• International Journal of Highway Engineering
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.19-28
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• 2012

PURPOSES : Recently, the mechanistic-empirical overlay pavement design program that is linked with Korea Pavement Research Program (KPRP) has been developed. This paper focused on establishing the framework and developing the program for the asphalt overlay design over the existing asphalt concrete pavement. METHODS : The overlay pavement design program developed in this study was investigated to assess the sensitivity to various pavement conditions, such as the damage level and thickness of existing layers. In addition, the actual overlay design on currently performing pavement was carried out as a practical example. RESULTS : From the sensitivity analysis, it was found that the thickness and damage level of existing asphalt layer mostly affect the overlay design results. In addition, under the same condition, the overlay pavement would better perform in cold region. From the overlay design with the actual condition, it is noted that the overlay thickness varies depending on the given condition. CONCLUSIONS : Based on various evaluations, it was concluded that the overlay design program developed in this study is a reliable and reasonable tool to be used in the actual pavement design.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.445-469
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• 2024

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has recommended the use of AASHTOWare Pavement Mechanistic-Empirical Design (PMED) software for Roller-Compacted Concrete (RCC) pavement design, but specific calibration for RCC is missing. This study investigates the software's capacity to predict the long-term performance of RCC roadways within the framework of conventional concrete pavement calibration. By reanalyzing existing RCC projects in several U.S. states: Colorado, Arkansas, South Carolina, Texas, and Illinois, the study highlights the need for specific calibration tailored to the unique characteristics of RCC. Field observations have emphasized occurrence of early distresses in RCC pavements, particularly transverse-cracking and joint-related issues. Despite data challenges, the AASHTOWare PMED software exhibits notable correlation between its long-term predictions and actual field performance in RCC roadways. This study stresses that RCC applications with insufficient joint spacing and thickness are prone to premature cracking. To enhance the accuracy of RCC pavement design, it is essential to discuss the inclusion of RCC as a dedicated rigid pavement option in AASHTOWare PMED. This becomes particularly crucial when the rising popularity of RCC roadways in the U.S. and Canada is considered. Such an inclusion would solidify RCC as a viable third option alongside Jointed Plain Concrete Pavements (JPCP) and Continuously Reinforced Concrete Pavements (CRCP) for design and deployment of rigid pavements. The research presents a roadmap for future calibration endeavors and advocates for the integration of RCC pavement as a distinct pavement type within the software. This approach holds promise for achieving more precise RCC pavement design and performance predictions.

• International Journal of Highway Engineering
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• v.4 no.3 s.13
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• pp.1-13
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• 2002

Design methods for new flexible pavements and overlays are in the transition from empirical to mechanistic approach, and many state highway agencies trend to move toward the adoption and use of mechanistic-empirical (M-E) design in new constructions and rehabilitations of flexible pavements. Hence, the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) decided to develop a M-E flexible pavement design procedure, in which major pavement distresses such as fatigue cracking and rutting are employed as indicators of the serviceability of a flexible pavement. The main concept of the developed design procedure is that a designed pavement that is supposed to carry a certain number of traffic must satisfy designated thresholds of rut depths and fatigue lives during a service period. For the M-E design procedure, transfer functions were developed to predict rut-depths and fatigue lives. These functions related the pavement responses to pavement performance. For validation, three current new flexible pavement design cases were obtained from the MDOT. In these cases, asphalt concrete (AC) layer thicknesses determined by the suggested M-E procedure compare favorably with those determined by the current MDOT design practice that is based on AASHTO design guide. This finding implies that the suggested Michigan M-E flexible pavement design procedure can provide a good opportunity to improve the current design practice.

• International Journal of Highway Engineering
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.1-8
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• 2014

PURPOSES : Analysis and design of asphalt concrete (AC) and continuously reinforced concrete (CRC) composite pavements. METHODS : In this study, the service life of the AC/CRC composite pavements was determined based on the probabilistic method in the mechanistic-empirical pavement design guide(MEPDG). Typical pavement design was provided with respect to heavy truck traffic volume of highways. RESULTS : The service life of the composite pavements based on IRI was shorter than that based on rutting at lower traffic volume, but this trend was switched at higher traffic volume. CONCLUSIONS : It is concluded that the main distress affecting the service life of the composite pavements was longitudinal roughness and rutting. Roughness became lower, but rut depth became greater as the stiffness of the CRC increased.

• International Journal of Highway Engineering
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.15-24
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• 2012

The MEPDG(Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide) developed based on the AASHTO Design Guide helps engineers find optimal alternatives by using traffic volume, climate, material property, and pavement structure as its input parameters. However, because technical problems were found in the MEPDG, efforts to improve the program by settling the problems have been continued. Meanwhile, another mechanistic-empirical design program has been developed by the KPRP(Korea Pavement Research Program) in Korea. To develop and improve the Korean design program reasonably, it is necessary to analyze the MEPDG and then compare programs each other. For concrete pavement, fatigue cracking is predicted by using very complicated logic different from other performance indicators. Therefore, in this paper, transfer functions of the fatigue cracking used in the version of 0.5, 1.0, and 1.1 of the MEPDG were analyzed. Sensitivity of the input parameters to the cumulative fatigue damage was compared to each other by the MEPDG version and KPRP.

• 한국도로학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2011.03a
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• pp.45-53
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• 2011

• International Journal of Highway Engineering
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.51-59
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• 2011

Tensile stress occurs and random crack develops in concrete pavement slab when it contracts by variation of temperature and humidity. The tensile stress decreases and the random crack is minimized by sawcutting the slab and inducing the crack with regular spacing. The random crack, joint damage, decrease of load transfer efficiency are caused by too wide joint spacing while too narrow joint spacing leads to increase of construction cost and decrease of comfort. A mechanistic-empirical joint spacing design method for the concrete pavement was developed in this study. Structurally and environmentally weakest sections were found among the sections showing good performance, and design strengths were determined by finite element analysis on the sections. The joint width for which the load transfer efficiency is suddenly lowered was determined as allowable joint with referring to existing research results. The maximum joint spacing for which the maximum tensile stress calculated by the finite element analysis did not exceed the design strength were found. And the maximum joint width expected by the maximum joint spacing were compared to the allowable joint width. The new method developed in this study was applied to two zones of Hamyang-Woolsan Expressway being designed. The same joint spacing as a test section constructed by 8.0m of joint spacing wider than usual was calculated by the design method. Very low cracking measured at 6 years after opening of the test section verified the design method developed in this study.

• International Journal of Highway Engineering
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.49-58
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• 2017

PURPOSES : The objective of this study is to develop a simple regression model in designing the asphalt concrete (AC) overlay thickness using the Mechanistic-empirical pavement design guide (MEPDG) program. METHODS : To establish the AC overlay design equation, multiple regression analyses were performed based on the synthetic database for AC thickness design, which was generated using the MEPDG program. The climate in Seoul city, a modified Hirsh model for determining dynamic modulus of asphalt material, and a new damaged master curve approach were used in this study. Meanwhile, the proposed rutting model developed in Seoul city was then used to calibrate the rutting model in the MEPDG program. The AC overlay design equation is a function of the total AC thickness, the ratio of AC overlay thickness and existing AC thickness, the ratio of existing AC modulus and AC overlay modulus, the subgrade condition, and the annual average daily truck traffic (AADTT). RESULTS : The regression model was verified by comparing the predicted AC thickness, the AADTT from the model and the MEPDG. The regression model shows a correlation coefficient of 0.98 in determining the AC thickness and 0.97 in determining AADTT. In addition, the data in Seoul city was used to validate the regression model. The result shows that correlation coefficient between the predicted and measured AADTT is 0.64. This indicates that the current model is more accuracy than the previous study which showed a correlation coefficient of 0.427. CONCLUSIONS:The high correlation coefficient values indicate that the regression equations can predict the AC thickness accurately.

• International Journal of Highway Engineering
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.33-40
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• 2011

The resilient modulus which is presented mechanical properties of compacted subbase material is the design parameter on the Mechanistic - Empirical pavement design guide. The compaction control method on the Mechanistic - Empirical pavement design guide will be the way to confirm whether the in-situ elastic modulus measured after the compaction meets the resilient modulus which is applied the design. The resilient modulus in this study is calculated by the neural network suggested by Korea Pavement Research Program, and degree of compaction as the existing compaction control test and plate bearing capacity test(PBT) was performed to confirm whether the in-situ elastic modulus is measured. The Light Falling Weight Deflectometer(LFWD) is additionally tested for correlation analysis between each in-situ elastic modulus and resilient modulus, and is proposed correlation equation and test interval which can reduced overall testing cost. Also, the subbase compaction control procedure based on the in-situ elastic modulus is proposed using the in-situ PBT and LFWD test result.

• International Journal of Highway Engineering
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.79-89
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• 2008

The pavement performance model is the most important factor to determine the pavement life in the mechanistic-empirical pavement design guide (MEPDG). As part of Korean Pavement Research Program (KPRP), the Korean Pavement Design Guide (KPDG) is currently being developed based on mechanistic-empirical principle. In this paper, the rutting prediction model of asphalt mixtures, one of the pavement performance model, has been developed using triaxial repeated loading testing data. This test was conducted on various types of asphalt mixtures for investigating the rutting characteristics by varying with the temperature and air void. The calibration process was made for the coefficients of rutting prediction model using the accelerated pavement testing data. The accuracy of prediction model can be increased when by considering the effect of individual rutting properties of materials rather than shear stresses with depths.