Crocodile cracking

Crocodile cracking refers to a type of pavement distress characterized by a series of interconnected cracks that resemble the scales of a crocodile. This type of cracking is caused by fatigue failure, which occurs when repeated loading causes cracks to propagate from the bottom of the asphalt layer. Crocodile cracking is a severe defect that can occur in flexible pavements some years after construction.From: Efficient Transportation and Pavement Systems: Characterization, Mechanisms, Simulation, and Modeling [2019], Review of stone mastic asphalt as a high-performance ungrooved runway surfacing [2020]

Experiences with the use of stabilisation geogrids in demonstrating an improvement in bearing capacity of recycled materials

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Published in Inge Hoff, Helge Mork, Rabbira Saba, Eleventh International Conference on the Bearing Capacity of Roads, Railways and Airfields, Volume 1, 2021

P. Mazurowski, K. Zamara, C. Gewanlal, J. Kawalec

The construction sequence for Harvey and Hangar Road is depicted in Figures 11 to 14. McGregor Street: Prior to rehabilitation, McGregor Street exhibited signs of fatigue and crocodile cracking as depicted in Figure 15. At the time of analysis, the road had a residual life of 0.2 to 0.7 MESAL’s which equated to 1 to 2 years.

Review of stone mastic asphalt as a high-performance ungrooved runway surfacing

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Journal Information

Published in Road Materials and Pavement Design, 2020

Sean Jamieson, Greg White

The resistance to fracture of an asphalt surface is related to its ability to withstand top-down and bottom-up cracking. Top-down cracking is a result of the three-dimensional, non-uniform contact stress distribution between the tyre and pavement, which can induce large tensile strains in the pavement surface (Collop & Roque, 2004). Conversely, bottom-up cracking is more conventional and has long been controlled by pavement thickness design. Fatigue failure is evident through crocodile cracking which is a series of interconnected cracks that propagate from the bottom of the asphalt layer after repeated loading (Castell, Ingraffea, & Irwin, 2000). Top-down and fatigue cracking are not as common for airfield pavements due to the small number of passes in comparison to roads. Cracking can lead to interconnected cracks and fracture resistance must be controlled so as not to inadvertently introduce an increased risk of excessive cracking in the future.

Crocodile cracking

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Experiences with the use of stabilisation geogrids in demonstrating an improvement in bearing capacity of recycled materials

Review of stone mastic asphalt as a high-performance ungrooved runway surfacing