Inter-laboratory shear evaluation of reinforced bituminous interfaces

Over the last decades, the use of grids between asphalt layers has been gaining interest. Several test methods have been proposed in order to simulate the complex mechanical behavior of reinforced pavements and to assist practitioners in the selection of the appropriate reinforcement product. For this purpose, the Task Group 4 (Pavement Multilayer System Testing) of the RILEM technical committee TC 237-SIB (Testing and Characterization of Sustainable Innovative Bituminous Materials and Systems) organized an inter-laboratory experiment, constructing one trial test section to obtain double-layered asphalt pavement samples for the participating laboratories. The experiment placed two grid types (a glass fiber reinforced polymer grid and a carbon fiber/glass fiber pre-bituminised grid) between two asphalt layers, thereby creating two reinforced double-layered systems. As a control, an unreinforced interface was also realized. This paper presents the overall results of interlayer shear tests carried out by five participating laboratories using five different shear testing methodologies. The objective is to show the effect of two grid types on the shear behaviour of reinforced double-layered systems and to compare the findings which emerged from using different test devices and methods under different testing conditions (e.g. sample geometry, temperature, loading time, normal stress). Consistent and reliable results have been obtained through the various methodologies adopted. It has been observed that grid-reinforced samples provide lower interlayer shear strength compared with unreinforced samples. Glass-fiber grid system, which is of greater thickness and greater torsional stiffness, displayed less shear strength than carbon fiber/glass fiber-reinforced grid systems.