Recent Advances in Materials Characterization and Modeling of Pavement Systems includes 16 technical papers presented during a one-day Pavement Mechanics Symposium at the 15th ASCE Engineering Mechanics Conference (EM2002) at Columbia University, New York, on June 4, 2002. The papers cover recent advances in the areas of subgrade soil and aggregate base/subbase materials characterization, asphalt concrete mixes and their constitutive modeling, pavement systems modeling, and use of artificial neural networks in pavement modeling. The analysis methods include both finite and discrete element modeling techniques, artificial neural networks, microstructural analysis, stiffness matrix approach for dynamic pavement analysis, and curve fitting and statistical parameter estimation techniques. Also included are different methods of laboratory and field testing: triaxial, asphalt tension, asphalt x-ray tomography imaging, asphalt binder, nondestructive pavement, accelerated pavement, and field bender element method. Engineers working within geotechnical and transportation facilities, who have a special interest in pavement mechanics, will find this special publication of particular interest.
