Mechanistic and Economic Impacts of Using Asphalt Rubber Mixtures at Various Vehicle Speeds

Abstract

In the application of hot-mix asphalt pavement (HMA), tension at the bottom of the HMA layer creates one of the most challenging distresses to pavement structures, fatigue cracking. Adding rubber to the asphalt mix can extend the life of a pavement and provide an end use for old tires that would otherwise end up in a landfill. It is already known that the initial construction cost of an asphalt rubber mix will be higher than that of a conventional mix. However, the purpose of this article is to investigate if the reduced layer thickness and improved fatigue life will offset the initial cost. After completing a mechanistic analysis using the FHWA software package named 3D Move (University of Nevada, Reno, NV), the pavement thickness required to last for 50,000,000 cycles (the estimated endurance limit) was found to be much less for asphalt rubber mixes as opposed to the reference HMA. The cost to construct one lane mile of the reference mix pavement designed for 113 kph traffic was 90,031, while the cost for asphalt rubber mix at the same speed came out to be 87,629. This is a ,402 difference. Additionally, the cost to construct 1.6 km of lane of the reference mix and asphalt rubber mix for four more different vehicle speeds was calculated. Overall, analysis showed that Asphalt Rubber (AR) modified asphalt mixtures exhibited significantly lower cost of pavement per 1,000 cycles of fatigue life per mile compared to the conventional HMA mixture.

Description

This article is originally published by ASTM International and made available through their Green Open Access policy. ASTM is the copyright holder. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1520/ACEM20170104

Publisher

ASTM International

Date of publication

12-20-2017

Language

english

Persistent identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/10950/2350

Document Type

Article

Publisher Citation

M. Souliman, R. Abd El-Hakim, M. Davis, H. Gc, and L. Walubita, "Mechanistic and Economic Impacts of Using Asphalt Rubber Mixtures at Various Vehicle Speeds," Advances in Civil Engineering Materials 7, no. 3 (2018): 347-359. https://doi.org/10.1520/ACEM20170104

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