The results of testing conducted on asphaltic concrete test beams with a reinforced stress-absorbing membrane interlayer (sami) are presented. Testing was conducted on the owens corning fiberglas traffic and thermal load fatigue tester, located at the cincinnati testing laboratories. Measurements of combined thermal and traffic loading failure points for test beams with different combinations of binder moduli, overlay thickness, simulated base condition, and temperature are presented. Results of finite-element modeling are also presented to support the conclusions. Theoretical conversions to prerepairroad deflections are made. The intent of the paper is to identify performance limits from reflective cracking of overlays with reinforced sami as a fuction of road deflection, anticipated minimum temperature, reinforcement tensile strength, and binder moduli. Testing results show significant improvement in both thermal and traffic load-handling capabilities. An even greater improvement is shown if a high-modulus binder is used between the reinforcement and the original pavement layer and a low-modulus binder is used between the reinforcement and the new overlay. This paper appears in transportation research record no. 1272, Pavement management and rehabilitation 1990.
Samenvatting