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Proof of the effectiveness of asphalt reinforcement and evaluation of the applicability into an existing design method

The service life of asphalt pavements depends on various factors according to the current standard design methods. The material characteristics, layer thicknesses, climatic conditions and the in-tensity of the traffic load are the most decisive factors that influence the dimension of asphalt pavements. Based on this, various proofs of calculation methods are developed in accordance with the fatigue charac-teristics and rutting depth behavior of the asphalt as well as deformations of the substructure. Despite the positive experience obtained from globally increasing construction sites over the last 40 years and from the extensive and successful research projects, the asphalt reinforcement has unfortunately not been suffi-ciently taken into account in the design of asphalt pavements. Different design approaches are established based on controlling the horizontal movements induced as a result of dynamic stresses in the form of re-tardation or in many cases to prevent (restrict) propagation of reflective cracks in recently constructed lay-ers. In addition, studies have shown that reduction of the strain in the area of the tensile zone (e.g. bottom of asphalt layer) significantly increases the durability of the pavement and the service life of the project. Accordingly, this research aims at numerical investigation of the mechanical behavior of the reinforced asphalt layers in terms of deformation and stress distribution in the pavements. Within this framework, a series of numerical finite element calculations will be conducted to study the factors those contribute to reduce the fatigue behavior of the reinforced asphalt pavements in terms of service life or the permissible loads.