Mechanism of temperature crack in asphalt pavement and prediction of fatigue life

In this paper, the mechanism for different type of temperature cracks in asphalt pavement is analyzed. Further-more, fatigue life of the asphalt pavement containing reflective cracks in the base is predicted by using the Paris law. The relationship between the stress intensity factor and the crack length is established through the finite element model. Then, the fatigue life of the pavement is acquired by using numerical integration method. The effect of three factors, namely thickness of the base course, thickness of the surface course and modulus of the base course, on the fatigue life is also studied. As a result, the parameters of road structure have remarkable impact on the propagation of reflective crack.