Laboratory, Prototype, and In-Service Accelerated Pavement Testing to Model Permanent Deformation

Abstract

State departments of transportation began using the Superpave® mixture design system and the associated material specifications without long-term validation. This design system is based on the Strategic Highway Research Program performance models, which need further calibration. Within this context, the National Center for Asphalt Technology built and tested several test sections on a full-scale oval test track in Opelika, Alabama. One purpose of the track was to provide validation of the Superpave mixture design method. The test track also provided a unique opportunity to verify the relationships among the PURWheel laboratory wheel tracker, the Indiana Department of Transportation/Purdue University accelerated pavement tester (APT), and the in-service track performance. The verification was accomplished by replicating eight hot-mix asphalt mixtures from the test track in the APT. Samples were also taken from the APT facility and the test track and tested in the PUR-Wheel. A simple power model was used to relate the rutting performance in both the APT and the PURWheel. The results demonstrate a strong correlation between the two and their capabilities to predict the in-service rutting performance at the test track. The effect of initial density and varying in-service temperatures on rutting performance is also presented and explained.