Prediction of Pavement Fatigue for California Department of Transportation Accelerated Pavement Testing Program Drained and Undrained Test Sections

Abstract

The use of laboratory testing and mechanistic analysis to predict the fatigue life of the California Department of Transportation accelerated pavement testing (CAL/APT) heavy vehicle simulator (HVS) test sections is investigated. Two pavement structures are investigated: a drained pavement that includes an asphalt-treated permeable base layer and an undrained conventional asphalt concrete pavement. The fatigue life under HVS accelerated loading for both sections is predicted using the laboratory testing procedure from SHRP A-003A, which is based on tests of actual pavement samples using the flexural fatigue beam test. This fatigue life is compared with predictions from the SHRP A-003A surrogate equation for flexural testing, the Shell model, and the Asphalt Institute model. The critical tensile strains for the fatigue calculations using the models investigated were determined using linear elastic theory. Ranges of moduli for the pavement layers were determined from extensive material testing, and 24 moduli combinations were made. The effect of pavement type, changes in moduli, and the HVS loading conditions on the tensile strain and fatigue life predictions between the models is discussed. Reasons for differences between predicted fatigue lives and their implications are also discussed. Predicted fatigue life is compared with actual performance under HVS loading for the drained pavement.