Characterization of Permanent Deformation Using AMPT Repeated-Load-Triaxial and RSCH Tests for Mechanistic-Empirical Design and Practical Considerations

AbstractCaltrans is currently implementing a California version of the superior performing asphalt pavements (Superpave) mix design procedure for hot-mix asphalt (HMA) to replace the long been used Hveem mix design process, and is interested in including performance-related tests for mix design and quality assurance. The objective of this study was to compare the repeated load triaxial (RLT) rutting test using the asphalt mixture performance tester (AMPT) and the repeated shear test at constant height (RSCH) using repeated simple shear tester (RSST) for characterization for Caltrans mechanistic-empirical (ME) pavement design in terms of usefulness of the results, difficulty, and time required to obtain results. The results indicated that there is potential to use the unconfined RLT test as a substitute for the RSCH test for mix design and quality assurance, and to use the confined or unconfined RLT for ME characterization. However, the preliminary results regarding shift factors to convert results from RL...