Date of Award
5-2014
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Legacy Department
Civil Engineering
Committee Chair/Advisor
Putman, Bradley J.
Committee Member
Juang , Hsein C.
Committee Member
Rangaraju , Prasada R.
Abstract
Geosynthetics play an ever increasing role in enhancing pavements. The construction of asphalt overlays with geosynthetic interlayers is a common method to rehabilitate flexible and rigid pavements. Geosynthetic interlayers provide numerous benefits to a pavement system. When utilized properly, geosynthetic interlayers can prevent water from infiltrating a roadway base and can extend the life of a pavement and assist in absorbing stresses. Geoysnthetics lead to an increase in a pavement overlay's performance and also retard reflective cracking. Warm mix asphalt has become more popular as a result of the search for more sustainable construction practices. WMA and its technologies are looked at as means to decrease energy consumption and lower emissions. Over the previous decade, the asphalt industry has deemed warm mix asphalt as a viable paving option. With lower mixing and compaction temperatures, WMA has become an increasingly popular alternative to HMA. However, because of the relative newness of WMA there is limited long-term performance data available for WMA. One question related to use of WMA when constructing geosynthetic interlayers is whether or not the WMA has sufficient heat to warm the binder tack coat and saturate the geotextile to create an impervious barrier while bonding the overlay to the existing pavement. The scope and purpose of this study to investigate the possibility of utilizing warm mix asphalt in geosynthetic interlayers. The results of this study on geosynthetic pavement interlayer systems constructed with warm mix asphalt overlays, found that several factors had an effect on the interlayer performance. These factors were binder grade, compactive effort and temperature. The binder grade utilized in the geosynthetic interlayer had an effect on the ability to saturate the paving fabric due to the viscosity of the binder. The effect of the overlay temperature on the geoysnthetic interlayer was evident in the saturation of the paving fabric in the interlayer system. Compactive effort had an effect on the saturation of the paving fabric as greater compactive effort resulted in an increase in saturation of the paving fabric.
Recommended Citation
Bolger, William, "Investigation of Warm Mix Asphalt Overlays and Geosynthetic Pavement Interlayers" (2014). All Theses. 1931.
https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/all_theses/1931