LAUSR

Rutting of asphalt pavement still has not been solved. The main objective of this paper was to propose nail-reinforced asphalt pavement capable of dispersing shear stresses within asphalt layers and enhancing anti-rutting performance and to recommend reasonable nail configurations for future practice. Reinforced slabs with different nail configurations were fabricated. Their anti-rutting performance was demonstrated by Hamburg wheel-tracking test and capacities of shear stress dispersion were verified by finite element method. Anti-rutting performance of nail-reinforced asphalt pavements with different nail configurations was simulated and reasonable nail configurations were recommended. The results showed that rut depth developed on the slabs reinforced with square-pattern nails after 20,000 load cycles was only 64.3% of that on the control slab, and it originated from that installed nails reduced shear stresses within asphalt layers efficiently. To enhance anti-rutting performance of asphalt pavement, nail configurations (nail length >4 cm, nail spacing <10 cm, square pattern) were preferred. The proposed nail-reinforced asphalt pavement was expected to be applied in heavy-duty freeways and urban intersections.