Abstract
The rutting resistance of asphalt concrete is typically assessed by using flow number tests in the lab in accordance with AASHTO TP 79. However, the flow number represents the rutting resistance of the material with regard to ranking for only a specific test condition. A significant amount of testing effort is needed to evaluate rutting resistance by using the flow number test under various loading conditions and temperatures. Therefore, researchers have developed alternative test methods to reduce the testing effort. For example, the incremental repeated-load permanent deformation test and the triaxial stress sweep (TSS) test are two promising protocols that can predict the permanent deformation of asphalt mixtures efficiently and accurately. This study compares the minimum strain rates (MSRs) obtained from incremental repeated-load permanent deformation and TSS tests to examine the ability of the TSS test to analyze the MSRs of asphalt mixtures. In addition, the viscoplastic shift model calibrated from the TSS test that is implemented in the layered viscoelastic pavement analysis for critical distresses (LVECD) program was used to predict the rut depths of 16 pavement sections from four sources. The MSRs and rut depths predicted from the LVECD program were compared with actual measured rut depths. The results of this study indicated that the MSR results could only be used to rank the rutting susceptibility of single-layer asphalt pavements. For a multilayered pavement system, structural level analysis is necessary to predict the accurate rutting performance and rut depths of the test sections.
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