Pavement degradation is a complex process influenced by several factors such as traffic loads, climatic conditions or the properties of the built-in materials. Degradation is a dynamic process that requires the application of pavement performance models and their regular updating. The article focuses on pavement performance models of variable parameters, their significance and application in the field of pavement asset management. The application of pavement performance models in the decision-making process and development of strategic road network repair plan helps to allocate financial resources efficiently and economically along with achieving satisfactory variable parameters for ensuring safety and driving comfort. This paper discusses the application and importance of pavement performance models, focusing on their benefits in optimizing road network maintenance and reducing the cost of road network management. As part of the research, experimental measurements were carried out at the University of Žilina campus aimed at determining the pavement performance models of the variable parameters of the experimental pavement section. The resulting degradation functions demonstrate the change of the variable parameters depending on the number of repetitions of the design axle load and determine the critical moments when the degradation starts to increase rapidly, which in practice means an increase in repair and maintenance costs and the solution becomes economically ineffective. The aim of this paper is to introduce the selected topic of pavement performance models, to present the degradation functions of variable pavement parameters determined by experiment and to demonstrate their applicability in practice.
Mešková et al. (Thu,) studied this question.