Development of Systematic Mitigation Strategy Utilizing Computer-Based Guidelines for Reflective Cracking

Abstract

Composite pavements currently are the most prevalent pavement type for highway rehabilitation projects in the US. However, composite pavements are susceptible to pavement distresses inherent in hot-mix asphalt (HMA) pavement and portland cement concrete (PCC) pavement. Reflective cracking is one of the most common distresses for composite pavements and contributes to premature failure of the HMA pavement and noisy rides. Therefore, a systematic mitigation strategy is needed to select treatment types for reflective cracking by considering the different types of cracks, such as joints and midpanel cracks, on the PCC slab. This research found that midpanel cracks on PCC slabs would be most likely create severe cracks on the HMA pavement. In the crack pattern analysis based on the database with 60 data points from Highway I-69 in Indiana, 92% of the moderate-severity cracks and 70.5% of the high-severity cracks on HMA surface occurred at the midpanel cracks on PCC slabs. Additionally, the testing values of the falling-weight deflectometer (FWD) at the midpanel cracks showed lower values than at the joint cracks. Therefore, based on the new finding, this research proposed a treatment-type selection tree and an algorithm to provide a user-friendly computer-based guideline. This computerized application will help field engineers not only intuitively follow the reflective cracking assessment process with input criteria, but also easily determine a final suggestion based on the crack severity pattern analysis and the treatment selection tree.