PDF · júlí 2014

Performance Modell­ing of Flex­ible Pavements Tested in a Heavy Vehicle Simulator

Due to the complex behaviour of pavements most traditional pavement design is done with empirical methods that are based on long-term experience. Due to their simplicity, one of their limitations is that they cannot be extrapolated with confidence beyond the conditions on which they are based. New mechanistic designing methods are being developed to predict the behaviour of road structures. The behaviour depends on many factors such as the applied loads, the materials used, the thickness of the layers and the environmental conditions. One of the main limitations today is the influence environmental conditions (such as temperature, frost/thaw variations and moisture) have on the materials and deterioration of road structures, but these factors are very important for thin flexible pavements common in the Northern Periphery. To model the behaviour adequately it is important to compare the results of mechanistic (numerical) analyses with actual measurements in a full scale structures. Here accelerated pavement tests (APT), where instrumented pavement structures were tested using a heavy vehicle simulator (HVS), were used to examine the influence increased moisture content has on road structures and the accuracy of repeated tests was estimated.