A Study of Shearing Resistance in Asphaltic Concrete by Multi-stage Triaxial Testing

The current demands for increasing the structural performance of flexible pavement are forcing highway engineers to depart from empirical design methods and develop design procedures based on the basic properties of the materials used. The empirical design methods were considered adequate for many years in view of the requirements for a low load carrying capacity and the high cost of the technological refinements required for a rational design approach. The rational design approach has been precluded by the lack of design data regarding basic material properties of asphaltic concrete. The empirical testing procedures that have been used extensively in the past have produced very little in the way of basic material properties and design data. Even though the triaxial test has not been used extensively in the past, it is recognized as the most reliable testing procedure for revealing the basic strength properties of asphaltic concrete