EXPERIMENTAL AND FIELD INVESTIGATION OF THE INFLUENCE OF RELATIVE RIGIDITY ON THE PROBLEM OF REFLECTION CRACKING

Abstract

Because of the state of the economy, it is no longer viable to reconstruct a roadway that has been left to deteriorate with time. One of the most commonly used methods to keep pavements in service is to construct a new asphalt layer over the existing structure. However, it has been found that this new asphalt overlay does not serve its intended purpose as, in most cases, cracks soon appear. It is believed that these cracks are caused by a combination of different factors. However, a serious deficiency in present analytical approaches dealing with the observed cracks is the assumption that the new asphalt overlay is structurally A new approach in investigating the important parameters that govern the structural behavior of the asphalt overlay at the time of construction has indicated that surface cracks can be induced, which results in the destruction of the structural integrity of the newly constructed overlay. Based on the results of this analysis, two experimental models were developed. The first model is a simple composite beam designed to verify the assumptions of the new approach. The second model is directed to the phenomenon of surface cracks. The new theoretical approach is presented in this paper and the developed experimental models are described. Finally, it provides a model of a new compactor that has been developed to prevent construction cracks so that new pavement can be described as sound.