ABSTRACT
Traditionally, pavements design in Central America has been made using the AASHTO 93 design method, which is based on empirical correlations. To return to the use of more fundamental engineering principles, the necessity of a transition from this empirical state to a mechanistic-empirical one has been recognized. The National Laboratory of Materials and Structural Models of the University of Costa Rica (LanammeUCR) has implemented an Accelerated Pavement Testing (APT) program with a Heavy Vehicle Simulator (HVS) providing a first step in the validation/calibration process of fatigue and deformation models. In addition, the effect of moisture is fundamental to determine pavement responses. Consequently, to capture the effect of moisture on pavement performance, 4 APT tests have been conducted to compare how the pavements deteriorates in the presence of water. These sections are used to calibrate 4 different fatigue models, for three different damage levels: 60%, 70%, 90%.
