Cracks characteristics and damage mechanism of asphalt pavement with semi-rigid base

Abstract

As the semi-rigid base has such advantages as high bearing capacity, good plate-forming properties, excellent frost resistance and could take full advantage of the local materials, asphalt pavement with semi-rigid base has become a primary pavement structure of highway in China since 80s of the 20th century[1]. However, semi-rigid base has some inherent problems like shrinkage deformation cracking and low erosion resistance[2][3]. With the rapid growth of traffic and loading capacity, some distresses such as cracking, rutting, and pothole appear gradually, in which the cracking is the main part. In this context, the distress types, distribution characteristics and no-disease proportion of the asphalt pavement with semi-rigid base should be further explicated, and further concerns should be taken to whether the structure is fitting for the expressway. In this paper, outdoor investigations including damage observe, core sample examination, deflection test and indoor tests containing extraction test of asphalt mixture, strength test of cores samples are used to investigate the pavement using situation of 11 high-grade highways. The distribution, characteristics, cause, scale, proportion of the cracks in different zones, different climatic features and different structures are analyzed systematically to have a further understanding about the characteristics of the semi-rigid base, which provide the guidance for reducing the pavement distress, improving the performance, promoting the serviceability and its application. © RILEM 2012.