075
7.8
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B. Yu et al.
Table 4.
Technical requirements
Test item
2.36
1.18
0.6
0.3
0.075
100
65 100
20 100
0 45
05
Table 5.
Table 6.
134
1.14
. 230
59
1.61
51
1.51
Gradation of SAMI.
9.5
100.0
6.3
12.7
2.36
3.8
0.075
0.2
Figure 2.
Technical index
1.5 4.0
$ 25
$ 54
$ 60
Specimens
Failure cycles
8600
22,000
50,000
33,000
23,750
Figure 4.
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9500
28,700
45,000
30,000
25,000
6000
20,000
66,000
54,000
27,500
5500
33,000
60,000
39,000
23,600
Mean
SD
SD/mean
7400
25,925
55,250
39,000
25,000
1950
6000
6000
10,700
1800
0.26
0.23
0.11
0.27
0.07
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B. Yu et al.
Modulus (MPa)
Poissons ratio
2200
600
30,000
0.25
0.25
0.18
Poissons ratio
Thickness (m)
2200
2000
800
80
0.25
0.25
0.25
0.35
0.18
0.4
0.2
3.5
Surface
Base
Subbase
Subgrade
Table 10.
Models
Solid model
Membrane model
Without interlayer
Real pavement
59
75
169
44
0.052
0.063
0.029
0.06
12
35
20
35
Notes: The maximum tensile and shear stresses are defined as the maximum
horizontal tensile stress and vertical shear stress, respectively. They all locate
around crack tip.
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