The effect of loading time on flexible pavement dynamic response: a finite element analysis

Dynamic response of asphalt concrete (AC) pavements under moving load is a key component for accurate prediction of flexible pavement performance. The time and temperature dependency of AC materials calls for utilizing advanced material characterization and mechanistic theories, such as viscoelasticity and stress/strain analysis. In layered elastic analysis, as implemented in the new Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide (MEPDG), the time dependency is accounted for by calculating the loading times at different AC layer depths. In this study, the time effect on pavement response was evaluated by means of the concept of “pseudo temperature.” With the pavement temperature measured from instrumented thermocouples, the time and temperature dependency of AC materials was integrated into one single factor, termed “effective temperature.” Via this effective temperature, pavement responses under a transient load were predicted through finite element analysis. In the finite element model, viscoelastic behavior of AC materials was characterized through relaxation moduli, while the layers with unbound granular material were assumed to be in an elastic mode. The analysis was conducted for two different AC mixtures in a simplified flexible pavement structure at two different seasons. Finite element analysis results reveal that the loading time has a more pronounced impact on pavement response in the summer for both asphalt types. The results indicate that for reasonable prediction of dynamic response in flexible pavements, the effect of the depth-dependent loading time on pavement temperature should be considered.     

半刚性基层沥青路面反射裂缝扩展过程分析的Williams单元

该文对半刚性基层沥青路面结构采用弹性层状体系平面应变分析模型,利用改进的Williams级数,结合广义参数有限元法和常规等参元,建立了反射裂缝裂尖应力强度因子分析的广义参数Williams单元,并推导了Williams单元的刚度方程,据此研究了正对称荷载和偏载分别作用时,反射裂缝扩展过程中应力强度因子的变化规律;重点分析了偏载作用下路面结构层参数与应力强度因子之间的关系。Williams单元中含有与应力强度因子相关的参数,可以直接获得裂尖应力强度因子。算例分析表明:Williams单元与传统方法的计算结果吻合较好,且格式简单,计算精度高,适用于沥青路面反射裂缝扩展过程分析。     

Effect of pavement design parameters on the behaviour of orthotropic steel bridge deck pavements under traffic loading

This study evaluated the effect of the pavement design parameters on the behaviour of orthotropic steel bridge deck pavements under traffic loading using a three-dimensional finite element model. Four types of paving materials were considered in this analysis: polymer concrete, epoxy asphalt concrete, polymer-modified stone mastic asphalt concrete and mastic asphalt concrete. The maximum transverse tensile strain was developed at the bottom of the pavement under a tyre of dual tyres or on top of the pavement between two tyres. From the sensitivity analysis, better interface bonding between the deck plate and pavement led to a significant enhancement of bottom-up fatigue cracking resistance, especially for 40-mm-thick pavements. As pavement temperature increased from ? 20 to 60°C, critical tensile strain increased significantly, and corresponding locations moved from the bottom to the top of the deck pavement.     

Dynamic analyses of traffic speed deflection devices

Two traffic speed deflection devices (TSDDs) that measure surface deflections at posted traffic speeds (up to 80–96 kph) were evaluated through a recent Federal Highway Administration project that included field trials at the MnROAD facility. Four geophones were embedded near the pavement surface to measure surface deflections during field trials at each of three MnROAD cells. In addition, the MnROAD facility counted with numerous other sensors such as strain gauges to measure pavement responses and thermocouple trees to collect pavement temperature at various depths. For the implementation of TSDDs in any network-level pavement management system, it is important to utilise a proper analytical model that can accommodate moving load and viscoelastic properties of pavement layers in the simulation of TSDD measurements. The 3D-Move software was chosen for this purpose. The viscoelastic properties used for the asphalt concrete (AC) layer include dynamic modulus and damping coefficient as a function of frequency relevant to the temperature at the time of the MnROAD field trials. The field trials and available data represented realistic field case scenarios to validate once more 3D-Move specifically for TSDD measurements. The proposed dynamic analytical model provided a good match with a variety of independent pavement responses that included surface deflection bowls (measured using embedded geophone sensors) as well as horizontal strains at the bottom of the AC layers (measured using MnROAD sensors).     

车、路的相互作用下沥青路面动力学特性分析

文中采用二自由度四分之一汽车悬架模型模拟汽车系统,依据弹性层状体系理论,建立路面结构的三维有限元分析模型,考虑车路相互作用,采用ANSYS有限元分析软件对移动车辆荷载作用下路面各结构层中的位移、应力、应变进行了模拟。计算分析了行车速度、悬架刚度、悬架阻尼、轮胎刚度和轮胎阻尼五个参数对路面动力响应的影响。结果表明：沥青面层处于三向受压状态,层内切应力是引起其破坏的主要原因;最大水平拉应力和最大横向拉应力均发生在路面结构的基层和底基层结合处;车速对路面动态响应的影响规律很复杂,应考虑车辆模型和路面不平整度,并划分速度区间加以探讨;路面动态响应随轮胎刚度、悬架刚度和悬架阻尼的增大而减小。上述结论对于深入分析路面结构动力响应与疲劳损坏以及研究车辆与路面相互作用的机理有重要价值。     

Limitations and potential improvement of the aircraft pavement strength rating system to protect airport asphalt surfaces

A pavement strength rating system is internationally adopted in order to protect aircraft pavements from inadvertent overload. The system has two elements. The primary element is designed to protect the pavement against subgrade rutting and the second is intended to protect asphalt pavement surfaces. The surface-protection element is arbitrary and empirical, placing category-based limits on aircraft tyre pressures. In 2008, increases in the tyre pressure limits were proposed by aircraft manufacturers and these were approved in 2013. The research reported in this paper assesses the impact of tyre pressure and individual wheel load increases on calculated flexible pavement stress indicators, as well as identifying an improved surface layer protection element. Stresses were calculated near the surface, at the surface layer interface and at the subgrade. Tyre pressure and wheel load combinations included current (18 t and 1.35 MPa), imminent (33 t and 1.75 MPa) and future (40 t and 2.15 MPa) aircraft. Surface layer stress increased significantly (20–30%) with increases in both tyre pressure and wheel load. The subgrade stress increased near-equally (97%) with wheel load but was insensitive (<1%) to tyre pressure changes. The ability of the current aircraft pavement strength rating system to protect pavements from the increasing demands of aircraft was demonstrated to be limited to the subgrade. It is recommended that the tyre pressure rating be amended to reflect the combined impact of both tyre pressure rating and individual wheel load. It is also recommended that ongoing efforts to incorporate additional asphalt surface failure modes into routine pavement design be given high priority. The importance of these issues is reinforced by the limited availability of remedies to counter any negative impacts of increased surface layer stresses, especially in hot climates.     

车桥耦合下钢桥面沥青铺装层动力响应研究

为了研究钢桥面沥青铺装层的动力响应,将车辆车体看成刚体并以匀速进行运动,车辆悬架与车轮均视为由弹簧和阻尼器所组成,将桥面沥青铺装层和钢板视为双层连续粘弹性薄板,并以铺装层表面不平度作为系统的附加激励,车辆和桥面铺装层间采用点接触模型,最终建立车辆-沥青铺装层-钢桥耦合动力学模型,进而采用Wilson-θ法求解系统方程组。在此基础上,应用Fortran语言实现模型的计算,并结合现场测试结果验证程序的准确性和可靠性。研究结果表明:对于钢桥面沥青铺装层,移动车辆产生的动力效应显著,随着后轴轴重的增加,铺装层表面应变幅值和铺装层与钢板间的最大剪应力呈线性增加;随着行车速度增加,铺装层表面应变幅值和铺装层与钢板间的最大剪应力上下波动变化,但两者均在60 km/h的行车速度下数值达到最大;桥梁跨径和桥面宽度对铺装层表面应变幅值和铺装层与钢板间最大剪应力的影响较为显著,桥梁跨径的影响尤为明显。     

Analysis of measured strain response of asphalt pavements and relevant prediction models

In order to investigate the actual strain response of asphalt pavement under real condition, three types of asphalt pavement sections with typical surface structures are built. The effects of axle configuration, axle load, speed and testing temperature on strain response of asphalt pavement were analysed through in situ dynamic loading. Experimental results indicate that the strain response at the bottom of the asphalt surface layer increases with increasing axle load and temperature, but decreases with the rise of speed. On the other hand, the temperature exerts different influence levels on pavement sections with different structures. It is also concluded that the tandem axle load could lead to a greater strain response than that of single axle load. Applying the analysis of variance, the effects of pavement surface temperature, axle load, speed and their double interactions are studied as well. Finally, the paper proposes prediction models of the strain response at the bottom of asphalt layer by means of multivariate regression analysis.     

不同轮胎花纹非均布荷载下沥青路面三维有限元分析

近年来对出现在路表面轮迹带边缘且向下扩展的纵向裂缝的研究,已成为国际沥青路面工程界对道路损坏研究的新热点。采用传统的均匀分布的垂直表面荷载模式不能解释路面的这种损坏。为了探求从上到下表面裂缝形成的原因,该文考虑不同的轮胎花纹形式,选用非均布车轮荷载模式建立了半刚性路面结构的三维有限元模型,采用大型有限元软件ABAQUS 进行了数值分析。计算结果表明:路面结构最大剪应力发生在路面表层,其值较大超过了面层材料的抗剪强度,可能是导致表面裂缝的直接原因,且裂缝出现在轮迹带边缘,表现为纵向裂缝的形式。无论是纵向花纹轮胎还是横向花纹轮胎,重载车辆对路面都极具破坏性。在重载作用下,纵向花纹轮胎比横向花纹轮胎对路面的破坏更大。轮胎花纹形式的不同,对路面的影响是不同的,横向花纹轮胎更易形成斜向裂缝。     

Measuring the cross-anisotropy of hot-mix asphalt

This study measures the cross-anisotropy of gyratory, kneading and field-compacted hot-mix asphalt samples of two sizes. One set of cube samples were subjected to compression through the top face and the other set through the side face. In addition, two sets of beam samples were tested for flexure stiffness using load on both the top and side faces. Results show that the side faces can sustain an average compressive stress of 0.89, 0.91 and 0.77 times of the top faces for kneading, gyratory and field-compacted cube samples, respectively. The average flexure stiffness of the side face is 0.85 times of that of the top face. For comparison, finite element model (FEM) was developed to predict pavement stress–strain under wheel load. In addition, stress–strain data from a field-instrumented pavement section on Interstate 40 in New Mexico were collected. The FEM-simulated vertical stress shows a close match with collected stress at cross-anisotropy value of 0.8.     

胶粉改性沥青桥面防水层界面抗剪性能试验研究

利用剪切试验机对不同防水层厚度、不同温度及不同铺装层厚度下的防水层界面进行了动态剪切模型试验,研究胶粉改性沥青防水层与桥面水泥混凝土及其上沥青混凝土铺装层间的抗剪工作机理,分析了防水层厚度、温度、桥面铺装层厚度对界面抗剪性能的影响,并与其他防水材料进行了对比。试验分析结果表明:最佳胶粉改性沥青防水层厚度为1.5cm;随温度的升高,界面抗剪能力下降;桥面铺装层厚度对界面抗剪能力影响不大;在几种防水材料中,胶粉改性沥青防水材料效果最佳。     

Analysis of inverted base pavements with thin-asphalt layers

Inverted base pavements are flexible pavement structures built by placing a top quality compacted granular aggregate base between a rigid cement-treated base and a thin-asphalt surface layer. The proximity of the granular base to the load makes its behaviour critical to the pavement response. Three-dimensional finite-element simulations are conducted to assess the mechanical performance of different inverted base pavement structures, with emphasis placed on pavements that feature thin-asphalt surface layers. A nonlinear constitutive model captures the anisotropic stress-dependent stiffness of the granular base. Results show that the stress distribution within inverted base pavements is markedly different from that of conventional pavements due to the stiffness contrast between successive layers. Thin-asphalt layers deform more uniformly and experience lower tension than thick layers. However, in the presence of combined shear and vertical contact loads, the benefits of a membrane response in thin asphalt concrete layers may be overwhelmed by the increased tensile strain at the load edge. The transition from beam to membrane asphalt response depends on the relative stiffness between the asphalt layer and the aggregate base. In most cases, the transition takes place at an asphalt layer thickness between 25 mm and 50 mm.     

Numerical comparison of flexible pavement dynamic response under different axles

A three-dimensional finite element model was utilised to examine the flexible pavement dynamic response under single, tandem and tridem axles at different speeds. Using two different hot-mix asphalt (HMA) layer thicknesses, 15.2 and 25.4 cm, the dynamic effects of moving axles were investigated on critical responses. These responses include the tensile strain at the bottom of asphalt layer, compressive strain on the top of subgrade and tensile and compressive strain on the surface layer. In this study, the HMA layer and other layers were characterised as linear viscoelastic and elastic material, respectively. Since this research focuses specifically on the time and dynamic effects, considering the transient dynamic loading and inertia forces, implicit dynamic analysis was done. The important findings are as follows. (1) Strains induced by tridem axles could be greater than tandem axles or even equal at different speeds. (2) It cannot be stated that axles always induce greater critical response value to road systems at lower speed because at higher speed they can also induce greater critical response value in pavements than that at lower speed. (3) Changing trend and changing rate of strains with speed are strongly affected by pavement thickness. In general, the effects of different axle configurations are strongly affected by moving speed and surface layer thickness.     

基于非线性模型的沥青路面动力响应研究

根据路基变形的非线性及沥青路面具有明显粘弹性的特点,将沥青路面简化为非线性粘弹性地基上的粘弹性无限长梁,建立了移动载荷作用下非线性粘弹性梁系统动力响应数学模型。利用Adomian分解法和小波变换法得到求解稳态响应解析解的新方法。通过实际道路参数对沥青路面动力响应进行了数值仿真,研究了车速、车辆轴载、路面材料及温度对沥青路面动力响应的影响规律。结果表明该文提出的计算方法简便、快捷,是求解该类非线性动力响应问题的一种有效方法;非线性模型更能准确地反映重载及超载时沥青路面实际结构受力状态。     

A mechanistic approach to evaluate the potential of the debonding distress in asphalt pavements

The debonding distress in asphalt pavement structures is a critical problem that affects the performance of asphalt concrete pavements. It occurs at the layer interface due to the poor bond quality between adjacent asphalt concrete layers and/or when stresses at the layer interface exceed the strengths of the material at the interface. The debonding of the adjacent layers, especially the top surface layer of an asphalt pavement, is a contributing factor to the premature cracking of pavements. Hence, the debonding distress can lead to a reduction in the life of the pavement. This paper presents an analytical and experimental framework to evaluate the potential for debonding at the layer interface of asphalt concrete pavements. Computational analysis was performed to determine the critical stress and strain states in layered asphalt pavements under moving vehicle loads using the Layered ViscoElastic pavement analysis for Critical Distresses (LVECD) computer program developed at North Carolina State University. This computational analysis enables a greater understanding of the critical stress that is involved in debonding and the ways that such stress is affected by pavement design parameters and environmental conditions. In addition, a prediction model was developed that can determine the shear bond strength at the interface of asphalt concrete layers with different tack coat materials at various temperatures, loading rates and normal confining stresses. The systematic and mechanistic framework developed in this study employs the maximum shear ratio concept as a shear failure criterion and provides a tool to evaluate the effects of various loading, environmental and pavement factors on the debonding potential of asphalt pavements. The overall advantages of the mechanistic framework and approach using the LVECD analysis tool will help lead to better understanding of the debonding mechanism, proper selection of the tack coats, and economic benefit in highway pavement maintenance and rehabilitation costs.     

Full-depth flexible pavement responses to different truck tyre geometry configurations

Pavement stresses and strain responses due to tyre loading are essential data for design and performance analysis. The magnitude and distribution of these responses are primarily affected by the tyres configuration geometry. This study investigates the longitudinal strain responses at the bottom of a hot-mix asphalt layer for full-depth medium-volume flexible pavement under different truck tyres design. Pavement testing was carried out with a user-control accelerated pavement facility at various speeds and tyre inflation pressures and loading. Three truck tyre configurations: dual-tyre (11R22.5) and two wide-base tyres (425/65R22.5 and 455/55R22.5) widely used in the truck industry were examined. A 3D finite element model was developed to quantify surface stresses to loading at various critical locations in the pavement after being calibrated with the field-measured strains. Field measurements showed that the 455 wide-base tyres yield 7% more longitudinal strain than a dual-tyre assembly at the same tyre pressure.     

埋置移动荷载作用下成层饱和地基的动力响应

利用Fourier变换和传递反射矩阵法（TRM法）研究了成层饱和地基在埋置移动荷载作用下的动力响应。土体被假设为完全饱和的多孔弹性介质并且服从Biot多孔弹性波动方程,用修正粘滞阻尼模型来描述土体的粘弹性行为,采用TRM法来考虑饱和地基的成层性,利用Fourier变换和Fourier逆变换得到了埋置移动荷载作用下饱和地基动力响应积分形式解答。当饱和成层地基退化单层饱和地基时,该文解与已有解能很好的吻合。最后,通过数值计算分析了埋置荷载深度﹑荷载速度、荷载频率及软硬夹层对动力响应的影响。     

Assessment of the relationship between the international roughness index and dynamic loading of heavy vehicles

Due to imperfect surface profiles, heavy vehicles moving at high speed on flexible pavement structures oscillate in the vertical axis. This phenomenon induces dynamic loads, which oscillate at lower and higher values than the average load associated with static load considered with most pavement analysis and design applications. Higher loads applied to flexible pavements are likely to significantly reduce pavement service life. A new multibody dynamic truck model was used to study heavy vehicle wheel load for various pavement profiles of varying international roughness index (IRI). The modelled heavy vehicle wheel load response were used to calculate the dynamic load coefficient, and a relationship with IRI was proposed. On the basis of this relationship, the evolving pavement surface profile, and thus evolving IRI, was used to determine the evolution of dynamic loading with pavement life. A comparison of pavement service life for the classical static loading and for dynamic loading was made for three highway flexible pavement structures. When dynamic loads are considered, it was found that the pavement service life reduction may be reduced of about 29 and 20% for bottom-up fatigue cracking and structural rutting failure criteria.     

Investigation of layered elastic theory prediction accuracy for asphalt concrete pavement design using micromechanical viscoelastic finite element modeling

In this study, predictions of full-scale micromechanical (MM) finite element (FE) models, developed from X-ray computed tomography images of asphalt concrete samples that were sawn from the accelerated pavement test sections, were used to evaluate the accuracy of layered elastic theory (LET) models that are used in pavement design today. First, MM FE and LET models were both calibrated using the measured strain gauge responses. Predictions of calibrated models were compared to evaluate the reasonableness of LET model outputs at high temperatures. Second, asphalt concrete stiffnesses measured in the laboratory were directly used for LET model development without performing any strain gauge calibration to evaluate the actual predictive capability of LET models in pavement design by using the calibrated MM FE model outputs as the ground truth. Recommendations were also made for future use of the MM FE models to improve the predictive capability of LET models.     

Modelling of 3D response pulse at the bottom of asphalt layer using a novel function and artificial neural network

Fatigue life of asphalt mixes in laboratory tests is commonly determined by applying a haversine or sinusoidal load with a specific frequency. However, the frequency (time duration) and shape of horizontal tensile stress and strain pulses at the bottom the asphalt layer depend on pavement design (thickness and stiffness of layers) and loading specifications (speed and contact radius). The first objective of this paper is to introduce a novel function for a more realistic representation of 3D response (stress and strain pulses in longitudinal, transverse and vertical directions) at the bottom of the asphalt layer. The second objective is to establish a framework for determination of magnitude and shape of 3D response pulse at the bottom of the asphalt layer using artificial neural network. This framework enables designers to predict the shape and magnitude of stress and strain pulses in three directions based on some parameters related to pavement structure and loading specifications.