Title:
Inverted base pavement structures

dc.contributor.advisor Santamarina, J. Carlos
dc.contributor.author Cortes Avellaneda, Douglas D. en_US
dc.contributor.committeeMember Buchanan, Shane
dc.contributor.committeeMember Burns, Susan
dc.contributor.committeeMember Frost, David
dc.contributor.committeeMember Goldsztein, Guillermo
dc.contributor.committeeMember Mayne, Paul
dc.contributor.department Civil and Environmental Engineering en_US
dc.date.accessioned 2011-03-04T21:18:25Z
dc.date.available 2011-03-04T21:18:25Z
dc.date.issued 2010-11-15 en_US
dc.description.abstract An inverted base pavement is a new pavement structure that consists of an unbound aggregate base between a stiff cement-treated foundation layer and a thin asphalt cover. Unlike conventional pavements which rely on upper stiff layers to bear and spread traffic loads, the unbound aggregate inter-layer in an inverted base pavement plays a major role in the mechanical response of the pavement structure. Traditional empirical pavement design methods rely on rules developed through long-term experience with conventional flexible or rigid pavement structures. The boundaries imposed on the unbound aggregate base in an inverted pavement structure change radically from those in conventional pavements. Therefore, current empirically derived design methods are unsuitable for the analysis of inverted base pavements. The present work documents a comprehensive experimental study on a full-scale inverted pavement test section built near LaGrange, Georgia. A detailed description of the mechanical behavior of the test section before, during and after construction provides critically needed understanding of the internal behavior and macro-scale performance of this pavement structure. Given the critical role of the unbound aggregate base and its proximity to the surface, a new field test was developed to characterize the stress-dependent stiffness of the as-built layer. A complementary numerical study that incorporates state-of-the-art concepts in constitutive modeling of unbound aggregates is used to analyze experimental results and to develop preliminary guidelines for inverted base pavement design. Simulation results show that an inverted pavement can deliver superior rutting resistance compared to a conventional flexible pavement structure with the same fatigue life. Furthermore, results show that an inverted base pavement structure can exceed the structural capacity of conventional flexible pavement designs for three typical road types both in rutting and fatigue while saving up to 40% of the initial construction costs. en_US
dc.description.degree Ph.D. en_US
dc.identifier.uri http://hdl.handle.net/1853/37305
dc.publisher Georgia Institute of Technology en_US
dc.subject Inverted pavements en_US
dc.subject Stress-dependent stiffness en_US
dc.subject Unbound aggregate base en_US
dc.subject.lcsh Pavements
dc.subject.lcsh Pavements Performance
dc.subject.lcsh Pavements, Flexible
dc.title Inverted base pavement structures en_US
dc.type Text
dc.type.genre Dissertation
dspace.entity.type Publication
local.contributor.advisor Santamarina, J. Carlos
local.contributor.corporatename School of Civil and Environmental Engineering
local.contributor.corporatename College of Engineering
relation.isAdvisorOfPublication b2384ae5-0372-4d9a-ac49-9eaf26604d75
relation.isOrgUnitOfPublication 88639fad-d3ae-4867-9e7a-7c9e6d2ecc7c
relation.isOrgUnitOfPublication 7c022d60-21d5-497c-b552-95e489a06569
Files
Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
Cortes_Douglas_D_201012_phd.pdf
Size:
3.87 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Description: