Experimental Evaluation of Engineered Cementitious Composites as Reflective Crack Control Interlayer for Composite Pavements

Abstract

Reflective cracking at transverse joints is considered as a predominant distress in composite pavements. Various interlayers have been used previously to prevent or retard reflective cracking. Engineered cementitious composite (ECC) is a special type of high-performance fiber-reinforced cementitious material that is expected to perform better as an interlayer due to its higher tensile strength and ductility. This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of ECC as an interlayer system experimentally. A laboratory test protocol was designed to simulate repeated traffic loads to measure the fatigue performance of ECC interlayer system using digital image correlation (DIC) technique. It was found that the composite pavement specimens with ECC interlayer provided significantly higher fatigue life as compared to the control specimens without interlayer. This result indicates that ECC could be used as a potential effective interlayer system to retard or mitigate reflective cracking.

Mitigating Reflection Cracking in Asphalt Concrete Overlays with ECC and Geotextile

“…The majority of the methods illustrated above are either ineffective or only extend the pavement overlay service by a few years. The treatment process commonly used to control reflection fractures has been extensively studied through lab tests [18], finite element simulations [19], and test road constructions [20]. These findings demonstrate that despite the semi-rigid base material high strength, the pavement is easily deformed and contracts with changes in humidity and temperature, leading to transverse contraction cracks [21].…”