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FlexiblePavementMechanisticModels|PavementInteractive

DesignStructuralDesignFlexibleStructuralDesignFlexiblePavementMechanisticModels

FlexiblePavementMechanisticModels
Publishdate:March13,2008|Author:PavementInteractive

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Mechanisticmodelsareusedtomathematicallymodelpavementphysics.Thereareanumberofdifferenttypesofmodels
availabletoday(e.g.,dynamic,viscoelasticmodels)butthissectionwillpresenttwo,thelayeredelasticmodelandthefinite
elementsmodel(FEM),asexamplesofthetypesofmodelstypicallyused.Bothofthesemodelscaneasilyberunonpersonal
computersandonlyrequiredatathatcanberealisticallyobtained.

LayeredElasticModel
Alayeredelasticmodelcancomputestresses,strainsanddeflectionsatanypointinapavementstructureresultingfromthe
applicationofasurfaceload.Layeredelasticmodelsassumethateachpavementstructurallayerishomogeneous,isotropic,
andlinearlyelastic.Inotherwords,itisthesameeverywhereandwillreboundtoitsoriginalformoncetheloadisremoved.
TheoriginoflayeredelastictheoryiscreditedtoV.J.Boussinesqwhopublishedhisclassicworkin1885.Today,Boussinesq
influencechartsarestillwidelyusedinsoilmechanicsandfoundationdesign.Thissectioncoversthebasicassumptions,
inputsandoutputsfromatypicallayeredelasticmodel.
Assumptions
Thelayeredelasticapproachworkswithrelativelysimplemathematicalmodelsandthus,requiressomebasicassumptions.
Theseassumptionsare:
Pavementlayersextendinfinitelyinthehorizontaldirection.
Thebottomlayer(usuallythesubgrade)extendsinfinitelydownward.
Materialsarenotstressedbeyondtheirelasticranges.
Inputs
Alayeredelasticmodelrequiresaminimumnumberofinputstoadequatelycharacterizeapavementstructureandits
responsetoloading.Theseinputsare:
Materialpropertiesofeachlayer
Modulusofelasticity
Poissonsratio
Pavementlayerthicknesses
Loadingconditions
Magnitude.Thetotalforce(P)appliedtothepavementsurface
Geometry.Usuallyspecifiedasbeingacircleofagivenradius(rora),ortheradiuscomputedknowingthecontact
pressureoftheload(p)andthemagnitudeoftheload(P).Althoughmostactualloadsmorecloselyrepresentan
ellipse,theeffectofthedifferencesingeometrybecomenegligibleataveryshallowdepthinthepavement.
Repetitions.Multipleloadsonapavementsurfacecanbeaccommodatedbysummingtheeffectsofindividualloads.
Thiscanbedonebecauseweareassumingthatthematerialsarenotbeingstressedbeyondtheirelasticranges.
Figure1showshowtheseinputsrelatetoalayeredelasticmodelofapavementsystem.

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Figure1.Layeredelasticinputs.

Output

Theoutputsofalayeredelasticmodelarethestresses,strains,anddeflectionsinthepavement:
Stress.Theintensityofinternallydistributedforcesexperiencedwithinthepavementstructureatvariouspoints.Stress
hasunitsofforceperunitarea(N/m2,Paorpsi).
Strain.Theunitdisplacementduetostress,usuallyexpressedasaratioofthechangeindimensiontotheoriginal
dimension(mm/mmorin/in).Sincethestrainsinpavementsareverysmall,theyarenormallyexpressedintermsof
microstrain(106).
Deflection.Thelinearchangeinadimension.Deflectionisexpressedinunitsoflength(mmormorinchesormils).
Theuseofalayeredelasticanalysiscomputerprogramwillallowonetocalculatethetheoreticalstresses,strains,and
deflectionsanywhereinapavementstructure.However,thereareafewcriticallocationsthatareoftenusedinpavement
analysis(Table1andFigure2).

Location

Table1.CriticalAnalysisLocationsinaPavementStructure
Response
ReasonforUse

PavementSurface

Deflection

Usedinimposingloadrestrictionsduringspringthawandoverlay
design(forexample)

BottomofHMAlayer

HorizontalTensile
Strain

UsedtopredictfatiguefailureintheHMA

TopofIntermediateLayer(Baseor VerticalCompressive Usedtopredictruttingfailureinthebaseorsubbase

Subbase)
Strain
TopofSubgrade

VerticalCompressive Usedtopredictruttingfailureinthesubgrade
Strain

Figure2.Criticalanalysislocationsinapavementstructure.

FiniteElementsModel
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Thefiniteelementmethod(FEM)isanumericalanalysistechniqueforobtainingapproximatesolutionstoawidevarietyof
engineeringproblems.Althoughoriginallydevelopedtostudystressesincomplexairframestructures,ithassincebeen
extendedandappliedtothebroadfieldofcontinuummechanics(Huebneretal.,2001[1]).Inacontinuumproblem(e.g.,one
thatinvolvesacontinuoussurfaceorvolume)thevariablesofinterestgenerallypossessinfinitelymanyvaluesbecausethey
arefunctionsofeachgenericpointinthecontinuum.Forexample,thestressinaparticularelementofpavementcannotbe
solvedwithonesimpleequationbecausethefunctionsthatdescribeitsstressesareparticulartoitsspecificlocation.
However,thefiniteelementmethodcanbeusedtodivideacontinuum(e.g.,thepavementvolume)intoanumberofsmall
discretevolumesinordertoobtainanapproximatenumericalsolutionforeachindividualvolumeratherthananexactclosed
formsolutionforthewholepavementvolume.Fiftyyearsagothecomputationsinvolvedindoingthiswereincrediblytedious,
buttodaycomputerscanperformthemquitereadily.
IntheFEManalysisofaflexiblepavement,theregionofinterest(thepavementandsubgrade)isdiscretizedintoanumberof
elementswiththewheelloadsareatthetopoftheregionofinterest(Figure3).Thefiniteelementsextendhorizontallyand
verticallyfromthewheeltoincludeallareasofinterestwithintheinfluenceofthewheel.

Figure3.EverFlex3Ddrawing(adaptedfromWu,2001).Thedrawingshowsthe
discreteelements,wheelloads(tirepatchloads),amodeledcrackandaslip
interface(whereonlayercanslipmoveindependentlyfromanother).

Assumptions
TheFEMapproachworkswithamorecomplexmathematicalmodelthanthelayeredelasticapproachsoitmakesfewer
assumptions.Generally,FEMmustassumesomeconstrainingvaluesattheboundariesoftheregionofinterest.Forinstance,
thecomputerprogramdevelopedbyHongyuWuandGeorgeTurkiyyahattheUniversityofWashington(Wu,2001[2]),called
EverFlex,usesa6nodedfoundationelementtomodeltheWinklerFoundation.Thisprogramalsousesfreeboundarieson
thefoursidesoftheflexiblepavementmodel.Additionally,thechoiceofelementgeometry(sizeandshape)aswellas
interpolationfunctionswillinfluenceoverallmodelperformance.
Inputs
Thetypicalfiniteelementsmethodapproachinvolvesthefollowingsevensteps(Huebneretal.,2001[1]):
1. DiscretizetheContinuum.Theregionofinterestisdividedintosmalldiscreteshapes.
2. SelectInterpolationFunctions.Nodesareassignedtoeachelementandthenafunctionischosentointerpolatethe
variationofthevariableoverthediscreteelement.
3. FindtheElementProperties.Usingtheestablishedfiniteelementmodel(theelementsandtheirinterpolation
functions)todeterminematrixequationsthatexpressthepropertiesoftheindividualelements.
4. AssembletheElementPropertiestoObtaintheSystemEquations.Combinethematrixequationsexpressingthe
behavioroftheelementsandformthematrixequationsexpressingthebehavioroftheentiresystem.
5. ImposetheBoundaryConditions.Imposevaluesforcertainvariablesatkeyboundarypositions(e.g.,thebottomand
sidesofthechosenregionofanalysis).
6. SolvetheSystemEquations.Theaboveprocessresultsinasetofsimultaneousequationsthatcanthenbesolved.
7. MakeAdditionalComputationsIfDesired.Theunknownsaredisplacementcomponents.Fromthesedisplacements
elementstrainsandstressescanbecalculated.
Outputs
TheoutputsofaFEManalysisarethesameasforalayeredelasticmodel:
Stress.Theintensityofinternallydistributedforcesexperiencedwithinthepavementstructureatvariouspoints.Stress
hasunitsofforceperunitarea(N/m2,Paorpsi).
Strain.Theunitdisplacementduetostress,usuallyexpressedasaratioofthechangeindimensiontotheoriginal
dimension(mm/mmorin/in).Sincethestrainsinpavementsareverysmall,theyarenormallyexpressedintermsof
microstrain(106).
Deflection.Thelinearchangeinadimension.Deflectionisexpressedinunitsoflength(mmormorinchesormils).
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Inaddition,thefiniteelementsmethodallowsforextremelypowerfulgraphicaldisplaysofthesevalues(Figures4through7).

Figure4.3DStraindiagram.

Figure5.Surfacestrain
diagram.

Figure6.Sectionviewstrain
diagram.

Figure7.Sampleloadprofiles.

ScreenShotThumbnailsfromEverFlex(Wu,2001[2]).Clickoneachthumbnailtoseealargerversionofthepicture.

Footnotes(returnstotext)
1. TheFiniteElementMethodforEngineers,4thEdition.byJohnWiley&Sons,Inc.NewYork,NY.
2. ParallelMethodsforStaticandDynamicSimulationofFlexiblePavementSystems.DoctoralDissertation.UniversityofWashington.Seattle,WA.

Copyright2012PaviaSystems,Inc.

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