Use of Friction and Texture in Pavement Performance Modeling

Abstract

The International Friction Index (IFI) is used for consideration of skid resistance and macrotexture in a probabilistic pavement performance modeling framework. IFI provides a friction scale that can be used for comparisons at international level and consists of skid resistance and macrotexture values, as macrotexture influences the variation of skid resistance by speed. Threshold values are established to define high quality and low quality conditions of skid resistance and macrotexture that are combined to assess the adequacy of pavement friction (IFI) for scheduling of maintenance activities. The methodology consists of three steps: (1) Use the local device-specific thresholds on friction and macrotexture to obtain IFI threshold values; (2) determine a fixed IFI threshold value; and (3) obtain modified device-specific threshold values based on the fixed IFI. Data for the present analysis have been collected on the Hungarian asphalt-concrete motorway system between 1994 and 1997. The condition states based on the modified device-specific threshold values are used to establish a Markov chain model that is in good correlation with the actual performance data.