Abstract
Dramatic increases in the number and weight of vehicles have resulted in severe rutting on flexible pavements. A mechanical-based rutting model was developed to account for material properties changes in the progression of rutting over time and cumulated compressive strains of all layers due to traffic overloading. Nonlinear, viscoelastic, and viscoplastic deformation components of the pavement structures were characterized by theoretical modeling. Laboratory tests were conducted to obtain the essential parameters. A test field road was constructed to validate the prediction model. Results indicated that structural arrangement of pavement layers had a significant influence on rutting performance of the asphalt layer. Permanent deformation trafficked at 20 kph was two times higher than that at 90 kph. Both measured and predicted rut depths were in good agreement. Incorporation of the mechanistic approach in the prediction of rutting was shown to be viable and provided valueable information on the contribution of each layer to permanent deformation in flexible pavements.
