ABSTRACT This study investigated fatigue damage in open‐graded friction course (OGFC) pavements using mechanical testing and nonlinear dynamic analysis to evaluate the effect of tack coat dosage. Nonlinear dynamic parameters were derived from load–displacement data. Results show that a 0.4‐kg/m 2 tack coat dosage provides optimal performance with the highest composite score of 0.683, balancing damage complexity, indicated by approximate entropy of 0.320, with controlled nonlinearity of 0.906. Specimens without a tack coat exhibited rigid deterministic failure with an approximate entropy of 0.048 and a nonlinearity of 2.713. Performance declined with excessive tack coat at or above 0.8 kg/m 2 . A strong negative correlation linked approximate entropy to recurrence quantification analysis determinism. The standalone dense‐graded asphalt concrete mixture showed the highest complexity with an approximate entropy of 0.501 and the lowest final damage of 0.489. Nonlinear dynamic analysis provides a sensitive framework for assessing pavement durability, confirming that optimized interface bonding balances load capacity and damage resistance.
Song et al. (Tue,) studied this question.