Abstract
The status of Brazilian highways reflects a deficient pavement performance when they are subjected to loadings imposed by heavy traffic. Current legislation, as enacted by Contran (National Traffic Council), has increased the axle weight limit for cargo vehicles by up to 10%. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine a cost-benefit ratio by using different types of structures, asphalt binders and load intensities. Typical pavements were determined and then analyzed by the software AEMC (SisPav) to obtain the horizontal tensile strain (et) values at the bottom of the asphalt concrete layer and, later, the N FATIGUE value. It was found that the increase in weight, within values covered by legislation, might result in a reduction of approximately 50% in the N FATIGUE value for the pavement structures analyzed. As for economic impact, the same weight increase caused a mean increase of 120% in the cost of repeated loading on pavement structures (R$ N FATIGUE -1 ). It was also observed that structures with more robust asphalt concrete layers can provide the best R$ N FATIGUE -1 ratios. The best results for granular materials were found with thinner layers, associated with a thicker coating. The benefits of modified binders were shown by the analyses of the best structural options: both the polymer-modified binder and the rubber asphalt binder offer significant structural and economic improvements to the structure.
Highlights
High investments in regular maintenance are required for a road network to offer adequate quality for users to drive along with comfort, safety and economy
Based on the NFATIGUE values calculated for each structure, data were crossed, seeking the sets that provide the highest performance with the lowest pavement cost, namely, the most economical sets with the best performance
To interpret the results, a decision was made to use a ratio that represents the cost per repeated loading on the pavement (R$ NFATIGUE-1) for each different situation of loading and use of asphalt binder
Summary
High investments in regular maintenance are required for a road network to offer adequate quality for users to drive along with comfort, safety and economy. Roads are exposed to aggressive environmental factors; the high volume of traffic and excess loadings by different. Technology types of commercial vehicle axles may affect pavement performance. The current legislation enacted by Conselho Nacional de Trânsito (Contran, 2014) increased the axle weight limit for vehicles by 10%. This rule is only valid for vehicles that do not exceed the 5% limit of total gross weight or of gross combined. The limit per axle remains 7.5 if the 5% total weight limit is exceeded
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