Performance Evaluation of Geocomposite Reinforcement in Flexible Pavements using Marshall Test Protocol

Abstract

Asphalt concrete pavements are prone to cracking due to external loads and extreme weathering conditions. Generally the failed asphalt concrete is over laid with new asphalt concrete surface to improve the riding surface; however after sometime the crack reappears in the form of reflective cracking. Studies have found that such cracks can be controlled by introduction of Geo-synthetics layer before overlaying. The presented study presents one such effort in which the performance of such modification was evaluated by testing a number of modified specimens using Marshall's test protocol. The resulting Stability flow quotient at optimum asphalt content showed no appreciable improvement as expected. Hence it can be concluded that the performance of Geocomposite modified asphalt concrete cannot be evaluated using Marshall Test protocols.