Technical information

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ........................................................................................ ii
LIST OF TABLES .................................................................................................. vi
LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................... viii
CHAPTER 1 - INTRODUCTION ........................................................................ 1-1
1.1 BACKGROUND AND MOTIVATION ................................................................................ 1-1
1.2 PROBLEM STATEMENT, STUDY OBJECTIVES AND SCOPE ..................................... 1-2
1.3 WORK PLAN ........................................................................................................................ 1-3
1.4 STRUCTURE OF THE REPORT ......................................................................................... 1-4
CHAPTER 2 - THE NCAT EXPERIMENT ........................................................ 2-1
2.1 FACILITY DESCRIPTION ................................................................................................... 2-1
2.2 CONSTRUCTION OF TEST SECTIONS ............................................................................ 2-3
2.2.1 Pavement Structures ............................................................................................... 2-3
2.2.2 Subgrade ................................................................................................................. 2-4
2.2.3 Granular Base ......................................................................................................... 2-5
2.2.4 Hot Mix Asphalt ..................................................................................................... 2-6
2.3 MECHANICAL TESTING ........................................................................................ 2-9
2.3.1 Resilient Modulus of Subgrade and Base Materials ............................................... 2-9
2.3.2 HMA Complex Modulus ...................................................................................... 2-12
2.3.3 Falling Weight Deflections .................................................................................. 2-18
2.4 EMBEDDED INSTRUMENTATION ..................................................................... 2-20
2.4.1 Environmental Monitoring ................................................................................... 2-20
2.4.2 Mechanical Responses ......................................................................................... 2-21
2.5 STRUCTURAL BEHAVIOR AT NCAT ................................................................ 2-24
2.5.1 Resilient Response ............................................................................................... 2-24
2.5.2 Cracking and Rutting Performance ...................................................................... 2-30
CHAPTER 3 - THE APT EXPERIMENT ............................................................ 3-1
3.1 FACILITY DESCRIPTION ................................................................................................... 3-1
3.2 COMPOSITION OF TEST SECTIONS ................................................................................ 3-5
3.3 MECHANICAL TESTING AND PRELIMINARY ANALYSIS ......................................... 3-7
3.3.1 Resilient Modulus of Unbound Materials .............................................................. 3-7
3.3.2 HMA Complex Modulus ...................................................................................... 3-10
3.3.3 Falling Weight Deflections .................................................................................. 3-16
3.4 LOADING HISTORY AND ANALYSIS DATASET ........................................................ 3-17
3.4.1 Application of Load Passes .................................................................................. 3-17
3.4.2 Identification of Dataset for Structural Investigation ........................................... 3-21
3.5 STRUCTURAL BEHAVIOR .............................................................................................. 3-22
3.5.1 Instrumentation..................................................................................................... 3-22
3.5.2 Resilient Response ............................................................................................... 3-25
3.5.3 Rutting and Cracking Performance ...................................................................... 3-29
3.6 DIRECT COMPARISON WITH NCAT RESULTS ........................................................... 3-38