PREDICTION OF FLEXIBLE PAVEMENT DEFLECTIONS FROM LABORATORY REPEATED-LOAD TESTS

Abstract

RESEARCH IS REPORTED WHICH CONSTITUTES SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS TOWARD THE UNDERSTANDING OF PAVEMENT BEHAVIOR WITH REGARD TO FATIGUE CRACKING OF BITUMINOUS SURFACES SUBJECTED TO MANY REPETITIONS OF HEAVY LOADS. A THOROUGH REVIEW IS PRESENTED OF EXISTING INFORMATION ON THE RESILIENT CHARACTERISTICS OF FINE-GRAINED SUBGRADE SOILS, GRANULAR BASED MATERIALS, AND BITUMINOUS SURFACE COURSES. SUGGESTED METHODS FOR PREDICTING DEFLECTIONS OF BITUMINOUS PAVEMENTS FROM LABORATORY REPEATED-LOAD TESTS ARE DEVELOPED. TEST DATA FROM FIELD TESTS ON PROTOTYPE PAVEMENTS AND LABORATORY TESTS ON THE COMPONENTS OF THESE PAVEMENTS ARE USED TO DEMONSTRATE THE APPLICABILITY OF THE PROPOSED METHODS.