Pavement preventive maintenance decision-making for high antiwear and optimized skid resistance performance

Insufficient pavement skid resistance due to traffic loads and environmental factors is a major cause of vehicular accidents. Hence, continually monitoring the pavement skid resistance has great theoretical significance and is crucial for practical maintenance. A pavement accelerated abrasion system developed by the research team, a high-precision 3D layer scanner, and a pendulum tribometer are used for lab testing. Forty-eight sets of asphalt pavement texture and friction coefficient data for 11 abrasion stages were collected, each comprising 20,000 abrasion cycles. Afterward, a model of asphalt pavement skid resistance deterioration was formulated by analyzing the downward trajectory of the asphalt pavement texture and friction coefficient indexes. The developed deterioration model had a high prediction accuracy with an R2 value of 91.64%, and the corresponding curve met engineering requirements. Subsequently, four pavement maintenance techniques, namely synchronous gravel sealing, microsurfacing, ultrathin overlaying, and thermal generation, were applied to rutted slab specimens after grinding to perform five additional stages of abrasion tests. Through comparisons with the established pavement skid resistance deterioration model, the optimal maintenance timing under the abrasion test conditions of this study was determined as 230,000 abrasion cycles, as determined via the time/pavement condition analysis approach. Cost-effectiveness analysis was performed for different surface treatment techniques, which yielded an equivalent annual cost of 6.7 for the SMA-5 ultra-thin overlay, which was identified as the most promising maintenance approach. This study provides a scientific basis for preventing traffic accidents and improving traffic safety by offering valuable insights into the evolution of pavement skid resistance and offers guidance on decision-making for the preventive maintenance of pavements for high-antiwear and optimized skid-resistance performance.