ABSTRACT
Change in temperature other than the temperature profile at which the pavement is stress-free (refer to the discussions in Section 4.3 in the beginning) is expected to cause thermal stress to a pavement structure. However, the asphalt mix being a rheologic material also dissipates the stress thus developed. That is, continuous variation of the thermal profile induces thermal stress to the asphalt pavement which also continuously gets dissipated. Thus, thermal stress in asphalt pavement may be negligible in moderately cold to warm places. However, in the regions with an extremely cold climate, there can be a significant accumulation of thermal stress within a short time-period (shorter than the time needed for its dissipation). This chapter presents a formulation to estimate the thermal stress in an asphalt layer (for known rheological properties) due to any given variation of temperature.
