2024 journal article
Evaluation of Paris law-based approach on asphalt mixture reflective cracking performance modeling
ENGINEERING FRACTURE MECHANICS, 303.
Reflective cracking is a major distress for asphalt pavement overlays. To model asphalt mixture reflective cracking performance, various models and tests have been developed in the past. Among the different methods, Paris law combined with the overlay test has been one of the most popular approaches to assess the reflective cracking resistance of the asphalt mixtures. This study evaluated three variants of ΔK-based Paris law models, specifically Methods A, B, and C, as well as one ΔJR-based Paris law model. The evaluation was conducted using overlay test data from two mixes at three different temperatures. For ΔK-based Paris law, three different models consistently demonstrate that asphalt mixtures have better reflective cracking resistance as temperature increases from 4 °C to 18 °C. However, they diverge in terms of mixture rankings. Specifically, when using the Paris law coefficients to predict the crack growth, Method A matches exactly with the experimental observation since it is a self-validation, while Methods B and C display different crack growth patterns. This may be attributed to the fact that Method A was originally developed based on the overlay test while Methods B and C were calibrated based on the field performance. For ΔJR-based Paris law, inconclusive results have been obtained and the cause of such results are explained on the basis of differences between the experimental details of the present study and the one that originally developed the approach.