Interface fatigue cracking in multilayered pavements: Experimental analysis

Abstract : This paper deals with interface shear durability in a multi-layered pavement. A test, named DST, has been performed in order to characterize monotonic and fatigue shear behavior of the interface. Tested specimens and the experimental device are described. Two types of interface are tested for 10°C and 20°C temperature conditions. So fatigue laws are presented and compared to interface shear monotonic strength (vs loading rate). This approach enables us to find a relationship between monotonic and cyclic experiments. The main practical objective of pavements companies is to get fatigue parameters of tack coat from short time consuming and easy tests. So pavements companies will be able to introduce lifetime of tack coat in pavement design. Practically speaking, this experimental work connected to pavement simulation (Diakhaté, 2007) shows that the shortest lifetime in pavement is classically at the bottom of the multi-layered pavement except in curves, roundabouts and if the surface layer is thin.