Normalized Characterization Model of Pavement Materials

The principal objective of any pavement design procedure is to provide a structural system that will be suitable in a specific regional area and be able to sustain the anticipated traffic loading and frequency. The accomplishment of this objective and the utilization of the design procedure is highly dependent on its ability to predict future pavement performance. The success of such prediction is a function of the pavement model used and the relevancy and accuracy of its input parameters.

This paper presents and discusses the results of extensive laboratory investigations and an analytical study of permanent deformation model of several unbound materials. The developed model screens and normalizes the effects of several specimen and test variables. The model was found to be unique for each class of soil and independent of compaction, density, water content, and stress level. A significant finding of this study is that the permanent strain of any class material subjected to cyclic loading could be calculated, with high confidence level, using the developed predictive normalized model.