• International Journal of Highway Engineering
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.45-52
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• 2017

PURPOSES : The main purpose of this study is to develop a high elastic modulus and low-shrinkage roller-compacted concrete base (RCCB) in order to prevent fatigue cracking and reflective cracking in the asphalt surface layer of composite pavement. Using a rigid base material with low shrinkage can be a solution to this problem. Moreover, a strong rigid base with high elastic modulus is able to shift the location of critical tensile strain from the bottom of the asphalt layer to the bottom of the rigid base layer, which can prevent fatigue cracking in the asphalt layer. METHODS : Sensitivity analysis of composite pavement via numerical methods is implemented to determine an appropriate range of elastic modulus of the rigid base that would eliminate fatigue cracking. Various asphalt thicknesses and elastic moduli of the rigid base are used in the analysis to study their respective influences on fatigue cracking. Low-shrinkage RCC mixture, as determined via laboratory testing with various amounts of a CSA expansion agent (0%, 7%, and 10%), is found to achieve an appropriate low-shrinkage level. Shrinkage of RCC is measured according to KS F 2424. RESULTS : This study shows that composite pavements comprising asphalt thicknesses of (h1) 2 in. with E2 > 19 GPa, 4 in. with E2 > 15 GPa, and 6 in. with E2 > 11 GPa are able to eliminate tensile strain in the asphalt layer, which is the cause of fatigue cracking in this layer. Shrinkage test results demonstrate that a 10% CSA RCC mixture can reduce shrinkage by 84% and 93% as compared to conventional RCC and PCC, respectively. CONCLUSIONS : According to the results of numerical analyses using various design inputs, composite pavements are shown to be able to eliminate fatigue cracking in composite pavement. Additionally, an RCC mixture with 10% CSA admixture is able to reduce or eliminate reflective cracking in asphalt surfaces as a result of the significant shrinkage reduction in the RCC base. Thus, this low-shrinkage base material can be used as an alternative solution to distresses in composite pavement.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.537-548
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• 2022

It is important to design the pavement thickness considering heavy-duty traffic loads, which can cause excessive stress and strain in the pavement. Port-rear roads and industrial roads have many problems due to early stress in pavement because these have a higher ratio of heavy loads than general roads such as national roads and expressways. Internationally, composite pavement has been widely applied in pavement designs in heavy-duty areas. Composite pavement is established as an economic pavement type that can increase the design life by nearly double compared to that of existing pavement while also decreasing maintenance and user costs. This study suggests a thickness design method for composite pavement using roller-compacted concrete as a base material to ensure long-term serviceability in heavy-duty areas such as port-rear roads and industrial roads. A three-dimensional finite element analysis was conducted to investigate the mechanical behavior and the long-term pavement performance ultimately to suggest a thickness design method that considers changes in the material properties of the roller-compacted concrete (RCC) base layer. In addition, this study presents a user-friendly catalog design method for RCC-base composite pavement considering the concept of linear damage accumulation for each container trailer depending on the season.

• International Journal of Highway Engineering
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.37-46
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• 2017

PURPOSES : A composite pavement utilizes both an asphalt surface and a concrete base. Typically, a concrete base layer provides structural capacity, while an asphalt surface layer provides smoothness and riding quality. This pavement type can be used in conjunction with rollercompacted concrete (RCC) pavement as a base layer due to its fast construction, economic efficiency, and structural performance. However, the service life and functionality of composite pavement may be reduced due to interfacial bond failure. Therefore, adequate interfacial bonding between the asphalt surface and the concrete base is essential to achieving monolithic behavior. The purpose of this study is to investigate the bond characteristics at the interface between asphalt (HMA; hot-mixed asphalt) and the RCC base. METHODS : This study was performed to determine the optimal type and application rate of tack coat material for RCC-base composite pavement. In addition, the core size effect, temperature condition, and bonding failure shape were analyzed to investigate the bonding characteristics at the interface between the RCC base and HMA surface. To evaluate the bond strength, a pull-off test was performed using different diameters of specimens such as 50 mm and 100 mm. Tack coat materials such as RSC-4 and BD-Coat were applied in amounts of 0.3, 0.5, 0.7, 0.9, and $1.1l/m^2$ to determine the optimal application rate. In order to evaluate the bond strength characteristics with temperature changes, a pull-off test was carried out at -15, 0, 20, and $40^{\circ}C$. In addition, the bond failure shapes were analyzed using an image analysis program after the pull-off tests were completed. RESULTS : The test results indicated that the optimal application rate of RSC-4 and BD-Coat were $0.8l/m^2$, $0.9l/m^2$, respectively. The core size effect was determined to be negligible because the bond strengths were similar in specimens with diameters of 50 mm and 100 mm. The bond strengths of RSC-4 and BD-Coat were found to decrease significantly when the temperature increased. As a result of the bonding failure shape in low-temperature conditions such as -15, 0, and $20^{\circ}C$, it was found that most of the debonding occurred at the interface between the tack coat and RCC surface. On the other hand, the interface between the HMA and tack coat was weaker than that between the tack coat and RCC at a high temperature of $40^{\circ}C$. CONCLUSIONS : This study suggested an optimal application rate of tack coat materials to apply to RCC-base composite pavement. The bond strengths at high temperatures were significantly lower than the required bond (tensile) strength of 0.4 MPa. It was known that the temperature was a critical factor affecting the bond strength at the interface of the RCC-base composite pavement.