Abstract
The structural response of a flexible pavement typically is modeled with the multilayer linear elastic theory. This theory is applicable to almost all mechanistic–empirical design procedures but is also used in other fields of pavement engineering, such as in the interpretation of deflection data for assessing a pavement's structural condition. The applicability of this theory, even with some limitations, has been validated for new or undamaged pavements when the hypothesis of continuity is realistic. However, for modeling the structural response of damaged pavements, the presence of discrete cracks is not compatible with continuum mechanics theories. Three flexible sections at the CEDEX Transport Research Center test track were instrumented with sensors. The structural response under moving vehicles was systematically measured for different response variables during a full-scale experiment in which 1.3 million loads were applied. The structural response measured at the beginning of the experiment, when asphalt damage was null, was used as a reference for comparison of the evolution of response during the test. The test showed that the evolution of the response variables could be explained by continuum mechanics, in particular by linear elasticity, as soon as asphalt damage was uniformly distributed in the material. When discrete cracking appeared, the response started to deviate from the response predicted by multilayer linear elastic models. Adoption of a rational approach for determination of the modulus of the asphalt layers is shown to be important.
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