Fatigue Life Prediction of Porous Asphalt Overlay

Abstract With a large percentage of asphalt concrete (AC) pavements either approaching or at the end of their design lives, porous asphalt concrete (PAC) overlay of AC pavements has become one of the common methods for rehabilitation. In this study, the remaining service life of Huai‐Xu highway and its fatigue life after overlay construction was evalutated by a fatigue model. The maximum tensile strain of the pavement layers is a significant parameter in this model. Based on linear elasticity theory, a three‐dimension finite element method (FEM) model was established, and the maximum tensile strain of three layers was computed. The results obtained indicate that after paving PAC overlay, the fatigue life can be increased by 5.8 years (Xu‐Huai direction) and 9.1 years (Huai‐Xu direction). The results were compared with actual field data to validate the accuracy of the predictions. And it has been demonstrated to be a rational approach.