Probabilistic modeling of air void variability of asphalt mixtures in flexible pavements

This paper explores two methods for including air void variability in asphalt mixtures when analyzing the performance of flexible pavements. Both methods combine probabilistic theory, finite element modeling and simulation techniques. However, one approach considers the asphalt layer as a homogeneous material while the other captures the spatial variability of material properties within the layer. The main difference between both methods was observed in the dispersion of the mechanical response of the asphalt course. The results show that including the spatial variability of material properties is useful to obtain a better insight of the actual structural reliability of pavements.