Validation of NCAT Structural Test Track Experiment Using INDOT APT Facility

The National Center for Asphalt Technology (NCAT) operates a full-scale test road for studying the response and performance of asphalt pavements. During the 2003-2005 testing phase, NCAT instrumented eight of their test sections with stress and strain gauges. Two of the test sections were later replicated, along with embedded instrumentation, for subsequent testing in the accelerated pavement testing (APT) facility operated by the Indiana Department of Transportation. The availability of similarly constructed and instrumented pavement systems loaded in different conditions offered a unique opportunity to develop and test the prediction ability of pavement models. Exploring this aspect is the topic of the present paper, in which an attempt is described to use the APT experiment and forecast resilient responses obtained at NCAT that were generated under completely different loading and environmental conditions. The modeling and analysis approach are outlined and computations are compared with NCAT measurements. © 2009 Taylor & Francis Group, London.