State-of-the-Art Review of the Evaluation of Asphalt Mixtures’ Resistance to Reflective Cracking in Laboratory

Abstract

Reflective cracking is one of the major forms of deterioration in pavements and is very common when hot-mix asphalt (HMA) overlays are constructed over a base with discontinuities in its surface. This issue has not received proper attention compared with classical fatigue cracking. However, it is a major concern during the selection of asphalt mixture surface courses for pavements with an underlying cracked base. This work identified the most appropriate testing device for investigating the resistance of asphalt mixtures to reflective cracking in the laboratory. An in-depth review of the available literature was conducted and 17 reflective cracking testing devices were evaluated, among which best three were chosen based on their availability, ease of use, variability, repeatability of the test results, and field validation. It was concluded that the Hamburg wheel tracking tester (HWTT), the wheel reflective cracking (WRC) apparatus, and the upgraded Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) overlay tester are the best available devices to examine resistance to reflective cracking in the laboratory.