Research on pavement cracking possibility based on the load mechanical response

Cavities under roads are one of the main reasons for early structural damage to pavements. It is necessary to conduct a structural analysis of road sections with cavities and evaluate the possibility of pavement cracking caused by different cavity sizes. In this study, an analysis method for evaluating the possibility of pavement cracking based on the load-mechanical response is proposed. An example library of the mechanical response of asphalt concrete (AC) pavements was established by numerical simulation. Based on the tensile cracking characteristics of pavements in the mechanical response research, the tensile strain at the bottom of the AC layer was selected as the key analysis parameter. Sensitivity analysis of the tensile strain was conducted, and the main factors controlling pavement cracking were determined. A tensile strain response prediction model was established using multiple linear regression, and its reliability was verified. The cavity influence coefficient ( CIC ) and pavement cracking factor ( PCF ) were constructed to analyze the cracking possibility. The variation in PCF with the cavity size and pavement structure parameters was studied. A quantitative relationship between the depth and length of the cavity for a given PCF was obtained. This law conforms to a power function. The possibility of pavement cracking can be determined by measuring the cavity size. Compared to the existing cavity management system, the proposed method provided analysis results of the cracking possibility that were more consistent when the cavity depth was small and the length was long. The findings of this study provide new insights for evaluating the possibility of pavement cracking.