STUDY ON THE PERFORMANCE OF HIGH-MODULUS ASPHALT CONCRETE PAVEMENT IN EXTREME CURVES OR STEEP SLOPES OF TRUNK HIGHWAY

Abstract

With the purpose of the project, we determined the performance of high modulus asphalt concrete (HMAC) pavement in sharp curves or steep slopes of the trunk highway. We selected bending of road surface, bending and stretching strain at the bottom of surface layer, vertical compressive strain at the bottom of surface layer as research parameter index. By using the three-dimensional model analysis function of the finite element software ANSYS, the mechanical models of asphalt pavement with three different structures under the action of steep slope and heavy traffic are established. Firstly, the conventional asphalt pavement consists of 4cmAC-13 bituminous pavement (the top layer) and 6cmAC-20 bituminous pavement (the bottom layer). Then, the HMAC pavement 1 consists of 4cmAC-13 bituminous pavement (the top layer) and 6cmAC-EME14 bituminous pavement (the bottom layer).The HMAC pavement 2 consists of 6cmAC-EME14 bituminous pavement (the top layer) and 4cmAC-13 bituminous pavement (the bottom layer). Then we tried it out that for the deflection value, the HMAC pavement 1 was 5.34 percentage point reduced than the conventional asphalt pavement. At the same time, the HMAC pavement 2 was 6.95 percentage point reduced than the conventional asphalt pavement. So, it can significantly reduce the bending strain at the bottom of the surface layer by using HMAC as asphalt pavement structure. For the resistance to shear strain and vertical compressive strain at the bottom of the surface layer, the HMAC pavement 1 is the best. Then the HMAC pavement 2 follows and then the conventional asphalt pavement. The results show that the HMAC can significantly improve the overall stiffness of the pavement and reduce the bending, shearing and vertical strain. Meanwhile, it can also reduce the occurrence of wheel rut, upheaval, fatigue crack and other common diseases.