Abstract
PURPOSES : The purpose of this study is to verify the effects of fiber grid reinforcement on the thickness reduction of asphalt pavement. Test sections were constructed on the national highway to evaluate the structural capacity of asphalt pavement with the reinforced fiber grid and normal asphalt pavement. METHODS : Falling Weight Deflectometer (FWD) tests were performed to measure the structural capacity of test sections. The loads of the FWD test are 4.1 ton, 8.0 ton, 10.0 ton, and loaded twice, respectively. The test sections consist of a reference asphalt pavement section, an asphalt pavement section reduced with a 5-cm base layer thickness, and a fiber grid reinforced asphalt pavement section reduced with a 5-cm base layer thickness. In addition, strain data was collected using strain gauges installed in the test sections. RESULTS : The results of the FWD tests showed that the deflections of the pavement section reinforced with the fiber grid was reduced by about 14% compared with that of the reference asphalt pavement section. The strain at the bottom of the asphalt surface layer of the pavement section reduced to a 5-cm base thickness and reinforced with a fiber grid was similar to that at the bottom of the asphalt layer of the reference asphalt pavement. CONCLUSIONS : The results of the FWD and strain tests showed the possibility of the pavement thickness reduction by reinforcement with a fiber grid.
