Presenting a Model to Predict Cracking Rate in Geocomposite-Reinforced Asphalt Overlays Under Different Loading and Temperature Conditions

Abstract

Asphalt pavements are subjected to the superficial and deep deterioration under the traffic and environmental loadings. Annually, the governments spend huge amounts of money to pavement rehabilitation and maintenance. In this regard, the overlay is one of the facile solutions to improve these infrastructures. However, the deteriorated pavement affects the overlay functional performance by propagating the existed cracks upwards to the placed surface layer. This cracking is due to the stress and strain concentration induced by the loading and temperature variations in the cracked area.. Today, using the asphalt overlays reinforced with geosynthetic interlayers is one of the most effective ways to prevent reflective cracking in the overlays. Accordingly, this paper investigates the effects of the temperature, loading frequency, and geocomposite tensile strengths on the cracking rate of overlay. Afterward, the cracking process and propagation rate are analyzed using image processing technique and statistically. According to the prepared prediction models, the temperature had the greatest effect on the reflective cracking rate among the investigated parameters. Also, the obtained coefficients of determination (R²) and Adjusted R² are equal to 0.9936 and 0.9907, respectively, indicating the satisfactory prediction of the model compared to the real observations.