An Experimental Study on Assessment of Pavement Interlayer Bond Strength

Abstract

It is a common practice to apply a tack coat usually in the form of bituminous emulsion over an existing bituminous surface before laying another bituminous layer. The boundary between these two consecutive bituminous layers is the layer interface and the pavement stress distribution is highly influenced by the adhesion conditions at this interface. Poor adhesion causes adverse effects on the structural strength of the pavement system. A number of premature failures such as slippage failure and delamination failures result thus defeating the construction objectives. In the absence of a standard method and apparatus to address this field problem, an attempt has been made in this study to develop a simple testing arrangement to be used in a laboratory to determine the interlayer bond strength. Normal Marshall procedure has been used to prepare the specimens consisting of two different types of bituminous materials in lower and upper part of the same specimen. It is observed within the scope of study that Cationic rapid setting (CRS-1) emulsion applied at 0.25 Kg/m2 offers the best results of interlayer bond strength.