Impact of longer and heavier vehicles on the performance of asphalt pavements : A laboratory study

• Historically, Longer and Heavier Vehicles (LHVs) have been permitted to operate in Sweden. Since 1996 and as of the beginning of 2015, the maximum gross vehicle weight of 60 tons and a length of up to 25.25 m have been permitted. The Swedish Transport Administration has decided to further increase the maximum gross vehicle weight to 74 tons and studies are undergoing to evaluate the impact of the proposed LHVs on existing transport infrastructure. To this end, repeated load triaxial tests and indirect tensile fatigue tests were conducted on selected conventional asphalt mixtures to investigate and quantify the impact of single, tandem and tridem axle configurations on permanent deformation and fatigue performances of conventional asphalt pavements. In addition, fatigue tests for selected LHV scenarios were conducted. This paper presents the results of the laboratory tests and simulations conducted. The test results have clearly demonstrated the impact of the different axle configurations on the rutting and fatigue performances of the mixture. Furthermore, such results can explain the significance of axle configuration on modelling the rutting and fatigue performances of asphalt pavements.

Subject headings

TEKNIK OCH TEKNOLOGIER  -- Samhällsbyggnadsteknik -- Infrastrukturteknik (hsv//swe)

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY  -- Civil Engineering -- Infrastructure Engineering (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Longer and heavier vehicle

Flexible pavement

Deformation

Fatigue (mater)

Triaxial

Repetitive loading

Axle load

Design (overall design)

Rutting (wheel)

32 Road: Pavement design

32 Road: Pavement design

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

kon (subject category)