ADVANCED DAMAGE MECHANICS OF ROAD PAVEMENTS SURFACE LAYERS AND OPTIMIZATION OF MONITORING – MECADESOS

The global objective of this project is to implement a preventive maintenance strategy for the surface layers of road pavements. This, to increase their lifespan while reducing energy expenditure, materials, etc. In order to limit the outline of the project, the targeted pathology is surface layers rutting. This degradation is known as the one of the most common one for the surface layers of road pavements. We will focus on monitoring the pavement during its service life and optimizing its maintenance and therefore its lifespan.
The strategy combines experimental campaigns and advanced numerical methods that allows to overcoming of three scientific and technical locks to be possible:
1. Modeling of surface layers rutting: This deterioration is not currently taken into account in any French or international standard. The French design method is only concerned with structural rutting. Mechanically, surface layers rutting can be defined as an accumulation of plastic deformation, preceded by densification under traffic of the surface layer. On this point, a semi-analytical model (SAM) of the tire-pavement contact has already given significant results in three previous projects (MACADAM, DECOUSUR and CHAUSUR).
2. Innovative experimental campaigns: The traffic simulator (MLS10) of the GC2D and the double high energy tomograph (DTHE) of INSA Lyon (MatéIS and LaMCoS laboratories), experimental devices almost unique in Europe, will be used for the experimental characterization of the phenomena involved at real size. The complexity of the implementation of the tests (dynamic or not) as well as the exploitation of the tomographic images are real technical challenges.
3. Taking into account of the hazard: Allows to reach a real operational method of dimensioning of the surface layers that is accessible to the road engineering pratician.