Analysis of the Fatigue Crack Propagation Process of the Stress-Absorption Layer of Composite Pavement Based on Reliability

Abstract

The stress-absorption layer in cement concrete pavement delays the development of reflection cracks and is good at fatigue resistance. Laboratory investigations of the anti-crack performance of the high viscous asphalt sand stress-absorption layer (HVASAL) and rubber asphalt stress-absorption layer (RASAL) were carried out by force-controlled fatigue crack propagation tests, for which three types of overlay structures with three types of pre-crack (i.e., the middle crack, the side crack, and the 45° inclined crack) were designed. A probability model was established to describe the propagation of the fatigue cracks. The fatigue crack propagation, the fatigue life, the crack propagation rate, and the crack propagation mechanism of the three types of overlay structure were compared and analyzed. The results show that the stress-absorption layers have good anti-crack fatigue performance, and that the RASAL is better than the HVASAL. The crack propagation patterns of the three types of overlay structure were found. In the double logarithmic coordinate, the curves of the three types of cracks are straight lines with different intercepts and slopes. The probability model quantifies the relationship between the crack propagation rate and ∆K. The influences of the three types of crack on the fatigue properties of the asphalt overlays are different.

Keywords

• road engineering
• crack resistance
• fatigue crack propagation test
• reliability
• rubber asphalt stress absorption layer (RASAL)
• high viscous asphalt sand stress absorption layer (HVASAL)
• asphalt overlay