Construction and Building Materials 96 (2015) 307318

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Construction and Building Materials

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/conbuildmat

Evaluation of interlayer bonding condition on structural response

characteristics of asphalt pavement using finite element analysis
and full-scale field tests
Sanghyun Chun a,, Kukjoo Kim a, James Greene b, Bouzid Choubane b
a
Engineering School of Sustainable Infrastructure and Environment, Department of Civil and Coastal Engineering, University of Florida, 365 Weil Hall PO Box 116580, Gainesville,
FL 32611, USA
b
Florida Department of Transportation, State Materials Office, 5007 NE 39th Avenue, Gainesville, FL 32609, USA

h i g h l i g h t s

Identify more realistic and effective method to characterize the different interlayer bonding behavior of layered flexible pavement system.

Develop the improved three-dimensional viscoelastic finite element pavement model.

Predict the effect of interlayer bonding condition on change in pavement critical responses.

Measure the pavement critical response for pavement structures with different interlayer bonding conditions using full-scale field tests.

Validate the applicability of the pavement model developed by comparing the responses predicted from the model with those measured from the field
tests.

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: This study was primarily focused on evaluating the effect of different interlayer bonding conditions on
Received 22 May 2015 change in critical responses for real pavements related to performance and service life using the results
Received in revised form 6 August 2015 from the finite element analysis (FEA) and full-scale field tests. The current lack of thorough understand-
Accepted 7 August 2015
ing and mechanistic characterization of the interlayer bonding behavior that enables to accurately sim-
Available online 13 August 2015
ulate the change in structural responses of pavement system is probably the greatest deficiency in our
ability to properly evaluate the effect of interlayer bonding condition for asphalt pavements. Also, most
Keywords:
of the pavement models previously introduced assumed either full-bond or no-bond condition which is
Interlayer bonding
Structural responses
not a realistic interlayer condition for pavements in the field. Therefore, there is a need to develop
Pavement instrumentation improved model to accurately predict the change in pavement critical responses for real pavement sys-
Finite element analysis tem due to the different interlayer bonding conditions. Results indicated that the pavement model devel-
Accelerated pavement testing oped was capable of accurately predicting the change in pavement critical responses due to the different
interlayer bonding conditions and the predicted values were matched well with those measured from the
full-scale field test. Also, it was found that a good interlayer bonding condition can positively affect the
strain responses of asphalt pavement that results in potential structural benefits for enhanced pavement
performance. Based on the comparative observations between analytical and experimental results, it was
confirmed that the interlayer bonding condition plays a significant role on structural response character-
istics of layered flexible pavement system and therefore the pavement service life.
2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction subgrade. Thus, the bonding characteristics between pavement

layers have a significant effect on the structural response and per-
1.1. Background formance of pavement system. The appropriate interlayer bonding
condition will help different layers form a monolithic structure to
Asphalt pavement is multi-layered composite system purposed resist traffic and environment by providing the integrity and bond-
to effectively transfer and distribute the external loading to the ing between layers. On the other hand, the lack of proper interlayer
bonding result in slippage and reduced shear strength between
Corresponding author. pavement layers, thereby decrease the capability for transferring
E-mail address: shchun@ufl.edu (S. Chun).

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2015.08.031
0950-0618/ 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
308 S. Chun et al. / Construction and Building Materials 96 (2015) 307318
the load to the underlying layers and lead to several pavement dis-
tresses including rutting, cracking, shoving, and pothole [13].
Previous research has indicated that the characteristics of inter-
layer bonding play an important role on the mechanical behavior
(i.e. stressstrain distribution) of layered flexible pavement system
and thereby the pavement life based on the analytical and experi-
mental results [410]. However, the current lack of thorough
mechanistic characterization of the interlayer bonding condition
that is able to capture the changes in critical responses for real
pavement is probably the greatest deficiency in our ability to
appropriately evaluate the effect of interlayer bonding condition
for asphalt pavement. Also, most of the pavement models intro-
duced assumed either full-bond or no-bond condition between lay-
ers which is not a realistic interlayer condition for flexible
pavement system in the field. Therefore, there is a need to develop
improved pavement model to accurately predict the change in
pavement critical responses for real pavement system due to the
different interlayer bonding conditions.
In this study, a three-dimensional (3-D) viscoelastic finite ele-
ment (FE) pavement model was developed to effectively simulate
the effect of different interlayer bonding condition on change in
pavement responses related to performance in a realistic manner.
The pavement critical responses predicted by model developed
were compared with measured values from a full-scale field test
to validate the applicability of the model. This paper will demon-
strate the development of pavement model including novel
method for modeling of interlayer bonding condition (i.e. partial-
bonded condition) and the comparison between predicted and
measured pavement critical responses.
1.2. Objectives
This study focused on the evaluation of the change in perfor-
mance related pavement critical responses due to the different
interlayer bonding conditions using finite element analysis (FEA)
and full-scale field tests. The primary objectives of this study are
summarized as follows.

Identify the more realistic and effective method to characterize
the different interlayer bonding condition of layered flexible
pavement system using FEA.

Develop the improved three-dimensional viscoelastic finite ele-
ment pavement model to more accurately predict the effect of
interlayer bonding condition on change in critical responses of
asphalt pavement in the field.

Identify and verify the applicability of the pavement model
developed by comparing predicted responses from the model
with those measured from a full-scale field tests.
1.3. Scope
In this study, the three-dimensional viscoelastic FEA was con-
ducted using ADINA computer program. For more realistic and
effective simulation of the interlayer bonding behavior, the
partial-bonded interlayer condition was modeled for FEA. Two dif-
ferent levels of interlayer bonding condition were used for FEA
including good-bond and poor-bond conditions between AC and
base layers. A comparison was made between pavement critical
responses predicted by model developed and those measured from
a full-scale field tests using heavy vehicle simulator (HVS) to vali-
date the pavement model developed.
2. Finite element modeling
Previous studies have determined that appropriate characteri-
zation of interlayer bonding conditions is important to accurately
predict the critical responses in the pavement structure and
thereby the pavement service life [410]. However, most of pave-
ment models introduced beforehand considered two extreme
interlayer conditions including full-bond condition (i.e. no sliding)
and no-bond condition (i.e. sliding or no friction) which is imprac-
tical assumptions for real pavements. According to prior work con-
ducted by Kim et al. [8], the interlayer bonding conditions of real
pavements appeared to be in an intermediate level between full-
bond and no-bond condition. Therefore, in this study, the inter-
layer bonding condition was simulated to be a partial-bond condi-
tion for more realistic and effective modeling of interlayer
behavior. In addition, the pavement model developed considers
three-dimensional model, viscoelastic layered analysis, moving
load application to suitably characterize the time, rate, and tem-
perature dependent responses of asphalt concrete (AC) layer in
conjunction with the other elastic unbound layers (i.e. base, sub-
grade, and embankment).
The commercial finite element software ADINA (version 9) was
used to build the pavement model to evaluate the change in pave-
ment critical response characteristics due to different interlayer
bonding conditions. The ADINA program has been widely used in
diverse research to model the multi-layered pavement system
since the variety of modeling capability including the viscoelastic
materials behavior under the load and the interlayer bonding con-
dition between layers.
2.1. Model dimension, meshing, and boundary conditions
Owing to the nature of FEA, it is imperative to determine the
appropriate dimension, mesh, and boundary conditions of the
model to be analyzed. The size and density of the meshes, number
of elements, and suitable dimension were determined to optimize
the computation times as well as to provide the comparable results
with the experimental data based on the previous experiences and
the number of trials.
Model dimension should be large enough to minimize the
boundary effect in computation. The double symmetry of the
geometry along the x and y axes with large enough dimensions
was selected to simulate the real boundary condition in consider-
ation with the fact that the time-dependent response of the asphalt
mixture results in the delayed recovery. The superlative size of the
pavement structure was determined that the final model dimen-
sions of the pavement were 254 cm (100 in.) wide by 508 cm
(200 in.) long with subgrade layer thickness of 254 cm (100 in.).
Also, the typical roller support was used for vertical boundaries
and the bottom of the subgrade layer was fixed in the z direction
(i.e. fixed support).
The 8-nodes brick element was used to generate the FE pave-
ment model. Two types of elements were used to develop the mesh
including hexahedrons elements and translational spring ele-
ments. The hexahedrons elements are defined by eight nodes and
each node has three degrees of freedom (i.e. translations in x, y,
and z directions). The translational spring elements were used to
model the interlayer between AC and base layer. The spring ele-
ments also have three degrees of freedom. A total number of ele-
ments used for AC, base, subbase, and subgrade layers were
5600, 8400, 11,200, and 14,000, respectively. Figs. 1 and 2 show
a 3-D FE model discretization finalized for the analysis and a sche-
matic of the pavement structure evaluated, separately.
2.2. Loading configuration
The viscoelastic effect of an asphalt layer is a critical factor for
determining the responses of flexible pavement system.
Therefore, it is significant for FE modeling to account for the time
and loading rate dependency in addition to temperature. To
 S. Chun et al. / Construction and Building Materials 96 (2015) 307318 309

Fig. 3. Schematic of load shift.

the elastic moduli of unbound layers were determined from the

Fig. 1. Finite element model developed.
backcalculation using falling weight deflectometer (FWD) testing
results. Table 1 summarizes the elastic material property inputs
used for FEA.
In addition, the ADINA program used in this study includes the
capability of evaluating the complex time and rate dependent vis-
coelastic problems. For viscoelastic analysis of AC layer, most finite
element programs including ADINA require shear G(t) and bulk K(t)
moduli as viscoelastic material property inputs. These moduli can
be determined from a relaxation modulus E(t) using Prony series
which is a mechanical analog to viscoelastic materials behavior
of AC layer as follows.
X
N
Et Ei expri  t 1
i1

Et
Gt 2
21 m

Fig. 2. Schematic of pavement structure evaluated.
properly characterize these effects as well as to consider the conve-
nience in modeling efforts, a series of static loads were applied to
the surface of finite elements in accordance with the contact area
modeled as a uniform and a squared load. The element size of
the loading area (i.e. contact area) was determined to be 6.7 cm
by 14.2 cm (2.64 in. by 5.68 in.). Then, the each element along
the loading path was pressured and shifted with the speed of
HVS loading. A total of 80 shifts of 689 kPa (100 psi) pressure load
were used to simulate one pass of the HVS loading with a speed of
12 km/h (7.5 mph). Also, a relatively higher temperature of 50 C
was used to consider the well-known phenomenon that there is
a dominant effect of temperature on the interlayer bonding mech-
anism for analysis. Fig. 3 illustrates the schematic of load shift used
in this study.
Et
Kt 3
31  2m
where, Ei = Prony series parameters, ri = retardation times, G(t)
= shear modulus, K(t) = bulk modulus, and m = Poissons ratio. The
shear and bulk moduli can be determined by assuming that the
Poissons ratio does not change with time and the material is
homogenous and isotropic. Previous research indicated that the
Poissons ratio as a constant value of 0.35 is the most appropriate
assumption for asphalt mixtures that provides reasonably accurate
time and rate dependent response of viscoelastic materials close to
those measured from the tests [11,12]. Thus, in this study, the
Poissons ratio of 0.35 was used to calculate the shear and bulk
moduli.
For accurate prediction of the stress and strain responses in the
pavement structure, the relaxation modulus should be accurately
determined that covers a wide range of time or frequency domain.
The dynamic modulus test (AASHTO TP 79) was conducted as the
mechanical rheology test to determine the relaxation modulus
(Prony series). It is noted that the reference temperature of 50 C
which is identical with the temperature for response measurement
using the HVS in order to generate the dynamic modulus master
curve. The dynamic modulus determined for the other
Table 1
Elastic material property inputs.

Layer Modulus (MPa) Poissons ratio Thickness (cm)

2.3. Material characterization
Base 189.5 0.40 25.4
Subbase 127.9 0.40 30.5
To characterize the elastic layer material properties for Subgrade 88.3 0.45 254.0
unbound layers including base, subbase, and subgrade materials,
310 S. Chun et al. / Construction and Building Materials 96 (2015) 307318

temperatures were shifted until the shifted data showed minimum obtaining the Prony series parameters were introduced elsewhere
least-square errors with a sigmoidal fitting function as shown in [13,14]. Table 2 represents the Prony series parameters determined
Eq. (4). for viscoelastic material property inputs used for FEA.

logMax  logMin
log jE j logMin 4 2.4. Modeling of interlayer condition between AC and base layers
1 ebc log xr
where, |E*| = dynamic modulus, xr = reduced frequency in Hz, As previously mentioned, a proper modeling of interlayer bond-
Max = limiting maximum modulus in ksi, Min = limiting minimum ing condition is crucial to accurately predict the pavement struc-
modulus in ksi, and b and c = fitting parameters. The reduced fre- tural responses that will lead for more accurate prediction of the
quency was calculated using the Arrhenius equation as follows. service life. In this study, the partial-bond interlayer condition
  was modeled to more effectively simulate the interlayer bonding
DE a 1 1
log xr log x  5 behavior for real pavements. The interlayer between AC and base
19:14714 T T r
was modeled using translational spring elements to connect the
where, xr = reduced frequency at the reference temperature, bottom of the AC layer and the top of the base layer at the nodes
x = loading frequency at the test temperature, Tr = reference tem- in perfect contact. Three spring constants were used to character-
perature in K, T = test temperature in K, and DEa = activation energy ize the stiffness along the three different directions for simulating
treated as a fitting parameter. The shift factors used for each tem- the partial bond condition. Kt and Ks represent the stiffness in the
perature were obtained using Eq. (6). interlayer plane (i.e. x and y directions) while Kn indicates the stiff-
  ness perpendicular to the interlayer plane (i.e. z direction). Two dif-
DEa 1 1
logaT  6 ferent levels of interlayer bonding conditions between AC and base
19:14714 T T r layer were modeled to simulate good-bond and poor-bond condi-
where, a(T) = shift factor at temperature T, Tr = reference tempera- tions for FEA. Based on the hundreds of iterations and trials, the
ture in K, T = test temperature in K, and DEa = activation energy three spring constants optimized for two conditions were deter-
treated as a fitting parameter. mined respectively to provide comparable results and approximate
The theory of linear viscoelasticity specifies that the relaxation trend (i.e. reasonable agreement) with the experimental data. Fig. 4
modulus and complex modulus are interchangeable thereby, time exhibits the concept of interlayer modeling for partial-bond condi-
and frequency domains can be interconverted using the following tion used and Table 3 shows the three spring constants determined
relationship. for modeling of different interlayer bonding conditions evaluated.

E x E0 x iE x ixLjEtjsix
00
7
3. Pavement response measurements using full-scale field tests
R1
where, Lf t 0 est f tdt = Laplace transform of f(t), and
s = transform parameter. Prony representation of the relaxation 3.1. Accelerated pavement testing
modulus in the frequency domain can be obtained by substituting
the transformed form of Eq. (1) into Eq. (7) that yields the following The validation of pavement model developed was conducted
equations. with the pavement responses measured from a full-scale field tests
using the HVS facility housed at the Florida Department of
XN
Ei x2 Transportation (FDOT)s State Materials Office in Gainesville,
E 0 x 8
i1
x2 s2i Florida. Two test sections were constructed according to standard
FDOT specifications and instrumented to measure pavement
X responses for evaluation. Each test lane was built with two
N
E i xs i
E00 x 2 s2
9 3.8 cm (1.5 in.) lifts of a 12.5 mm Nominal Maximum Aggregate
i1
x i Size (NMAS) fine-graded Superpave mixture, 25.4 cm (10 in.) of
The retardation time si is usually designated for fitting the stor- limerock base and 30.5 cm (12 in.) of granular subbase. To reduce
age or loss modulus curve using Prony series. Then, the unknown the materials effect, the same asphalt binder (i.e. PG 67-22) and
coefficients can be determined based on the solution of linear sys- gradation were used for mixtures evaluated. Two different levels
tem equations. In this study, the Prony series with ten exponential of interlayer conditions (i.e. good-bond and poor-bond) between
components and the retardation times with one decade interval AC and base layers were applied using the one with prime coat
were used for fitting in the frequency domain. Eventually, the and the other one with no treatment. To simulate two extreme
Prony series parameters were successfully determined without conditions, the first test section included a cut-back asphalt grade
any negative values as shown in Table 2. Further details of RC-70 prime coat applied at a rate of 0.5 l/m2 (i.e. good-bond) and
the second test section was constructed with no treatment (i.e.
poor-bond) between AC and base layers. The pavement structures
Table 2 for two test section pavements are shown in Fig. 5.
Prony series parameters.

Prony series 3.2. Pavement instrumentation

Index, i ri (s) Ei (MPa) Gi (MPa) Ki (MPa)
1 2.00E05 3.61E+03 1.34E+03 4.01E+03 Two APT test sections were instrumented to measure pavement
2 2.00E04 2.36E+03 8.76E+02 2.63E+03 responses due to different interlayer conditions between AC and
3 2.00E03 1.15E+03 4.25E+02 1.28E+03 base layers. Foil surface strain gauges and embedded H-gauges
4 2.00E02 4.58E+02 1.70E+02 5.08E+02 were placed on test sections. Prior to construction, each embedded
5 2.00E01 1.73E+02 6.41E+01 1.92E+02
6 2.00E+00 6.89E+01 2.56E+01 7.65E+01
sensor was installed in the appropriate location, labeled and
7 2.00E+01 3.07E+01 1.14E+01 3.41E+01 checked for adequate responses. Immediately after construction,
8 2.00E+02 1.46E+01 5.41E+00 1.63E+01 the responses were again checked to make sure whether the
9 2.00E+03 7.38E+00 2.73E+00 8.20E+00 embedded sensors survived during the compaction and heat asso-
10 2.00E+04 3.57E+00 1.32E+00 3.96E+00
ciated with the placement of Hot-Mix Asphalt (HMA). The FDOTs
 S. Chun et al. / Construction and Building Materials 96 (2015) 307318 311

Fig. 4. Interlayer modeling for partial bonding condition.

3.3. HVS loading configuration

Table 3
Spring constants used for modeling of different interlayer bonding conditions.
Interlayer bonding conditions Kf (kN/m) Ks (kN/m)
Good bond 0.875 0.875
Poor bond 0.350 0.350
standard sensor installation methods used in this study can be
found elsewhere [15]. For each test section, four transverse and
four longitudinal strain gauges were installed on the surface of
the AC layer with every 7.6 cm (3 in.) of offset from the loading
edge to the 30.5 cm (12 in.) away from the wheel path edge (i.e.
at 7.6, 15.2, 22.9, and 30.5 cm away from the wheel path edge).
Also, the longitudinal strain gauges were installed at the bottom
of AC below the center of loading path. The instrumentation data
were collected with a mobile data acquisition (DAQ) system at
200 Hz for the surface gauges and at 100 Hz for the embedded
H-gauges. Fig. 6 shows the strain gauges used and the diagrams
of the exact sensor locations are described in Fig. 7.
Accelerated loading was performed using HVS (Mark IV model)
Kn (kN/m) with a dual tire (Goodyear G296 WHA LRL, 425/65R22.5) loaded to
1.75  104 44.5 kN (10-kip) and inflated to 689 Pa (100 psi). The HVS loading
1.750 was applied unidirectionally and the test temperature was main-
tained at 50 C for pavement response measurements. Fig. 8 repre-
sents the HVS used for full-scale field tests.
4. Comparison between predicted and measured pavement
critical responses
The pavement responses measured from the full-scale field
tests were compared with those predicted from the pavement
model developed for two different interlayer bonding conditions
evaluated. The magnitude of tensile strain at the bottom of AC
layer is the most significant factor to characterize the fatigue per-
formance of asphalt pavements. Most fatigue transfer functions
typically used are the function of tensile strain at the bottom of
AC layer. Therefore, it is imperative to accurately predict the strain

Fig. 5. Pavement structures for APT test section.

312
Fig. 6. Strain gauges used (a) Tokyo Sokki PFL-30-11-5L surface strain gauge, and
(b) Tokyo Sokki KM-100HAS asphalt strain gauge.
Fig. 7. Pavement instrumentation layouts (a) plan view, and (b) profile view. Note: (1) ELG: Embedded longitudinal gauge. (2) SLG and STG: Surface longitudinal gauge and
surface transverse gauge, respectively.
S. Chun et al. / Construction and Building Materials 96 (2015) 307318
response characteristics at the bottom of AC for more proper eval-
uation of the pavements fatigue life.
Fig. 9(a) and (b) exhibit the longitudinal strains measured at the
bottom of AC directly under the center of the HVS loading path and
those predicted by the FE model for both good-bond (prime coat)
and poor-bond (no treatment) conditions, where the positive sign
means tension. It is indicated that the predicted strains are well
matched with measured strains even though some variations were
observed between the predicted and measured strains in compres-
sion before and after the loading. Also, it is interesting to note the
distinctive difference in the strains caused due to the different
interlayer bonding conditions. The results clearly show that the
pavement structure with good interlayer bond between AC and
base layers (i.e. prime coat) induces reduced tensile strain at the
bottom of AC that will positively influence the fatigue performance
of asphalt pavement system.
Surface strains measured along the AC layer extended from the
loading edge may provide useful information to evaluate the resis-
tance of top-down cracking (i.e. the surface-initiated longitudinal
wheel path cracking) which commonly occurs for asphalt pave-
ments in Florida. In this study, a series of surface strain gauges ori-
entated with transverse and longitudinal directions were installed
along the pavement surface, starting at 3 in. away from the edge of
the wheel path (see Fig. 7(a)).
 S. Chun et al. / Construction and Building Materials 96 (2015) 307318 313

Fig. 8. FDOTs heavy vehicle simulator (HVS).

Fig. 9. Predicted vs. measured strains at bottom of AC (a) predicted vs. measured strains, and (b) good bond (prime coat) vs. poor bond (no treatment).

Fig. 10 shows the transverse surface strains measured from the measured from the full-scale field tests in tension with respect to
full-scale field tests and those predicted by the model for two the peak magnitude and approximate trend. The predicted and
interlayer bonding conditions evaluated. Overall, the predicted measured maximum transverse tensile strains at AC surface occur
strains from the model developed agreed well with the strains approximately at 15.2 cm to 22.9 cm away from the loading edge
314 S. Chun et al. / Construction and Building Materials 96 (2015) 307318
Fig. 10. Predicted vs. measured transverse strains at AC surface (a) good bond (prime coat), (b) poor bond (no treatment), and (c) good bond (prime coat) vs. poor bond (no
treatment).
which is the typical location of maximum surface tension away
from the loading [16]. Moreover, the predicted and measured
results clearly distinguish the surface strain response characteris-
tics due to the different interlayer bonding conditions. This indi-
cates that the pavement model developed well simulate the
strain response of the pavement in the field and also the strain
gauges successfully measure the tensile strain at the AC surface
for the pavement systems with different levels of interlayer bond-
ing conditions.
In particular, some discrepancies were identified between the
predicted and measured transverse surface strains in compression
occurred when the load is approaching and leaving. There are var-
ious potential reasons regarding this unmatched portion of strain
responses. The factors not considered in the pavement model
developed and the limitations associated with the strain measure-
ments using full-scale tests can be one of the reasons for the incon-
sistent pavement responses, including the complexity of the strain
state (i.e. strain measurements in the multiple strain state), the
nonuniform effect of tire geometry and structure, the nonlinear
effect of materials, the misalignment of the strain gauges caused
during the installation of sensors and the compaction of AC layers,
and etc. However, it is more essential to accurately capture the
tensile strain response at AC surface for evaluating a surface-
initiated top-down cracking performance and therefore, both
results from model prediction and field measurement were deter-
mined to be accurate and reliable. Results evidently indicate that
the pavement with good interlayer bonding condition between
AC and base layers (i.e. prime coat) lead to significantly decreased
transverse strain distribution at AC surface that will result in
enhanced top-down cracking performance of asphalt pavement.
Fig. 11 represents the results of predicted and measured longi-
tudinal surface strains obtained for different locations from loading
edge due to different interlayer bonding conditions. Similarly with
the transverse strain results, both predicted and measured results
obviously differentiate the effect of interlayer bonding conditions
on change in longitudinal strain at AC surface and those are well
compared to each other. The pavement structure with good inter-
layer bonding condition led to decreased surface strain responses
compared to those with poor bonding condition. This manifests
the existence of structural advantages for layered flexible pave-
ment system with the adequate interlayer bonding. Also, it was
indicated that the longitudinal surface strain decreases as the dis-
tance from the loading increases with respect to the peak of each
response. However, this is not the same situation with the
S. Chun et al. / Construction and Building Materials 96 (2015) 307318 315

Fig. 10 (continued)
316 S. Chun et al. / Construction and Building Materials 96 (2015) 307318
Fig. 11. Predicted vs. measured longitudinal strains at AC surface (a) good bond (prime coat), (b) poor bond (no treatment), and (c) good bond (prime coat) vs. poor bond (no
treatment).
transverse surface strain since the highly compressed area due to
the confinement near the load becomes tension before the strain
magnitude reaches to zero in the transverse direction. The opposite
sign of peak surface longitudinal and transverse strains can be
explained by this phenomenon.
5. Closure
An evaluation of the effect of different interlayer bonding con-
ditions on change in structural response characteristics of asphalt
pavement was conducted using the results from FEA and full-
scale field tests. A summary of findings and conclusions is pre-
sented as follows.

The three-dimensional viscoelastic pavement model was devel-
oped using the concept to simulate the partial bond condition
between AC and base layer for more realistic and effective
method to evaluate the different interlayer bonding conditions
of layered flexible pavement system.

The results clearly showed that the predicted responses from
the model developed compared well with those measured from
the full-scale field test in terms of the approximate trend as well
as the magnitude.

It was indicated that the FE pavement model developed using
the novel method for modeling of interlayer condition was able
to provide accurate, reliable, and realistic prediction for the
change in pavement critical responses due to the different inter-
layer bonding conditions in the field.

Some variations were identified between predicted and mea-
sured responses particularly before and after the loading likely
due to the factors not considered for the development of pave-
ment model in conjunction with the limitations associated with
the strain measurements using full-scale field tests.

A good interlayer bonding condition with the application of
prime coat can positively influence the interlayer bonding
behavior and the critical responses of asphalt pavement that
indicate the potential structural benefits for improved pave-
ment performance.
S. Chun et al. / Construction and Building Materials 96 (2015) 307318 317

Fig. 11 (continued)
318 S. Chun et al. / Construction and Building Materials 96 (2015) 307318

Based on the comparative observations between analytical and
experimental results, it was confirmed that the interlayer bond-
ing condition plays a significant role on the structural response
characteristics of asphalt pavements and therefore the pave-
ment service life.
Acknowledgement
The authors would like to acknowledge and thank the FDOTs
State Materials Office Pavement Materials Section staff for their
assistance with data collection, materials testing, and technical
advice for this study.
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