Critical review of flexible pavement performance models

Maintenance and repair of the highway network system are major expenses in the state budget. For this reason various concerned organizations are pointing out the need for developing an intelligent and efficient pavement performance model that can prioritize pavement maintenance and rehabilitation works. Such models can forecast the remaining pavement service life and pavement rehabilitation needs, and can help in the formulation of pavement maintenance and strengthening programmes which will reduce the road agency and road user costs. The flexible pavement performance or deterioration models involve the complex interaction between vehicles and the environment, and the structure and surface of the pavement. Performance models relating to the pavement distress conditions like, cracking, raveling, potholing, and roughness are analyzed and developed by various researchers. But most of these models are found applicable to a particular set of traffic or environment conditions, thus highlighting the need of model(s) that can work in varied conditions satisfactorily. The paper presents a detailed review of various pavement performance models to examine the role of factors related to pavement materials, environmental conditions, type of traffic and volume of traffic, and to identify the limitations and gaps in the present knowledge on such models.