Field Performance of Asphalt Mixtures Based on Flexibility Index Results

Details

• Creators:
  Romero, Pedro
• Corporate Creators:
  University of Utah. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering ; Mountain-Plains Consortium
• Corporate Contributors:
  United States. Department of Transportation. University Transportation Centers (UTC) Program ; United States. Department of Transportation. Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  • Asphalt mixtures
  • Fatigue cracking
  • Flexibility
  • Mechanical tests
  • Pavement performance
  • Laboratory tests
• Publication/ Report Number:
  MPC-611
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  Utah ; United States
• Edition:
  Final Report
• Corporate Publisher:
  Mountain-Plains Consortium
• Abstract:
  This document presents the continuous effort to develop mechanical tests that can relate to the expected performance of asphalt mixtures once placed in the field. During a previous research project, asphalt mixtures of different compositions were collected from different locations across the state of Utah. Based on the tests, it was found that asphalt mixtures sampled at the plant had a flexibility index, FI, between 3.0 and 20.0. This means that some mixtures were likely to show premature fatigue cracking. To verify if the laboratory predicted performance matched the field performance, the locations where five different mixtures were placed were surveyed and their level of distresses was documented. It was found that out of the 5 sections surveyed, the one that had the lowest flexibility index showed premature fatigue cracking. A different section also shows significant low-temperature cracking. Based on the results, it is concluded that the proposed mechanical testing at intermediate temperatures can be used to identify mixtures that might have poor cracking performance in the field. However, since no other section showed any distresses, it is not known if a specific minimum FI can be developed at this time.
• Format:
  PDF
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/70373/dot_70373_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 2.58 MB]
• Collection(s):
  University Transportation Centers
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:efaafa62a8c7923c2661cddf7645f161ab44389af056c1c38978f92ea6d32860