Journal of Civil Engineering and Architecture 10 (2016) 1075-1084 doi: 10.17265/1934-7359/2016.09.010 Towards Modeling Rutting for Asphalt Pavements in Hot Climates Aaron Daniel Mwanza 1 , Mundia Muya 2 and Peiwen Hao 3 1. China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation, Fuzhou Research and Design Institute, Fuzhou 350013, China 2. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, School of Engineering, University of Zambia, Lusaka 32379, Zambia 3. Highway College, Chang’an University, Xi’an 710064, China Abstract: Rutting is a chronic disease in asphalt pavements despite several mitigation measures. Although many attempts have been made by both researchers and practitioners to develop rutting prediction models, each model, however, has certain inherent limitations due to assumptions and data used during the development of the model. Placement of an asphalt overlay is the most common method used in Zambia to rehabilitate existing asphalt pavements. The objective of this research is to go towards developing a national rutting prediction model for use in tropical hot climates based on default finite element creep and elasto-visco-plastic analysis tools in ABAQUS. Dynamic modulus and repeated load tests are conducted on overlay mixtures designed based on the pavement residual structural adequacy from deflection tests to provide material properties for the constitutive rutting model. Unified, three dimensional linear viscoelastic boundary value problems were formulated for each five national representative pavement sections. In general, the FE (finite element) creep and elasto-visco-plastic rutting evolutions were in agreement with the measured laboratory scaled one third mobile load simulators. Performance ranking of the validated models revealed optimal pavement system combination suitable for calibration. The study recommends future directions for local adoption of the South African mechanistic-empirical design method currently being developed. Key words: Finite element, rutting, creep, elasto-visco-plastic, overlay. 1. Introduction The use of asphalt overlays is one of the most common methods used in Zambia to rehabilitate deteriorated existing asphalt pavement roads [1]. The type of an overlay and its required thicknesses are principally governed by the residual structural adequacy and strength of the existing PVMNT (pavement), determined mostly from non-destructive deflection tests such as the FWD (falling weight deflectometer). Once adequately constructed, the satisfactory performance of an asphalt overlay is influenced by various factors including the existing PVMNT conditions, traffic loading, and environmental conditions (temperature, etc.). PD (permanent deformation) in asphalt overlays is Corresponding author: Aaron Daniel Mwanza, Dr., Ph.D., research fields: rail-road pavement materials and design, APT and pavement modeling. most severe in hot climates particularly under heavy traffic loading [1]. Estimation and prediction of the maximum distresses likely to occur within the PVMNT layers after construction of an overlay is critical to optimize PVMNT design and management [2]. Constitutive modeling of the PD behavior of asphalt pavement structures enables PVMNT engineers to evaluate the PVMNT deterioration progress and develop regional specific performance based asphalt mix specifications [3]. In this study, FE (finite element) analysis tools in ABAQUS were used to simulate a PVMNT model structure based on user defined boundary conditions and PVMNT dimensions. Traffic loading, environmental factors and pavement material parameters (determined from laboratory tests) formed as input parameters to a mathematical formulation using the user defined subroutines in ABAQUS FE D DAVID PUBLISHING