Correlations and preliminary validation of the laboratory monotonic overlay test (OT) data to reflective cracking performance of in-service field highway sections

摘要

Reflective cracking is one of the dominant distress modes occurring when hot-mix asphalt (HMA) overlays are placed over existing cracked flexible and/or jointed rigid pavements. In the laboratory setting, there are various tests - both of dynamic and monotonic loading modes - that can be used to measure, characterize, and quantify the cracking resistance potential of HMA mixes. However, one key challenge with most of these laboratory tests is correlations and validation with field performance data. Quite often, field data availability is a challenge or otherwise, needs costly long-term performance monitoring. Using the Texas flexible pavements and overlays database, namely the Texas Data Storage System (DSS), as the data source, this study was conducted to correlate and preliminarily validate the laboratory monotonicloading overlay tester (OT) to the field crack performance of in-service highway sections. As excerpted from the DSS, four HMA mixes and six in-service highway sections (overlays) were used. Overall, the monotonic-loading OT test exhibited promising potential as a repeatable test (coefficient of variation [COV] 30%) for evaluating and quantifying the cracking resistance potential of HMA mixes in the laboratory relative to the field performance of in-service highway sections. In particular, the following HMA fracture parameters, fracture energy (FE), tensile strength (sigma(t)), FE Index, and peak load (P-max) from the monotonic-loading OT test, with COV values less than 30%, were able to statistically differentiate the HMA mixes (statistical groups = 2) and also correlated well (coefficient of determination [R-2] 60%) with the measured field cracking performance data. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.