ABSTRACT
ABSTRACT: During Construction Cycle 5 (CC5) at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) National Airport Pavement Test Facility (NAPTF), flexible pavement test items will undergo full-scale testing under 10-and 6-wheel landing gear configurations at high wheel loads (in excess of 55,000 lb (25 tonnes)) and tire pressures (in excess of 220 psi (1.52 MPa). The NAPTF is located at the FAA William J. Hughes Technical Center, Atlantic City International Airport, New Jersey, and is used to generate full-scale pavement response and performance data for development and verification of airport pavement design criteria. All the test items have 5-inch (127-mm) thick P-401 Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA) surface, 8-inch (203-mm) thick P-209 crushed stone aggregate base, and two different P-154 subbase thicknesses (34 and 38 inches (864 and 965 mm)). The HMA mix design was performed using the Marshall mix design procedure (as per FAA P-401 specification). During HMA surface construction, the mix was collected for laboratory testing. Cylindrical samples were prepared using a Marshall hammer, and a Superpave Gyratory Compactor. Cores from the paved HMA surface were extracted. The HMA was characterized using laboratory test results (including dynamic modulus tests, simple performance test/repeated load mode, rut resistance tests using asphalt pavement analyzer, etc.). The performance (rutting, surface cracking, and other distresses) of pavement test items under heavy gear loads and high tire pressure was regularly monitored. After the complete structural failure of pavement test items, cores from HMA surface will be extracted to study rutting experienced in the HMA layer. This paper summarizes the results from laboratory HMA characterization tests and observed pavement performance under accelerated full-scale traffic tests. The results from this study provide HMA performance data under high tire pressures.
