Development of a measurement and analysis system to accurately determine asphalt concrete properties using the indirect tensile mode

Even though asphalt pavement system behavior is known to be nonlinear, inelastic and time dependent, linear elastic layer analysis is generally accepted as providing reasonable estimates of load induced asphalt concrete layer response at temperatures below about 25°C (77°F). This paper studies the dependent response parameters of asphalt mixtures required to predict the thermal and traffic load induced stresses, strain and energies from which structural evaluations can be made and pavement performance can be predicted. A sophisticated model is developed to obtain failure limits and induced pavement response.