Laboratory study on the relationship between pavement texture and tread rubber penetration depth

ABSTRACT

The asphalt pavement texture is vertical asymmetric, and the tread rubber may contact part of pavement surface. Therefore, the tread penetration depth (d) is probably essential for developing a reliable relationship between pavement performance and texture. This study investigated the effect of pavement on d, and simplified the contact by squeezing a rubber plate into three-dimensional (3D)-printing specimens. The 44 specimens were manufactured based on the surface morphologies of pavements and artificial surfaces with characteristics of pavement texture. The specimens’ surfaces were characterised by parameters from ISO-25178. A set of self-designed fixture was mounted on a loading machine to exert precise force. The contact area was recorded by leaving the stain attached to the rubber plate on the specimens’ surface. The value of d was obtained based on the specimens' Abbott–Firestone curves and the measured contact area. The results showed that the parameters focusing on the top topography of the pavement surface always exhibited a strong positive correlation with d. Furthermore, the parameter representing the volume of peak material showed almost the strongest linear relationship with d. The intercept and slope of the linear equations increased with the increase in the loading pressure or decline in the rubber hardness.

KEYWORDS:

• Tire-pavement contact
• tread penetration depth
• pavement texture
• pressure
• rubber hardness
• three-dimensional printing technology
• Abbott–Firestone curve

Acknowledgments

This research is supported by National key R&D Program of China (No. 2018YFB1600200); the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (No. 310821173101, 300102218515).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Chang’an University: [Grant Number 300102218515,310821173101]; Ministry of Science and Technology of the People’s Republic of China: [Grant Number 2018YFB1600200].