United States Department of Transportation
i
Development of a finite element based thermal cracking performance prediction model.
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2009-09-15
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Abstract:Low-temperature cracking of hot-mix asphalt (HMA) pavements continues to be a leading cause of
premature pavement deterioration in regions of cold climate and/or where significant thermal cycling
occurs. Recent advances in fracture testing and modeling of HMA materials have greatly aided in the
understanding of the key mechanisms behind this devastating pavement distress mode. While these
advances have led to new insights into cracking mechanisms and design strategies, there remains the
challenge of implementing these models into a standalone program which can be easily used by other
researchers and practitioners. The proposed supplemental study extends the scope of the existing
pooled fund study to more explicitly capture the interactions between vehicles and the infrastructure.
Following the successful first phase of the National Pooled Fund Study on Low Temperature Cracking, a
second phase will be initiated in mid-2007 and continue for two to three years. While the phase II study
will provide additional funding for more field sections at the Minnesota Road Research (Mn/Road)
facility and other locations in the US (selected participating states), there is a need for additional
research which would facilitate the development of standalone, efficient code for thermal crack
prediction. The main deliverable of this project is a user-friendly, computationally efficient program
called Visual LTC, which can be used to analyze and to design against thermal cracking in asphalt
pavements. This tool will greatly facilitate the design of economical pavement systems and the
utilization of modern material formulations and construction techniques that are environmentally
friendly and sustainable, such as the use of very high amounts of recycled materials and the use of low
energy/low emission warm mix technologies. Planned work in the next phase of this study will lead to
the integration of this software into a more holistic asset management analysis system.
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