Development of a finite element based thermal cracking performance prediction model.

669174907PDFTech Report011IY01PavementsTestingFinite element methodIllinoisNEXTRANS Center (U.S.)Buttlar, William G.Paulino, Glaucio H.NEXTRANS Center (U.S.)University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Dept. of Civil and Environmental EngineeringUnited States. Dept. of Transportation. Research and Innovative Technology AdministrationNTL-HIGHWAY/ROAD TRANSPORTATION-Pavement Management and PerformanceNTL-HIGHWAY/ROAD TRANSPORTATION-MaterialsUS Transportation CollectionLow-temperature cracking of hot-mix asphalt (HMA) pavements continues to be a leading cause ofpremature pavement deterioration in regions of cold climate and/or where significant thermal cyclingoccurs. Recent advances in fracture testing and modeling of HMA materials have greatly aided in theunderstanding of the key mechanisms behind this devastating pavement distress mode. While theseadvances have led to new insights into cracking mechanisms and design strategies, there remains thechallenge of implementing these models into a standalone program which can be easily used by otherresearchers and practitioners. The proposed supplemental study extends the scope of the existingpooled fund study to more explicitly capture the interactions between vehicles and the infrastructure.Following the successful first phase of the National Pooled Fund Study on Low Temperature Cracking, asecond phase will be initiated in mid-2007 and continue for two to three years. While the phase II studywill provide additional funding for more field sections at the Minnesota Road Research (Mn/Road)facility and other locations in the US (selected participating states), there is a need for additionalresearch which would facilitate the development of standalone, efficient code for thermal crackprediction. The main deliverable of this project is a user-friendly, computationally efficient programcalled Visual LTC, which can be used to analyze and to design against thermal cracking in asphaltpavements. This tool will greatly facilitate the design of economical pavement systems and theutilization of modern material formulations and construction techniques that are environmentallyfriendly and sustainable, such as the use of very high amounts of recycled materials and the use of lowenergy/low emission warm mix technologies. Planned work in the next phase of this study will lead tothe integration of this software into a more holistic asset management analysis system