Abstract
This paper focused on the design and performance characterization of a modified ultra-thin wearing course mixture (M-UWM). A dense graded ultra-thin wearing course mixture with nominal maximum aggregate size of 10 mm was designed and named as UWM10. A multi-chain polyolefin modifier was used to modify the performance of UWM10 to get M-UWM10. Based on different laboratory performance tests including wheel tracking tests, low-temperature bending beam tests, immersion Marshall tests and freeze-thaw splitting tests, the high temperature rutting resistance, low-temperature cracking resistance and moisture resistance of the designed M-UWM10 were evaluated. The texture depth tests and wheel tracking tests were combined to characterize the degradation behaviour of the surface texture depth of M-UWM10. Based on test roads, the bonding conditions between the wearing course layer that consisted of M-UWM10 and its sublayer were evaluated by computed tomography (CT) scanning test and pull out test. Filed texture depth tests were also conducted on the test roads. It is proved that the designed wearing course mixture M-UWM10 shows excellent pavement performance as well as better wearing resistance and interlayer bonding than the traditional wearing course mixture.
Highlights
IntroductionNovachip, originated from France in the late 1970s [1]
An ultra-thin paving technique, usually with 1.5 to 2.5 centimetres pavement thickness, namelyNovachip, originated from France in the late 1970s [1]
According to the recommendation by Chinese specification and and previous studies, the polyester fibre of ultra-thin wearing course mixture (UWM), a multi-chain polyolefin modifier was added to the was used for SMA mixtures
Summary
Novachip, originated from France in the late 1970s [1] It has several advantages like short construction time, good anti-skid performance and good water permeability [1,2,3,4]. These distinctive features have been gradually gaining popularity, as ultra-thin wearing layers are being frequently applied in old highway maintenance as well as serving as wearing layers in new constructed highways [2,3,5,6]. After 4.5 years of service, both two Novachip projects showed no significant ravelling, concluding that the cohesion between the ultra-thin wearing layer and underlying asphalt layer is good. The ultra-thin wearing layer presents more surface friction than the hot mixture asphalt (HMA)
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