ABSTRACT

The phenomenon of longitudinal cracking in bituminous pavements in the wheel paths was analyzed in this investigation. An FWD investigation of cracked road sections on the Japan Express Highway was followed up by direct tensile testing of bituminous specimens obtained from both cracked and non-cracked road sections. The experimental investigation included measurements of horizontal shearing strains on a brass plate caused by loading three types of truck tires up to 30 kN. The tire types investigated were; Summer radial tire (Bridgestone), Normal tire (Bridgestone) and a Studdless tire (Yokohama). Shear stress analysis at the surface of a bituminous pavement under dynamic wheel loading (60 km/h) with horizontal shearing stress were also investigated using a hybrid visco-elastic FEM. It was found that the maximum horizontal shearing stress in the wheel path on a bituminous pavement during the summer season occurred near the center of a radial tire which resulted in longitudinal cracking in the wheel path.