Impact of tire and traffic parameters on water pressure in pavement

Abstract

It is generally believed that, irrespective of pavement type, the water on the pavement surface or water build up 12 in the internal voids, or water pressure through cracks due to traffic action plays a significant cause for the 13 functional and structural failure of the pavement. Although extensive studies on water related material degradation 14 have been conducted in the last fifty years, research on measuring water pressure due to dynamic action of load 15 and its impact on pavement performance is very limited. The influence of tire characteristics on asphalt surfaces 16 is also paucity. This study attempts to address the impact of water and tire parameters in the pavement subjected 17 to dynamic loading. The idealised pavement consisted of 100mm concrete slab with 2mm continuous fissure. The 18 concrete pavement was overlaid with 20mm semi permeable asphalt surface to evaluate the influence of asphalt 19 surfaces on the water pressure. The slabs were submerged with 2mm and 4mm water and were subjected to 5kN 20 and 10kN loads applied at 1Hz, 5Hz, 10Hz and 15Hz. The loading plate was designed to simulate new and part 21 worn tires with a square and a square with channel pattern with up to 8mm thickness to represent tread 22 characteristics. It was found that dynamic water pressure increases significantly when high frequency loading 23 combined with square type of tread, and water trapped inside the groove which generates pumping action. The 24 water pressure also increases with thread thickness. Load magnitude and depth of surface water have marginal 25 impact on the water pressure in the pavement.