Extensive laboratory performance testing and advanced statistical analyses led to the determination of a fatigue-based structural layer coefficient of 0.54 for high polymer-modified (HP) asphalt concrete (AC) mixtures in new pavements. The objective of this paper was to verify, using mechanistic-empirical (ME) analyses, the structural capacity of HP AC pavement sections designed using the 0.54 layer coefficient. The ME analysis for rutting, shoving, and top-down cracking in the AC layer resulted in most of the cases in a better performance for the HP AC mixes when compared with their respective PMA AC mixes. Moreover, the rut depths determined in the unbound layers were observed to be lower than the maximum allowable rut depth indicating an acceptable performance for the HP pavement sections which had a thinner AC layer thickness. In summary, the verification efforts supported the use of a structural coefficient of 0.54 for HP AC mixes in new pavements.

广泛的实验室性能测试和先进的统计分析导致确定新路面中高聚合物改性 (HP) 沥青混凝土 (AC) 混合物的基于疲劳的结构层系数为 0.54。本文的目的是使用力学-经验 (ME) 分析验证使用 0.54 层系数设计的 HP AC 路面部分的结构承载力。与各自的 PMA AC 混合相比，对 AC 层中车辙、推挤和自上而下开裂的 ME 分析导致大多数情况下 HP AC 混合具有更好的性能。此外，观察到在未结合层中确定的车辙深度低于最大允许车辙深度，表明具有较薄 AC 层厚度的 HP 路面部分具有可接受的性能。总之，