Implementation and evaluation of an HMA fracture mechanics based design module

Sammanfattning: A thickness design module for flexible pavements, based on the HMA fracture mechanics framework, has been developed in order to design against premature failure caused by cracking. The HMA fracture mechanics based design module has been evaluated by designing typical Swedish pavements under typical Swedish climate and loading conditions and comparing the results with a reference design framework. The integrated set of material models predicting the necessary material strength- and creep compliance parameters for crack resistance evaluation within this framework has been evaluated against a number of field cores tested.Results show that the design module developed is able to accurately predict cracking in Swedish flexible pavements, indicating that the principles behind the design procedure are fundamental and that the material models used are able to make qualitative predictions of the individual material properties used to estimates a mixtures’ resistance to cracking.