Predicted responses of fatigue cracking and rutting on Roller Compacted Concrete base composite pavements

This study evaluated the effects of pavement design variables (type and thickness of asphalt concrete layer, base layer material properties, sub-base layer, and traffic volume) on fatigue cracking and rutting resistance of asphalt pavements using Roller Compacted Concrete (RCC) with Recycled Concrete Aggregate (RCA) and employing it as a base layer. The RCC mixtures were developed by partially replacing natural coarse aggregate with RCA in ratios of 0%, 5%, 15%, and 30%. The 2(5) Design of Experiments (DoE) was adopted as a screening experiment to identify the variables of pavement design that were vital to reducing the fatigue cracking and rutting on pavement sections. It was observed that the surface thickness, type of RCC-base, and volume of traffic were the most important variables to reduce damages. It was performed a 3(3) DoE with these variables to identify the best combination on the design of RCC-base pavements. It is evident from Response Surface Methodology that 10 cm surface thickness is recommended for preventing over 30% of fatigue cracking for RCC-base composed with RCC mixed with RCA ratios ranging from 10% to 30%. Rutting isn't the significant damage on an RCC-base composite pavements. The RCC mixed with RCA could be considered as a good material for the base layer submitted to the high traffic volume of vehicles. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.