Four Decades of the Circular Test Track at the Institute of Engineering UNAM Contributing to Pavement Research in Mexico
The circular test track at the Institute of Engineering UNAM was built four decades ago, between 1970 and 1971. Since its construction, this device has been very valuable for the development, research, and validation of flexible pavement design in Mexico.
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Abstract The circular test track at the Institute of Engineering UNAM was built four decades ago, between 1970 and 1971. Since its construction, this device has been very valuable for the development, research, and validation of flexible pavement design in Mexico. To date, 40 studies have been conducted on the circular track. It is common for each experiment to build three different sections of pavement to maximize the number of variables to be analyzed. With the information obtained from the experimental sections under service, data on the behavior of sections in different locations throughout Mexico, and experimental results from the circular track, a method for the structural design of flexible pavements was developed. This research program was carried out by the Institute of Engineering, UNAM. The latest version of the pavement design method was published in 2014, called the Structural Design of Flexible Pavements (DISPAV-5 3.0), and is currently the most used method in Mexico for the design of such structures. This resource has a mechanistic-empirical background and includes models to predict asphalt fatigue and permanent deformation damage. However, the models are over 15 years old and are unable to incorporate current characteristics of materials and traffic conditions. This paper describes the role and significance of the circular test track in the development of flexible pavement design in Mexico, the characteristics of the variables that influence pavement behavior and future directions proposed to develop a method of pavement design that considers current needs.
N. Hernández (&) A. Ossa F.A. Rangel Geotechnical Department, Institute of Engineering, UNAM, Edificio 6, Fernando Espinosa, Circuito Exterior, Ciudad Universitaria, 04510 Mexico, D.F., Mexico e-mail: [email protected] A. Ossa e-mail: [email protected] F.A. Rangel e-mail: [email protected] © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016 J.P. Aguiar-Moya et al. (eds.), The Roles of Accelerated Pavement Testing in Pavement Sustainability, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-42797-3_2
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Keywords Circular test track Pavement design Fatigue cracking Performance models Rutting
1 Introduction In 1961, the Ministry of Public Works (now the Secretariat of Communications and Transport, SCT) launched a research program in low traffic volume roads through the Engineering Institute of the Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) to address the pavement problems of the time due to the importance of annual investments made for preservation and the increasing trend of such investments. These low traffic volume roads constituted the majority of the national road network at that time. According to Corro (1970), the proposed research guidelines were: • identify the most important variables that affect the behavior of flexible pavements for low traffic volume roads, • establish criteria to judge the pavement behavior and set levels of acceptance and service periods, • conduct experimental research to define test methods
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