Experimental Study of the Effect of Tack Coats on Interlayer Bond Strength of Pavement

The performance and lifetime of the flexible asphalt pavement are mainly dependent on the interfacial bond strength between layer courses. To enhance the bond between layers, adhesive materials, such as tack coats, are used. The tack coat itself is a bituminous material, which is applied on an existing relatively non-absorbent surface to ensure a strong bond between the old and newly paved layer. The primary objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of various types of tack coat materials on interlayer bond strength and to determine the optimal application rate for each type. The tack coat types used in this paper were RC-70, RC-250, and CSS-1h. Both laboratory-prepared and field-constructed hot mix asphalt concrete pavements using the tack coats were tested for the binding strength between the layers. A direct shear test was used for the testing. The results obtained from the study showed that the optimum application rate for RC-70 was 0.1 L/m(2), and for RC-250, it was 0.2 L/m(2), while the optimum application rate for CSS-1h was 0.1 L/m(2). From the field test, the optimum application rate of the RC-250 tack coat was 0.1 L/m(2).