Fast falling weight accelerated pavement testing and laboratory analysis of asphalt pavements reinforced with geocomposites

Many reinforcement systems have been designed to improve fatigue life and to prevent or mitigate reflective cracking and rutting in asphalt pavements. The goal of this research was to assess the effectiveness of asphalt pavement rehabilitation with geocomposites to limit fatigue cracking, reflective cracking and rutting by using Accelerated Pavement Testing (APT) and laboratory testing. APT was used to evaluate the pavement performance, simulating the effects of long-term vehicular traffic on the pavement structure in a relatively short period of time. Accelerated pavement tests were performed using the Fast Falling Weight Deflectometer (FastFWD) equipment in a trial section characterized by different types of interfaces (reinforced with geocomposites and unreinforced). In addition, two types of specimen were taken from the trial section to carry out laboratory testing: cores for Ancona Shear Test Research and Analysis (ASTRA) tests and beams for three point bending (3PB) tests. The APT and 3PB tests results demonstrated that the geocomposites investigated are an effective method to enhance asphalt pavement performance. Moreover, ASTRA tests showed that the application of geocomposite at the interface causes a de-bonding effect between asphalt layers that could be beneficial to promote stress-relieving in case of reflective cracking and thermal cracking.