Construction and Building Materials 235 (2020) 117406

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Construction and Building Materials

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/conbuildmat

Numerical investigation of the mechanical response of semi-rigid base

asphalt pavement under traffic load and nonlinear temperature gradient
effect
Ogoubi Cyriaque Assogba a,⇑, Yiqiu Tan a,b,⇑, Xingye Zhou a,c, Chao Zhang a, Josita Neurly Anato d
a
School of Transportation Science and Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150090, People’s Republic of China
b
State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150090, People’s Republic of China
c
Key Laboratory of Road Structure and Material of Transport Industry, Research Institute of Highway Ministry of Transport, NO. 8 Xi Tu Cheng Road, Beijing 100088, People’s Republic
of China
d
School of Civil Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150090, People’s Republic of China

h i g h l i g h t s

Three pavement structures with typical functional and structural requirements, specifically designed to withstand various distresses of semi-rigid
pavements were presented.

This study provides evidence that non-linear temperature gradient is a key parameter for accurate prediction of stresses and strains distribution in
pavement system.

This study provides a reference for the design of more durable semi-rigid base asphalt pavement structures.

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The effectiveness of any pavement design based on the mechanistic procedure depends on the accuracy
Received 5 September 2019 of the mechanical parameters used such as stresses and strains. Hence, an effective and realistic predic-
Received in revised form 22 October 2019 tion of these parameters when traffic and environmental data are provided is a step towards the future
Accepted 26 October 2019
design of more sustainable pavement structures. This study investigated the distribution of the mechan-
Available online 14 November 2019
ical parameters in three new semi-rigid pavement structures with typical functional and structural
requirements, specially designed to withstand various distresses of semi-rigid pavements. The response
Keywords:
of these pavements to the combined effect of the nonlinear thermal gradient and moving axle load was
Semi-rigid base asphalt pavement
Thermal modeling
examined by means of an advanced 3D pavement FE modeling. The model integrated mechanical and
Numerical analysis thermophysical properties of each pavement material, studied the transient dynamic effect of wheels
Pavement mechanical response load, and employed transient heat transfer and implicit dynamic analysis. Field measurements of these
Pavement temperature experimental pavement structures at the RIOH-Track test site in Beijing, China, as well as relative climatic
Nonlinear temperature gradient data were used to verify and validate the accuracy of the developed model. Comparison of the numerical
Heat transfer and experimental results indicated that the developed model predicted accurately the characteristic non-
Full-scale pavement test track (RIOH-Track) linear distribution of temperature along with the pavement depth and the pavement response to the
combined effect of the nonlinear temperature gradient and traffic load. The influence of three main fac-
tors affecting the distribution of the mechanical parameters, namely; the bonding conditions between the
pavement’s layers, the vehicle speed and the axle load amplitude were evaluated. In addition, fatigue
analysis of the asphalt layers and the semi-rigid layers was performed to evaluate the theoretical service
life of each pavement structure. The findings of this study underscored that the non-linear temperature
gradient, despite being often neglected in mechanistic modeling, is a key parameter for accurate predic-
tion of the distribution of stresses and strains in pavement system. Moreover, the results indicate that the
lowest traffic speed and the extra weight extension of the truck axle have an adverse effect on mechanical
parameters. Furthermore, the improvement of contact conditions at the interface results in good perfor-
mance. Overall, the conclusions obtained in this study provides a reference for the design of semi-rigid
pavement structures.
Ó 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

⇑ Corresponding authors.
E-mail addresses: assocyr@hotmail.fr, assocyr@stu.hit.edu.cn (O.C. Assogba), tanyiqiu@hit.edu.cn (Y. Tan).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2019.117406
0950-0618/Ó 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
2 O.C. Assogba et al. / Construction and Building Materials 235 (2020) 117406
1. Introduction
1.1. Background
The mechanistic-empirical design approach that combines the
mechanistic response of a pavement structure with an estimate
of the damage that it will sustain over time is widely used around
the world. An accurate estimate of the mechanical response field
(stress, strain and deformation fields) of the pavement is a prereq-
uisite for an effective and realistic prediction of pavement perfor-
mance over the design lifetime. The layered elastic theory (LET),
originally developed by Burmister et al, is commonly used to com-
pute the pavement response to truck loading [1]. Although layered
elastic analysis is relatively simple and faster, it impedes the incor-
poration of real tire-pavement loading condition and effective
characterization of materials in pavement analysis [2].
With advances in computer technology and algorithmic
improvements, the use of the finite element method (FEM) has
become widespread in the mechanistic analysis of pavement
response. This is due to the fact that FEM considers the variables
omitted in LET such as; dynamic traffic load simulation, non-
uniform tire-pavement contact stresses, a realistic interface model
for the simulation of inter-layer bonding conditions, properties of
viscoelastic and nonlinear materials, discontinuities in pavements,
etc. The application of finite element techniques makes it possible
to take these variables into account and to provide more realistic
results as well as help pavement researchers to understand com-
plex pavement behavior under moving dynamic wheel loading.
A large body of studies have utilised FEM to analyze pavement
structure. This method can be applied to the mechanistic analysis
of pavement responses, including: modeling the dynamic behavior
of flexible pavement subjected to dynamic solicitation [3],
investigating the effect of vehicle speed and overload on the
dynamic response of a semi-rigid base asphalt pavement and its
fatigue life [4], characterization of rutting behavior of the asphalt
mixes [5,6], understand the influence of non-linear characteriza-
tion of unbound materials in pavement response [7,8], assessing
the impact of wide-base tire and dual tire on pavement perfor-
mance [9,10] are just some examples of the main applications of
FEM analysis on pavements.
In most of the previous FE models that studied the mechanistic
response of pavement structures, it was often assumed that the
temperature field in the pavement structure is constant, thus, gen-
erating linear temperature gradients over the entire depth of the
pavement structure [11–14]. This assumption is rather incompati-
ble with the actual thermal environmental conditions to which
pavements are exposed. Moreover, studies on temperature field
in road system have elucidated this inconsistency. By showing that
the thickness of a pavement can be subjected to different nonlinear
thermal gradient depending on the seasons, solar radiation and
climate history [15–17]. Thus, distribution of the temperature
inside the structure also evolves according to instant daily
measurements.
The flexible layer of semi-rigid pavements is generally made of
asphalt mixture, which is a visco-elastic material whose behavior
is strongly related to temperature. Thus, the mechanical properties
and performance of the asphalt layer are significantly influenced
by pavement temperature. This in return, affects the stiffness of
the pavement profile and the state of stress and strain in the pave-
ment. Therefore, an accurate prediction of the temperature field in
the road system is thus important to assess the mechanical
response of the structure, when subjected to traffic and tempera-
ture. On the other hand, an effective and realistic prediction of
the distribution of mechanistic parameters, such as stress and
strain, will also help to understand in depth the mechanisms of
formation of the different forms of distress exhibited by the newly
proposed semi-rigid base asphalt pavements.
1.2. Objective and scope
The present study aims to examine the distribution of
mechanical parameters in three new semi-rigid pavement struc-
tures with typical functional and structural requirements, spe-
cially designed to withstand various distresses of conventional
semi-rigid pavements. In this regard, this study presents an
experimental validation of an advanced 3D pavement FE model
using measurements performed on these experimental pavement
structures located at the RIOH track test site in Beijing, China, as
well as relative climatic data. First, based on the principle of heat
transfer and meteorological data, the prediction model of the
temperature field of pavements was established. The model was
validated and used for preliminary analysis of the distribution
and the influence of temperature on each pavement. Finally,
the corresponding temperature profile was integrated into the
mechanistic analysis model for a realistic simulation of the
mechanical response of the pavement subjected to the combined
effect of the nonlinear thermal gradient and moving axle load.
The influence of three main factors affecting the distribution of
the mechanistic parameters namely; bonding conditions between
the pavement’s layers, speed of the vehicle and amplitude of the
load on the axles were evaluated. Furthermore, fatigue analysis of
the asphalt layers and the semi-rigid layers of the three new
semi-rigid pavement structures was performed to compare their
theoretical service life.
2. Numerical modelling
2.1. Thermal analysis
The state of stress and strain of the pavement is strongly influ-
enced by the temperature profile. Thus, the distribution of the tem-
perature field in the asphalt pavement has an inherent link with
the mechanical behavior and service performance of the latter.
Therefore, the distribution characteristics and the variation of the
temperature profile in the pavement system at different points in
time are necessary for a better prediction of the mechanical
response of semi-rigid base asphalt pavement under traffic load.
The thermal analysis makes it possible to determine the tempera-
ture field in the pavement structure, and to provide both thermal
strains and actual rheological behavior of the asphaltic layer for
subsequent mechanical analysis. The theory of thermal analysis
is mainly based on the principle of heat transfer and meteorology.
Fig. 1 provides a schematic diagram illustrating the process of heat
transfer in an asphalt pavement structure. As shown in Fig. 1, the
surface of the pavement is simultaneously subjected to convective
and radiant exchanges with constantly changing ambient temper-
atures and to the incident solar flow, whose evolutions are
obtained by means of local meteorological records. Theoretical
principles and basic equations governing the main means of heat
transfer in an asphalt pavement system are presented in the subse-
quent subsections.
2.1.1. Transient conduction
The problem of conductive heat transfer within the pavement
system can be solved by combining the first law of thermodynam-
ics, which stipulates that thermal energy is conservative, and the
Fourier law relative to the heat flux with thermal gradient. Under
constant thermal conductivity, the heat transfer for an isotropic
medium is governed by the following differential equation
[Eqs. (1) and (2)] [18,19]:
 O.C. Assogba et al. / Construction and Building Materials 235 (2020) 117406 3

Fig. 1. Heat transfer process in an asphalt pavement structure.


1 @T where:
r2 T ¼  ð1Þ
a @t
qo = maximum solar radiation at midday, w=m2 ;
with:
qd = total daily solar radiation, w=m2 ;
k c = actual effective sunshine hours in a day, h
a¼ ð2Þ
qC w = angular frequency, rad.
where:
The formula above [Eq. (4)] is defined on a sequence of inter-
a = thermal diffusivity; vals, which is neither smooth nor continuous. When calculating
k = thermal conductivity, W=m: C; the temperature field, the discontinuities of jumps will appear.
q = density, kg=m3 ; Therefore, it is necessary to extend Eq. (4) as a series to obtain a
C = Specific heat, j=kg= C; smooth and continuous function expression. According to the cor-
t = time, s. relation principle of the Fourier series, Eq.4 can be extended to the
Fourier series as a cosine function, that is, formula [Eqs. (8)–(10)]
In a cartesian coordinate system, the three-dimensional tran- computes the k-order up to 30, which can meet engineering preci-
sient heat conduction under normal condition is governed by the sion requirements.
following expression [Eq. (3)]
! a0 X 1
kpðt  12Þ
qðtÞ ¼ þ ak cos ð8Þ
@T @2T @2T @2T 2 12
qc ¼ k þ þ ð3Þ k¼1
@t @x2 @y2 @z2
with:
where: x, y, and z are the coordinates of the point, and t is the time.
2qo
a0 ¼ ð9Þ
mp
2.1.2. Direct solar radiation
Direct solar radiation is highly dependent on the time of the 8 h i
>
< qpo ¼ mþk
1
sinðm þ kÞ 2m
p þ p k¼m
day, atmospheric conditions, and the angle of incidence of sun’s 2m
ak ¼ h i
rays on the pavement surface. According to the results of Barber >
: qpo ¼ mþk
1
sinðm þ kÞ 2m
p þ 1 sinðm  kÞ p k–m
mk 2m
et. al and Yan et. al, the daily variation in solar radiation q(t) can
be approximated by the following functions [Eqs. (4)–(7)] [20,21]. ð10Þ
8
>
<0 0  t  12  2c
2.1.3. Pavement surface effective radiation
qðtÞ ¼ q0 cosmwðt  12Þ 12  2c  t  12 þ 2c ð4Þ The effective radiation of pavement is mainly related to many
>
:
0 12  2c  t  24 factors, such as soil temperature, air temperature, air humidity,
and transparency. Most previous studies have estimated the effect
with:
of heat release from the effective radiation on the road surface by
q0 ¼ 0:132mqd ð5Þ appropriately modifying the coefficient of heat exchange on the
road surface to correct the temperature or reduce the magnitude
12 of solar radiation. However, this method has large errors and the
m¼ ð6Þ
c boundary conditions for effective radiation can be directly realized
by the following formula [Eq. (11)].
2p h i
x¼ ð7Þ
qF ¼ er ðT 1 jZ¼0  T Z Þ4  ðT a  T z Þ4 ð11Þ
24
4 O.C. Assogba et al. / Construction and Building Materials 235 (2020) 117406

where: The stress tensor can be defined using the traditional Hooke’s
law [Eq. (17)]
qF = effective radiation of pavement surface, W/m2°C;
e = Pavement emissivity; r ¼ krU  I þ lðrU þ rU T Þ ð17Þ
r = Stefan-Boltzmann constant (blackbody radiation coeffi- where:
cient), W=ðm2  K4 Þ;
T Z jz ¼ 0 = Pavement surface Temperature, °C; I = Identity matrix;
T a = Atmospheric temperature, °C; k,l = lame’s coefficients;
T Z = Absolute zero value, °C; U = displacement vector.

2.1.4. Ambient temperature and convective heat transfer The discretization of the governing equation of the dynamic
Due to the influence of solar radiation, the atmospheric temper- response of a pavement system results in the following form
ature has periodic variation characteristics. The minimum daily [Eq. (18)]
temperature usually appears around dawn, about 4–6 am, and
the daily maximum temperature generally occur about 2 h after € g þ ½Cfug
½Mfu _ þ ½Kfug ¼ F ðtÞ ð18Þ
maximum solar radiation (14 p.m.). Thus, it takes more than 14 h where:
to rise from the lowest temperature to the highest temperature,
while it takes less than 10 h to decrease from the highest temper- ½M = mass matrix;
ature to the lowest temperature; a single sinusoidal function can- ½C = damping matrix;
not accurately simulate the actual temperature change process. ½K = stiffness matrix;
Therefore, the linear combination of two sinusoidal functions _ = velocity vector;
fug
[Eqs. (12)–(14)] was used to simulate the diurnal variation in € g = acceleration related to the nodes;
fu
temperature. _ = displacement vector;
fug

T a ¼ T a þ T m b0:96sinx ðt  t0 Þ þ 0:14sinx ðt  t 0 Þc ð12Þ F ðtÞ = external force vector related to the structure dynamic
system.
with:
 1  Max  In general, implicit or explicit integration method is used to
Ta ¼ T a þ T Min
a ð13Þ solve the dynamic response-related problems in the finite element
2
method. The implicit direct integration dynamic analysis was used
 1  Max  to investigate the mechanical response of the instrumented
Tm ¼ T a  T Min
a ð14Þ semi-rigid base asphalt pavement. This method is based on
2
Hilbert-Hughes-Taylor’s time integration method and the New-
where:
mark integration schema [22]. The use of an implicit method is
 generally more efficient for a structural dynamics problem such
T a = average daily temperature, °C; as pavement dynamic response because its integration is uncondi-
T m = diurnal temperature variation, °C; tionally stable and allows a better numerical convergence than an
T Max
a = maximum daily temperature, °C; explicit method. However, this type of integration leads to an
T Min = minimum daily temperature, °C; impractical time step and, consequently, to computationally
a
t0 = Initial phase, and t = time, h. expensive analysis.

The heat exchange between the surface of the roadway and the 2.2.2. Modelling of material damping
atmosphere is mainly affected by the wind speed, the linear rela- Structural damping is one of the factors that seriously affects
tion between them can be expressed as follows [Eq. (15)]: the dynamic behaviors of the pavement system. Thus, for realistic
hc ¼ 3:7v w þ 9:4 ð15Þ simulation of asphalt pavement, it is essential to adopt realistic
structural damping in the nonlinear dynamic analysis. The source
where: of energy dissipation present in the pavement material can be
modeled using damping ratios. The modal damping method, the
hc = Surface coefficient of heat transfer, W=ðm2  CÞ; stiffness factor method, the stress-energy factor, and the Rayleigh
v w = Average daily wind velocity, m=s. damping matrix are the most commonly used for calculating the
damping ratio. In this analysis, the Rayleigh damping matrix
2.2. Mechanistic analysis expressed below [Eq. (19)] were used to define the damping rate
[Eq. (20)].
2.2.1. Transient dynamic analysis
Using the virtual work principle applied to a domain X and con- C ¼ a½M  þ b½K  ð19Þ
sidering small strains, the characteristic dynamic equations of a
a bw
solid consist of elastic and linear isotropic materials can be written n¼ þ ð20Þ
as [Eq. (16)]: 2w 2
! ! ! where:
div r þ f ¼ q c ð16Þ
where: a = mass damping coefficient;
b = stiffness damping coefficient.
r = Cauchy stress tensor;
!
f = denote the applied force; The mass and stiffness proportional damping coefficient can be
q = density; obtained by the vibration modes and the corresponding specific
!
c = acceleration vector. modal damping ratio, as indicated below [Eq. (21)]
 O.C. Assogba et al. / Construction and Building Materials 235 (2020) 117406
  " #
a wi wj wj wi  ni 
¼2
w2j  w2i  wj
1 1
b wj nj
where:
th
wi and wj = vibration frequencies at the i andj
respectively;
th
fi and fj = specific damping ratio at the i andj
respectively.
In a certain frequency range, the damping rate can be approxi-
mated as constant and the damping coefficients have the same
critical damping ratio. Thus, the mass and stiffness proportional
damping can be expressed with the following simplified form
[Eq. (22)]:
   
a 2n wi wj
¼ ð22Þ
b wi þ wj 1
where:
w1 and w2 = natural frequencies defined from modal analysis;
f = critical damping ratio for a given i order.
The first natural frequencies of the structure are often used to
determine the Rayleigh damping coefficients. Moreover, to avoid
over-damping the system, research suggests using the shape of
the 10th node first to determine the natural frequency of the
model. The lowest and highest load frequencies are often consid-
ered as critical frequencies in pavement structure analysis. Exper-
imentally, the critical damping rate of asphalt pavement was found
to range from 2 to 5% [23,24]. A critical damping coefficient of 5%
has been adopted in this numerical simulation; thus, the mass
damping coefficient and the stiffness damping coefficient were
set at 0.342 and 6.90 E3, respectively.
3. Pavement structure and material
3.1. Modelling of the 3D nonlinear FE
3.1.1. Geometry and meshing
Considering three typical test sections of the full-scale RIOH-
Track pavement test [25,26] as a prototype, a 3-D nonlinear FE
model of the pavement system was developed using the commer-
cial FE software, ABAQUS. Table 1 presents the thickness and the
materials constituting the layers of each semi-rigid asphalt pave-
ment structure that were investigated. Three main issues, namely
1) the lateral size of the model, 2) the depth of the model and 3)
the size of the mesh; were addressed during the development of
the pavement FE model. Existing 3D FE models in literature were
considered as reference and sensitivity analysis of the mesh was
performed. Then, the full-size FE model dimension (x, y, z) was
Table 1
Pavement Structures and material composition investigated in this study.
N° Layer
1 Asphalt Concrete upper layer
3 Asphalt Concrete middle layer
5 Asphalt Concrete bottom layer
7 Semi-rigid base
8 Semi-riigid Subbase
9 Cement stabilized Subgrade
10 Natural Soil (In place soil)
Total thickness of Asphalt Concrete structure layer
Note: For pavement material abbreviation referred to the subsection ‘‘Test section and materials properties”.
5
chosen to be 15 m  20 m  25 m, where the x-axis indicates the
ð21Þ
transverse direction; the y-axis denotes the depth and the z-axis
represents the traffic direction.
Previous research indicated that the consistency of the mesh
size has some influence on the predicted result by the FE model.
th Thus, in order to increase the accuracy of the model, relatively fine
modes,
mesh size was adopted along the truck wheel path, where the
th
stresses and displacement are high. Dense size mesh was used near
modes, the truck well path, while a relatively coarse mesh size was
adopted far away from the loading area. The in-plane Geometry
and the 3-D view of the established pavement FE model are given
in Fig. 2[(a) and (b)]. In order to enhance the convergence rate and
computational efficiency, two distinct mesh element types have
been defined for the FE model in this study. An 8-node linear heat
transfer brick (DC3D8) was assigned as the mesh element type for
thermal analysis, while the Continuum 3-D 8-node Reduced inte-
gration element (C3D8R) was adopted for mechanical analysis.
3.1.2. Initial and boundary condition
To avoid an adverse effect of the artificial boundary on the accu-
racy of numerical simulation results, it is imperative to adopt
appropriate and adequate boundary conditions [4]. Consequently,
during the thermal analysis, the bottom of the 3D FE model was
set as outflow. The four sides of the model were assumed to be adi-
abatic to allow for sufficiently large horizontal expansion. Note
that temperature changes are much greater in the vertical direc-
tion than in the horizontal direction. Thus, the horizontal heat
transfer across the four sides can be neglected. The initial temper-
ature field of the entire model was determined by interpolating the
field monitoring data.
As for the mechanical analysis, it was assumed that all four
sides of the model are constrained by any perpendicular move-
ment to the model side, the displacements of the x-axis and the
y-axis of the longitudinal and transverse sides, respectively, are
constrained to be zero [27–29]. In addition, the bottom of the
model was constrained to zero in the x, y, and z directions so that
there was no vertical or horizontal movement at the bottom of the
natural ground [4].
3.1.3. Interface model
The bonding condition between pavement layers could exert a
considerable influence on the pavement structural response.
Therefore, the model used to define the bonding conditions at the
layers interface is another important parameter for efficient pave-
ment simulation. As the investigated semi-rigid pavement struc-
tures were newly built, the upper, middle and bottom layers of
asphalt concrete layer were assumed to be completely continuous
(perfectly bonded) to each other in the developed model. Likewise,
a fully bonded interfacial condition has been adopted for the inter-
face between the cement stabilized graded crushed stone base and
subbase, as well as the interface between the cement stabilized
subgrade and the natural soil. On the other hand, a simple friction
Experiment Structure-A (STR-A) Experiment Structure-B (STR-B) Experiment Structure-C (STR-C)
4 cm SBS1-AC13 4 cm SBS1-AC13 4 cm SBS3-PAC13
10 cm A30-AC25 6 cm SBS2-AC20 6 cm SBS2-AC20
2 cm SBS1-AC10 8 cm A70-AC25 8 cm A70-AC25
20 cm CBG-A 18 cm CBG-A 18 cm CBG-B
20 cm CBG-A 20 cm CBG-A 20 cm CBG-B
20 cm CS 20 cm CS 20 cm CS
Infinite Infinite Infinite
16 cm 18 cm 18 cm
6 O.C. Assogba et al. / Construction and Building Materials 235 (2020) 117406

2.5
3.885

10
2.23
3.885

2.5
2.5 25 2.5
a) In plane geometry

Left side Boundary U(x)=0

U(z)=0
condition UR(y)=UR(z)=0
UR(x)=UR(y)=0
Front Boundary
condition

20 m

U(x)=0
UR(y)=UR(z)=0
Right side Boundary
condition

Notation for
Boundary condition
Displacement
U(z)=0 U(x)
UR(x)=UR(y)=0 Direction
Rear Boundary
condition U(x)=U(y)=U(z)=0 Rotation
UR(x)=UR(y)=UR(y)=0 UR(x)
Bottom Bondary condition Direction

b) 3D View of Finite Element

Fig. 2. Finite element mesh of the pavement structure.

model (coulomb model) with a friction coefficient (l) was used to
simulate the interface bonding conditions between the asphalt
layer and the semi-rigid base, as well as the interface between
the subbase and subgrade. In this model, two friction coefficient
values of 0 (full slip) and 1 (frictionless) were used to define inter-
layer conditions. Normal and tangential contact properties were
incorporated to correctly capture the mechanical behavior of the
interface. Thus, the normal behavior of the load transfer system
was modeled using a hard contact pressure overlay between the
surfaces. The tangential behavior of the interface between the
two layers was modeled using Coulomb friction. Note that no shear
stress limit was included and separation between the surface was
allowed after contact.
3.1.4. Thermal loading
Under the influence of environmental factors, the actual tem-
perature within the pavement structure changes with the time of
the day and the depth of the pavement, and its temperature field
is a transient temperature field. As a pavement material, the
viscoelasticity of asphalt mixture is very significant, and the prop-
erties of the material are greatly affected by temperature. There-
fore, for a realistic simulation of the actual mechanical response
of the pavement, the actual temperature field of the pavement
structure must be integrated. Thus, a steady-state heat transfer
analysis was firstly conducted to obtain the initial temperature of
the pavement structure, then transient heat transfer analysis was
performed to determine the relevant temperature profile. FILM
and FLUX user subroutines were coded via a Fortran computer
program to predict the temperature distribution in the pavement
layers. In this respect, the ambient temperature, solar radiation,
pavement surface effective radiation and transient conduction
predefined in the previous section ‘‘2-1 Thermal analysis” were
considered. The meteorological parameters were collected from
meteorological stations installed at the RIOH-Track test site. For
more details, refer to sub-sections ‘‘3-2-1 Thermophysical Proper-
ties” and ‘‘4-1 In Situ Measurements”.
 O.C. Assogba et al. / Construction and Building Materials 235 (2020) 117406
3.1.5. Dynamic traffic loading
The loads on the wheels of the vehicle in motion applied to the
pavement system at a given moving speed are undeniably
dynamic. Thus, the magnitude of the load and the position of the
load on the wheels are time-dependent and can be considered
equal to the sum of the static load and a constantly changing load.
In this regard, a user subroutine DLOAD was coded via a Fortran
computer program to integrate the dynamic load and its contact
stress effect on the pavement into the implicit dynamic analysis.
The DLOAD subroutine specifies the variation of the amplitude of
the distributed load (F) as a function of time (TIME *) in a specific
coordinate system (COORDS *). Note that the truck wheel load con-
figurations, the tire-pavement surface contact, and the associated
contact stress were required parameters for modeling the transient
dynamic load of the vehicle in motion. Stery-King 6  4 Dump
Truck which includes a steer axle and a tandem drive axle was
used as controlled load truck. The detailed parameters of the latter
are summarized in Table 2. The contact area between each tire and
the pavement surface was measured and recorded, as shown in
Fig. 3[(a) and (b)]. For more simplicity, it was assumed that the
tire-road contact area induced by each wheel load (Table 2) is
rectangular with an equivalent area Ac. The length and width of
the converted rectangle were 0.8712 L and 0.6 L, respectively,
and can be inferred from the use of the following expressions
[Eqs. (23) and (24)] [30]:
Ac ¼ pð0:3LÞ2 þ ð0:4LÞð0:6LÞ ¼ 0:5227L2 ð23Þ
rffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
Ac pffiffiffiffiffi
L¼ ¼ 1:3832 Ac ð24Þ
0:5227
The weighbridge was also used to obtain the load distribution
data on each axle of the truck under different loading conditions.
The truck weighing method consisted of weighing the truck’s total
load and weighing each axle of the truck. The actual weights of the
Table 2
Controlled-load test truck dimensions (Story-King 6  4 Dump Truck).
Dimensions (mm) Value
Wheelbase 5175
Distance between the front axle and the rear first axle 3825
Distance between the rear first axle and the rear second axle 1350
Front-wheel track 2022
Rear-wheel track 1830
Spacing between rear tires 350
Fig. 3. Tire-pavement contact area: (a) Tire Footprint Measurement and (b) Measured Footprint.
7
axles, the measured tire-pavement contact area and the contact
pressure under each load configuration are summarized in
Tables 3.
3.2. Materials mechanical and thermophysical parameters
3.2.1. Thermophysical properties
Previous studies indicated that the thermophysical parameters
of pavement materials have a significant influence on the temper-
ature profile of the pavement structure. The thermophysical
parameters of a multilayer asphalt pavement are related to the
composition of materials, moisture, and porosity, which affects
the properties and mechanical behavior of materials. Thus, in addi-
tion to environmental and meteorological factors, the thermal and
physical properties of the materials must be carefully defined.
Asphalt mixture is an extremely temperature sensitive material,
however, it has been found that its thermal properties remain
stable regardless of temperature variation. Consequently, the ther-
mophysical parameters of the pavement structure were defined as
constant in this numerical simulation. The parameters were
selected to provide a good correspondence between the field
observed and predicted pavement temperatures. The adopted ther-
mophysical parameters presented in Table 4 are based on the Chi-
nese specifications for the design of highway asphalt pavement
(JTG D50-2017).
3.2.2. Mechanical properties
The mechanical properties used to characterize the materials of
the pavement structure were defined in two ways. In the first
stage, where the pavement temperature profiles are generated, it
was considered that the asphalt materials exhibited a linear ther-
moelastic behavior defined by the stiffness modulus, which
depends on the temperature. The elastic properties assigned for
each asphalt mixtures during that stage are listed in Table 7. In
the second stage, where both temperature and traffic loading were
applied, the asphalt layers were considered as thermo-rheological
simple material with linear viscoelastic behavior. The constitutive
equation of such a material can be expressed as per the following
form [Eqs. (25)–(28)] [31]:
Z Z
n
@ ekl ðxk ; n0 Þ 0 n
@hkl ðxk ; n0 Þ 0
rij ðxk ; nÞ ¼ cijkl ðn  n0 Þ dn  bij ðn  n0 Þ dn
0 @n0 0 @n0
ð25Þ
with:
Z t
1
n ¼ nðt Þ ds ð26Þ
0 aT
8 O.C. Assogba et al. / Construction and Building Materials 235 (2020) 117406

Table 3
Test truck axles weight, measured contact surface and pressure under various loading condition.

Side Tire contact Surface (cm2) Contact Pressure (MPa) Axle Weight (kN)
Left Right Left Right —
Test truck axles weight, measured contact surface and pressure under Empty truck load
Tire position 1 2 1 2 —
Front axle 276 238 0.98 1.13 54.80
Tire position 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 —
Rear first axle 165 171 103 121 0.70 0.67 1.12 0.95 46.83
Rear second axle 274 274 239 267 0.42 0.42 0.48 0.43 46.83
Test truck axles weight, measured contact surface and pressure under full loading condition
Tire position 1 2 1 2 —
Front axle 447 443 0.83 0.86 75.53
Tire position 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 —
Rear first axle 321 331 292 310 0.78 0.76 0.86 0.81 101.93
Rear second axle 462 462 334 337 0.54 0.54 0.75 0.75 101.93
Test truck axles weight, measured contact surface and pressure under overloading condition
Tire position 1 2 1 2 —
Front axle 459 375 0.85 1.04 78.61
Tire position 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 —
Rear first axle 387 322 267 300 0.86 1.07 1.29 1.15 140.19
Rear second axle 448 448 386 383 0.77 0.77 0.89 0.90 140.19

Table 4
Thermophysical and mechanical parameters of pavement materials for temperature analysis.

Thermal conductivity Specific heat capacity Coefficient of Density Poisson’s

(J/m h °C) (J/kg.°C) Expansion (m3/m) (kg/m3) ratio
Asphalt Mixture
SBS1-AC13 5240 1086 2e-5 2345 0.25
SBS3-PAC13 4672 926 2e-5 2148 0.25
A30-AC25 4325 984 2e-5 2437 0.25
SBS2-AC20 4586 976 2e-5 2430 0.25
SBS1-AC10 4880 1168 2e-5 2350 0.25
A70-AC25 4684 994 2e-5 2433 0.25
Non-asphaltic layer
Base 5680 946 1e-5 2428 0.20
Subbase 5680 946 1e-5 2428 0.20
Subgrade 5562 1040 25e-5 1898 0.25
Natural Soil 4050 1012 55e-5 1780 0.35
Solar absorptance 0.90 (Summer)
0.80 (Spring)
Pavement surface Emissivity 0.85
Absolute zero temperature (Tz/°C) 273
Stefan Boltzmann constant (J/h m2 K4) 2.041  10-4

Z t0
1 [Eqs. (29) and (30)], using the kernel functions of the generalized
n0 ¼ nðt 0 Þ ds ð27Þ Maxwell elements [32].
0 aT



aT ¼ aT ½TðsÞ X
nG  n
ð28Þ GðnÞ ¼ G0 þ Gi e
kG
i ð29Þ
aT ¼ aT ½hðsÞ
i¼1

where:

X
nk  n
kK
aT = time-temperature shift factor; K ðnÞ ¼ K 0 þ Kie i ð30Þ
s = integration variable; i¼1
t and t0 = time moment;
The kernel functions are expressed in terms of the Prony-
rij and ekl = stress and strain tensor, respectively; Dirichlet series which is an efficient analysis algorithm, its formu-
xk = function of position lation is indicated by the following equation [Eqs. (31) and (32)]:
bij = second-order tensor of relaxation moduli relating stress to
"   !#
thermal strain; X
N
st
C ijkl = fourth-order tensor of relaxation moduli relating stress to GðtÞ ¼ G0 1  Gi 1  e i
ð31Þ
mechanical strain. i¼1

"   !#
The viscoelastic characteristic of the asphalt mixture with X
N
st
regards to relaxation used in numerical simulation through the K ðt Þ ¼ K 0 1  Ki 1  e i
ð32Þ
i¼1
finite element method can be expressed in hereditary integral form
 O.C. Assogba et al. / Construction and Building Materials 235 (2020) 117406
where:
N = number of Prony Dirichlet series terms;
G0 and K 0 = instantaneous shear modulus and bulk modulus,
respectively;
Gi , K i and si = Prony Dirichlet series coefficients.
The Williams Landell Ferry function (WLF) presented in Eq. (33)
was used to model the time-temperature superposition of asphalt
concrete materials [33].
C 1 ðT  T ref Þ
logðaT Þ ¼
C 2 þ ðT  T ref Þ
where:
aT = time-temperature shift factor;
C 1 , C 2 = regression coefficients;
T and T ref = analysis and reference temperature, respectively.
The regression coefficients were obtained from the sigmoid
function introduced in the AASHOTO pavement design guide
(AASHTO, 2004), as shown in Eqs. [(34) and (35)]
a
logðEðtr ÞÞ ¼ d þ
1 þ expðb þ clogðtr ÞÞ
with:
t
aT ¼
tr
where:
a; b; c; d = regression coefficients;
t = time before conversion under temperature test;
tr = time after conversion under reference temperature.
To obtain the viscoelastic material parameters, dynamic com-
plex modulus tests were conducted as required by the American
Standard Test Method for Dynamic Modulus of Asphalt Mixtures
(ASTM-D3497). For each asphalt mixture, the test was carried out
at a temperature of 5, 15, 20, 30, 40 and 50 °C, and at loading fre-
quencies of 0.01, 0.10, 0.20, 0.50, 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 and 25 Hz for each
temperature. The approximate method proposed by Park et al. was
used to determine the relaxation modulus from the dynamic com-
plex modulus and the phase angle of the test results [34,35]. The
latter was used to determine the shear and bulk relaxation
modulus. The test result was then fitted in the kernel functions
[Eqs. (31) and (32)] to obtain the Prony Dirichlet series parameters,
and considering the thermal-rheological simplicity principle
[Eqs. (33)–(35)] the WLF constant can be obtained at each test
temperature. The Prony Dirichlet series parameter and the instan-
taneous time scale elastic modulus of each asphalt mixture at the
aforementioned testing temperature are provided in Tables 5 and
6, respectively. Note that at any desired temperature, asphalt
material parameters can also be obtained by fitting the above-
mentioned equations [Eqs. (31)–(35)].
It was assumed that all non-asphaltic layers were isotropic lin-
ear elastic. The material parameters of the semi-rigid base and
sub-base were obtained using a laboratory uniaxial compression
module test method in accordance with Chinese test methods
JTG D50-2017 (Specification for Design of Highway Asphalt
Pavement-Appendix E). Note that the test samples were made as
soon as the construction of the experimental structure section
was completed in order to obtain the module of the uncracked
semi-rigid base and sub-base. On the other hand, Falling Weight
Deflectometer tests on the constructed structure were carried out
to determine the elastic modulus of the cement stabilized subgrade
9
soil and the natural soil in-place by way of back-calculation.
The elastic moduli of non-asphaltic layers obtained by back-
calculation and laboratory experiments are presented in Table 7.
4. Numerical model validation
Although efforts were made to approximate the actual pave-
ment conditions in the developed 3-D FE model based on labora-
tory results (material characterization), environmental conditions
(temperature profile), and modeling techniques, certain assump-
tions were unavoidable. Therefore, this section is dedicated to
ð33Þ
the validation of the model. The first part presents the measure-
ments in situ, including tests section design, material properties,
pavements instrumentation, and full-scale field testing. The second
part assesses the accuracy of the response to the thermal load and
the last section investigates the accuracy of the response to both
thermal and dynamic load.
4.1. In situ measurements
4.1.1. Test section and materials properties
The instrumented semi-rigid asphalt pavement modeled in this
ð34Þ FE analysis is part of the full-scale RIOH-Track pavement test facil-
ity located in Yi-Zhuang, Beijing, China. In order to generate com-
prehensive test data needed to validate and refine current Chinese
design methodology for pavement structures and materials, the
ð35Þ test section included 19 asphalt pavements structure, 13 cement
concrete structures, and 6 rutting resistance asphalt pavement
structures. However, only three typical structures, representing
three distinct groups of the RIOH-Track semi-rigid pavement struc-
ture were modeled in this study. These pavement structures iden-
tified as STR-A, STR-B, and STR-C correspond respectively to STR-6,
STR-7, and STR-9 of the RIOH-Track project. For more details on
these structures, see [36]. The first structure (STR-A) is a semi-
rigid structure with a stress-absorbing layer. The second structure
(STR-B) differs from conventional semi-rigid structures in the high
strength of its semi-rigid layer. The last structure (STR-C) was an
improvement of the most used traditional semi-rigid structures.
The three pavement sections were built on the same cement
stabilized subgrade (CS) with a relatively small longitudinal slope
and all the natural soil (in-place soil). The subgrade layer contains
2 to –4% cement and the required compressive strength after
7 days was 3 MPa. The top of the in-place soil was improved by
compaction without the addition of a stabilizer (hydraulic binder,
cement, etc.). Two types of base layers, which are widely used in
China, namely a high strength semi-rigid base and a conventional
semi-rigid base were used. The first semi-rigid base consists of
cement stabilized graded crushed stone (CBG-A) containing 6 to
9% cement, with a compressive strength of 6 MPa at 7 days. The
second consists of cement stabilized graded crushed stone
(CBG-B) with 4–6% cement content, had a compressive strength
of 4.6 MPa at 7 days. The gradation and the composition of the
semi-rigid layer used in this study are listed in Table 8.
The asphalt layers of the pavement test sections presented in
this study consisted of six distinct asphalt mixtures from a
styrene-butadienestyrene modified compound (SBS) [SBS1, SBS2,
and SBS3] or a standard asphalt binder [A30#, and A70#]. Refer
to chinise technical specification for construction of higway
asphalt pavement [JTG F40-2015]. SBS1-AC13 and SBS3-PAC13
were used as a wear-resistant surface layer to improve the
resistance to rutting and durability of the pavement structure.
A30-AC25 and SBS2-AC20 were applied in the asphalt middle
course to enhance resistance to load-associated pavement distress.
A70-AC20 and the anti-fatigue layer SBS1-AC10 were used as
asphalt underlying layer. The gradation of the aggregates applied
10 O.C. Assogba et al. / Construction and Building Materials 235 (2020) 117406

Table 5
Prony parameters of each asphalt mixture at the selected test temperature.

s G/K
5 15 20 30 40 50
SBS1-AC13
0.00001 0.02378 0.06063 0.09236 0.18423 0.31288 0.45334
0.0001 0.02372 0.05965 0.08712 0.15131 0.20212 0.21401
0.001 0.04529 0.10726 0.14720 0.21059 0.21377 0.17327
0.01 0.08344 0.17304 0.20840 0.20828 0.14498 0.08664
0.1 0.14207 0.21951 0.21063 0.13324 0.06803 0.03570
1 0.20071 0.18828 0.13729 0.05948 0.02679 0.01373
10 0.21267 0.10574 0.06266 0.02356 0.01078 0.00586
100 0.13701 0.04208 0.02341 0.00887 0.00428 0.00240
1000 0.08435 0.02140 0.01228 0.00512 0.00264 0.00154
A30-AC25
0.00001 0.02421 0.04830 0.06366 0.13876 0.24469 0.34647
0.0001 0.01782 0.03743 0.05071 0.09623 0.14293 0.18534
0.001 0.03094 0.06335 0.08509 0.14323 0.18199 0.19464
0.01 0.05073 0.10175 0.13260 0.18287 0.18039 0.14012
0.1 0.08403 0.14990 0.18036 0.18357 0.13090 0.07273
1 0.12059 0.18535 0.19279 0.13272 0.06819 0.03050
10 0.17558 0.18213 0.15055 0.06977 0.02866 0.01257
100 0.16013 0.11771 0.07775 0.02783 0.01053 0.00499
1000 0.21059 0.07759 0.04294 0.01428 0.00565 0.00316
SBS2-AC20
0.00001 0.04755 0.10633 0.15027 0.27106 0.42854 0.59675
0.0001 0.03680 0.07687 0.10274 0.15560 0.18515 0.17155
0.001 0.06233 0.11994 0.15058 0.19000 0.17640 0.12618
0.01 0.10030 0.16677 0.18700 0.17430 0.11444 0.06033
0.1 0.14846 0.19108 0.17994 0.11452 0.05524 0.02511
1 0.18509 0.16287 0.12338 0.05448 0.02179 0.00938
10 0.18408 0.09930 0.06155 0.02189 0.00858 0.00399
100 0.12036 0.04272 0.02370 0.00800 0.00328 0.00160
1000 0.07927 0.02146 0.01188 0.00442 0.00204 0.00110
A70-AC25
0.00001 0.02854 0.06927 0.08675 0.19733 0.34127 0.51440
0.0001 0.02655 0.06110 0.08049 0.14742 0.20200 0.21245
0.001 0.04908 0.10558 0.13784 0.20514 0.21428 0.16205
0.01 0.08764 0.16616 0.20473 0.21240 0.14543 0.07176
0.1 0.14519 0.21519 0.22587 0.14346 0.06354 0.02477
1 0.20335 0.19795 0.15828 0.06162 0.02084 0.00767
10 0.21679 0.11647 0.06898 0.02038 0.00674 0.00281
100 0.14162 0.04359 0.02194 0.00625 0.00224 0.00102
1000 0.07625 0.01712 0.00890 0.00286 0.00121 0.00063
SBS3-PAC13
0.00001 0.06614 0.15150 0.19864 0.30625 0.43836 0.56186
0.0001 0.04187 0.08031 0.09941 0.13594 0.16075 0.16892
0.001 0.06564 0.11275 0.13288 0.16101 0.15985 0.13422
0.01 0.09720 0.14295 0.15555 0.15440 0.11775 0.07249
0.1 0.13464 0.15904 0.15435 0.11745 0.06759 0.03322
1 0.16125 0.14482 0.12144 0.06831 0.03089 0.01352
10 0.16704 0.10533 0.07501 0.03229 0.01299 0.00594
100 0.11886 0.05536 0.03459 0.01268 0.00502 0.00247
1000 0.09802 0.03283 0.01881 0.00680 0.00302 0.00172
SBS1-AC10
0.00001 0.15963 0.12108 0.13548 0.22530 0.41092 0.44959
0.0001 0.08008 0.08190 0.10926 0.15994 0.18096 0.20483
0.001 0.11061 0.14309 0.16712 0.20658 0.17713 0.17466
0.01 0.13821 0.18756 0.20722 0.19120 0.12041 0.09452
0.1 0.15303 0.19511 0.18335 0.11894 0.06144 0.04034
1 0.14060 0.13998 0.10879 0.05316 0.02563 0.01554
10 0.10557 0.07337 0.04805 0.02116 0.01054 0.00651
100 0.05780 0.02855 0.01794 0.00797 0.00415 0.00265
1000 0.03671 0.01485 0.00960 0.00465 0.00265 0.00173

in each type of mixture is illustrated in Fig. 4, and some basic
design properties of the mixtures are listed in Table 9. More details
can be found in [26,36].
4.1.2. Pavement section instrumentation
State-Of-The-Art field instrumentation and data acquisition
program was developed as part of the RIOH-Track field monitoring
program. The field instrumentation consisted of numerous sensors
installed throughout the pavement structure following a compre-
hensive instrumentation plan and a procedure of installation with
a high survival rate. Fig. 5 shows a detailed view of the entire
instrumentation plan and the sensor’s distributions layout in each
pavement structure. A total of 55 sensors were installed at differ-
ent elevations and positions in each instrumented pavement sec-
tion to measure significant parameters such as stress, strains,
deformations, moisture and temperature inside the pavement lay-
 O.C. Assogba et al. / Construction and Building Materials 235 (2020) 117406 11

Table 6
The elastic modulus for viscoelasticity with instantaneous time scale at selected Temperature.

Temperature (°C) Instantaneous Modulus of each asphalt mixtures (MPa)

SBS1-AC13 SBS3-PAC13 A30-AC25 SBS2-AC20 SBS1-AC10 A70-AC25
5 18,364 12,839 31,901 23,299 18,215 25,953
15 12,223 9093 25,724 15,476 11,068 18,076
20 9217 7189 21,888 11,649 8451 13,855
30 4787 3993 13,966 5791 47,361 6690
40 2513 1958 7788 2659 2764 2755
50 1472 930 4056 1276 1707 1130

Table 7
Elastic moduli of non-asphaltic layers.

Layers Base / Subbase Subgrade Natural Soil

Materials CBG-A CBG-B CS In place soil
Elastic Modulus (MPa) 11,200 8000 3000 120

Table 8
Gradation and composition of cement stabilized graded crushed stone (CBG).

Sieve Size (mm) 26.5 19 13.2 9.5 4.75 2.36 1.18 0.6 0.3 0.15 0.705
Gradation (% passing) 100 84 68 57 40 26 17 11 7 5 4
Composition CBG-A CBG-B
Water 5.6 5.29
Cement 5.9 4.5

100 AC10 impervious to moisture absorption producing excellent stability

AC13 for long term monitoring. A total of 8 KM-100 HAS strain transduc-
Percent passing ()

80 PAC13 ers, 4 oriented in a longitudinal direction and 4 oriented trans-

AC20 versely were installed at the bottom of the asphalt layer of each
60 AC25 structure to measure the asphalt strain. Two KM-50F strain trans-
40 ducers were integrated to measure the dynamic vertical strain at
the bottom of the asphalt layer. Fig. 6[(a)–(f)] shows some pictures
20 of the installations of the dynamic sensors at the bottom of the
asphalt layer. The asphalt strain gauge was mainly installed by
0 the following methods. (1) Sensors layout: Before the asphalt layer
0.075 0.15 0.3 0.6 1.18 2.36 4.75 9.5 13.2 16 19 26.5
was paved, the embedding position of strain gauge and the posi-
Sieve size (mm)
tion of the sensor connection lines were placed on the top of the
Fig. 4. Aggregate gradation of different asphalt mixture. waterproof bonding layer with wood and other materials, as
shown in Fig. 6(a). After the asphalt layer was completed, the strain
gauge installation groove and sensors connection lines were cut
ers. The position of the sensors determined according to the survey out at this location [Fig. 6(b)]. (2) Installation of strain gauges: A
results based on the wheel truck was centered on the left side of small amount of asphalt mixture was spread to the bottom of
the wheel path of the lane reserved for the controlled-load test the installation hole, then the asphalt strain gauges were placed
trucks. on top. Rubber band was used to clamp the two sides of the
The KM series strain transducers made by Tokyo Measuring I-shaped strain gauge to exert prestressing force, as shown in
Instrument Lab. (TML) were adopted considering their waterproof Fig. 6(c). After carefully covering the strain gauge with asphalt con-
construction and extremely low modulus which is ideally suited crete [Fig. 6(d)], a roller was used to compact it without damaging
for pavement internal strain measurement. They were also, totally the sensors [Fig. 6(e)]. (3) Sensor signal verification: Sensor signal

Table 9
Design properties of asphalt mixtures.

Asphalt Mixtures SBS1-AC13 SBS3-PAC13 A30-AC25 SBS2-AC20 SBS1-AC10 A70-AC25

Asphalt cement SBS-1 SBS-3 A30# SBS-2 SBS-1 A70#
Gradation AC13 PAC13 AC25 AC20 AC10 AC25
VMA (%) 16.93 24.04 13.28 13.18 14.59 13.42
VV (%) 5.15 15.02 3.81 2.93 2.95 4.06
VFA (%) 70.12 37.83 71.44 76.44 80.66 68.17
VCA (%) 42.42 39.46 35.11 39.61 53.27 35.22
Pa (%) 5.46 4.55 4.12 4.48 5.47 4.07
cmb(g/cm3) 2.4741 2.2452 2.5369 2.5404 2.5025 2.5312
cmd(g/cm3) 2.3455 2.1487 2.4372 2.4307 2.3514 2.4333

Note: VFA = Void filled with asphalt volume; Pa = Asphalt aggregate ratio; VV = Volume of air in the compacted mix; cmb = bulk density of the mixture; VMA = Void mineral
aggregate; cmd = dry density of the mixture; VCA = Voids in coarse aggregate of asphalt mix.
12 O.C. Assogba et al. / Construction and Building Materials 235 (2020) 117406

200
90 10 Vertical Strain Sensor
30
Asphalt Transversal Strain Sensor
AC Upper Layer W1
*
AC Middle Layer W2
* Asphalt Longitudinal Strain Sensor
AC Underlying layer Y1 W3
* D1 Base, Subbase and Subgrade
Base Y2 Transversal Strain Sensor
S1 W4
* D2
Subbase Base, Subbase and Subgrade
Y3 S2 W5
* D3
Longitudinal Strain Sensor
Subgrade Hydraulic pressure cells
Y4 S3 W6
20
* D4
Y5 S4 Humidity sensors
Natural Soil

54
W7 Y6 S5
*
50
W6
* Y7 S6 * Thermocouple

Displacement Transduscer
50 S7
W8
* 30 Unit : Cm (Note in Scale)

(a)

40 20 30 30 80 30 30 60

Road centerline Road centerline

Reference Line

Reference Line
60

60
L1-1 H1-3 H1-1
SX 1-1
L1-4 L1-3 L1-2 H1-4 H1-2
30

30
Traffic Direction
Y1 Y2
S-1
30

30
L1-5 Traffic Direction H1-8 H1-6
L1-8 L1-6
SX 1-2
L1-7 H1-7 H1-5

Unit : Cm (Note in Scale) Unit : Cm (Note in Scale)

SX 1-1 and SX 1-2 = Vertical Asphalt Strain Sensor S-1 = Humidity Sensor
L1-1, L1-3, L1-5 and L1-7 = Horizontal Asphalt Strain Sensor (Longitudinal Direction) H1-1, H1-3, H1-5 and H1-7 = Horizontal Asphalt Strain Sensor (Longitudinal Direction)
L1-2, L1-3, L1-6 and L1-8 Horizontal Asphalt Strain Sensor (Transversal direction) H1-2, H1-4, H1-6 and H1-8 Horizontal Asphalt Strain Sensor (Transversal direction)
Y1=Hydraulic pressure cells Y2=Hydraulic pressure cells
(b) (c)
30 30 60 30 30 60

Road centerline Road centerline

Reference Line
Reference Line

60
60

H2-3 H2-1 H3-3 H3-1

H2-4 H2-2 H3-4 H3-2

30
30

Y3 Y4
S-2 S-3
30
30

Traffic Direction H2-8 H2-6 Traffic Direction H3-8 H3-6

H2-7 H2-5 H3-7 H3-5

Unit : Cm (Note in Scale) Unit : Cm (Note in Scale)

S-2 = Humidity Sensor S-3 = Humidity Sensor

H2-1, H2-3, H2-5 and H2-7 = Horizontal Asphalt Strain Sensor (Longitudinal Direction) H3-1, H3-3, H3-5 and H3-7 = Horizontal Asphalt Strain Sensor (Longitudinal Direction)
H2-2, H2-4, H2-6 and H2-8 Horizontal Asphalt Strain Sensor (Transversal Direction) H3-2, H3-4, H3-6 and H3-8 Horizontal Asphalt Strain Sensor (Transversal Direction)
Y3=Hydraulic pressure cells Y4=Hydraulic pressure cells
(d) (e)
Fig. 5. Typical dynamic instrumentation layout of STR-B pavement structure: (a) Profile view; (b) Detailed plan view at the bottom of asphalt layer; (c) Detailed plan view at
the bottom of the Base; (d) Detailed plan view at the bottom of the subbase and (e) Detailed plan view at the bottom of the subgrade.

readings were performed from time to time before and during the At the bottom of the cement stabilized graded crushed stone
asphalt pavement to assess its signal presence and stability in base and subbase, and at the bottom of the cement stabilized sub-
order to confirm that the sensors were working properly [Fig. 6 grade soil, a total of 24 KM-100A strain transducers were installed
(f)]. In the absence of a signal, the sensors were replaced immedi- in order to capture both horizontal and longitudinal dynamic
ately and even if the paving was completed, it was necessary to strain. At each of the above-mentioned positions in each pavement
remedy the sensor by re-digging. section, there were 8 dynamic concrete sensors, in which 4 were in
 O.C. Assogba et al. / Construction and Building Materials 235 (2020) 117406 13

Arms of KM-
100HA S

Thermocoupl e
Rubber band (T-F-0.65)

(a) (b) (c)

(d) (e) (f)

Fig. 6. Installation process of the dynamic sensors at the bottom of the asphalt layer: (a) Layout; (b) Sensors installation point; (c) Positioning of strain transducer; (d)
Coverage by asphalt concrete, (e) Roller compaction and (f) Data reader for on-site reading.

longitudinal direction and the other 4 were transversely oriented.
Fig. 7[(a)–(d)] shows some pictures of the installations of the
dynamic sensors at the bottom of the cement stabilized graded
crushed stone base. The concrete strain gauge was installed using
the following methods: (1) Prefabrication of the mounting block
of the strain gauges: According to the mix ratio and compactness
of the semi-rigid material to be embedded, the specimens were
prefabricated in the laboratory by static pressing, and the strain
gauge mounting blocks were prepared as illustrated in Fig. 7(a).
(2) Sensors layout: Similar to the installation process of the asphalt
strain gauge, the embedding position of the strain gauges were
marked. Once the layer of the semi-rigid material was completed,
the sensors installation groove and connection lines were cut out
in this location [Fig. 7(b)]. (3) Embedding of the strain gauges:
The prefabricated strain gauge mounting blocks were placed in
the mounting trough, and cement stabilized materials with a smal-
ler particle size were used to fill the gap, then the semi-rigid mate-
rial is backfilled and compacted, as illustrated in Fig. 7(c) and (d).
(4) Sensor signal checking: Sensor signal readings were taken from
time to time before and during sensor installation to evaluate the
presence of the signal and confirm its correct operation.
Piezo-resistive pressure transducer P252A with the hydraulic
pressure cells OL111D05000 manufactured by the Italian company
SISGEO were installed to record the pressure at various depth in
the pavement structure, as shown in Fig. 8[(a)–(c)]. A total of 7
hydraulic pressure cells were embedded at the bottom of the
asphalt layer, base, subbase, subgrade and at a different depth
within the natural soil. Fig. 6 show some pictures of the installation
of the pressure transducer on the site. The measurement range [FS]
of the pressure transducer was (0–200 kPa) up to (0–20 MPa) and
the sensitivity was 0.002% FS. The operating temperature was from
20 °C to +80 °C. The pressure cells were located in the center of
the outer wheel lane, where the wheel was expected to generate
the greatest stress on the pavement structure. The installation pro-
cess of pressure gauge was similar to that of asphalt strain gauge.
In addition to mechanical responses such as stress, strain and
deformation, moisture and temperature inside pavement layers
are of great importance. Thus, in order to measure temperature
profile throughout the pavement section, a total of 7 platinum
resistance temperature sensor PT100 of Jinzhou Fine Instrument
Co., Ltd were inserted at different depths of each pavement section.
A roadside weather station was erected for the accurate measure-
ment and modeling of the climate. Radiation and air temperature
conditions recorded on two representative days, 04th March
2017 (Spring day) and 2nd July 2017 (Summer day) are depicted
in Fig. 9[(a) and (b)]. For each pavement section, a total of 7 humid-
ity sensors were installed at different depth within the pavement
to capture the moisture level. Once the construction and installa-
tion of the instruments were completed, the survivability assess-
ment of the sensors was carried out by moving a truck on the

Fig. 7. Installation process of the dynamic strain sensors at the bottom of the semi-rigid layer (a) Precast concrete strain sensor mounting block; (b) Sensor installation slot;
(c) Positioning and installation, and (d) Coverage by semi-rigid material.
14 O.C. Assogba et al. / Construction and Building Materials 235 (2020) 117406

Pressure cell

(a) (b) (c)

Fig. 8. Installation of pressure cells in (a) Asphalt layer; (b) Semi-rigid layers, and (c) Roadbed.

40 1.2
07/02/2017 03/04/2017
35 Tmax =36.94qC 07/02/2017

Radiation Intensity (MJ/m2)

1.0
30 Tmin =25.81 qC
Air Temperatue (qC)

25 0.8
20
0.6
15 03/04/2017
Tmax =16.75 qC
10 Tmin =-3.26 qC 0.4
5
0.2
0
-5 0.0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24
Time of Day (h) Time of Day (h)
(a) (b)

Fig. 9. Variation of: (a) solar radiation and (b) air temperature in a selected day (03/04/2017 and 07/02/2017).

instruments to assess the presence and the stability of the signal.
Note that data of mechanical response was continuously gathered
at a rate of 2,000 points per second by a high-frequency data
acquisition system; dynamic data acquisition system (DDAS) of
the Austrian company Gantner.
4.1.3. Controlled truck load testing
Controlled truck load testing was performed by driving Stery-
King 6  4 Dump Truck loaded to a known weight at a controlled
speed over the pavement structure with the objective of quantify-
ing the pavement response while being exposed to varying daily
temperature, different wheel load configuration at target moving
speed of 20, 40 and 60 km/h. Taking into account the climatic con-
ditions of the test site, located in Beijing, China, measurements
were carried out at two representative days, 04th March 2017
(Spring day) and 2nd July 2017 (Summer day). The dump truck
used to conduct the controlled load full-scale field test had a single
steering axle and a tandem driving axle, as previously indicated in
Table 3. In order to take into account the impact of truck weight
distribution and the overload phenomenon of the heavy-duty
trucks on the semi-rigid pavement structures, measurements were
made under three load levels namely empty, fully loaded and
overloading conditions, as presented in Table 3. It is important to
mention that the instrumentation area was centered along the left
side of the wheel path of the truck lane, as shown in Fig. 8. The
location of the sensing zone was indicated on the pavement surface
[Fig. 10(a)] to ensure that the truck left wheels passed directly over
the sensors [Fig. 10(b)]. Video cameras were also installed to verify
the passage of the truck wheels over the instrument area. Each test
was repeated at least three times to ensure that the measured
characteristic was representative and replicable.
4.2. Accuracy of the response to the temperature load
The result of the 3-D transient thermal analysis and the field
observed variation of pavement temperature at different depth
within STR-A over two representative days, 4th March 2017
(Spring day) and 2nd July 2017 (Summer day) are illustrated in
Fig. 11[(a) and (b)]. It appears that the predicted and observed tem-
perature curves are similar and that the amplitude of the temper-
ature fluctuations decreases as the depth increases. Likewise, the
maximum temperature in the pavement structure decreases with
increasing depth, however, there is a delay in the appearance of
the maximum temperature. Overall, it can be stated that the two
results lie close together. The effectiveness of the established 3D
FE models in simulating the thermal behavior of the pavement
structure was evaluated in terms of the prediction error at the
maximum and minimum daily temperature, er [Eq. (36)]:


Tp  Tm
er ¼  100 ð36Þ
Tm
where:
T p predicted temperature, °C;
T m measured temperature, °C.
A negative value of er indicates an under-prediction of temper-
ature from FE simulations, while a positive value of er suggests an
over-prediction. As indicated by the prediction errors tabulation
(Table 10), the developed 3-D transient heat FE model generally
predicts the temperature observed at different depths of the pave-
ment structure with a prediction error of less than 10%. Therefore,
it can be concluded that the 3-D transient heat FE model is capable
 O.C. Assogba et al. / Construction and Building Materials 235 (2020) 117406 15

1.350 m 3.825 m

Instrumentation Area
1.830m

2.022 m
Rear Drive Front Drive
Steering axle
Tandem Axle Tandem Axle

Front Axle
Rear Axles
(a) (b)
Fig. 10. Identification of sensors positions during the field test (a) expected disposition of wheel load on the instrumentation area during a controlled load test. and (b) sensor
positions on the road surface and controlled load test in progress.

25 25
Actual Air Temperature Observed Temperature Approximate Air Temperature Predicted Temperature
Depth = 0.04m Depth = 0.14m 03/04/2017 Depth = 0.04m Depth = 0.14m 03/04/2017
20 Depth = 0.16m Depth = 0.36m 20 Depth = 0.16m Depth = 0.36m
Depth = 0.56m Depth = 0.76m Depth = 0.56m Depth = 0.76m
Temperature ( qC)

15 Temperature ( qC) 15

10 10

5 5

0 0

-5 -5
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24
Time of Day (h) (a) Time of Day (h)
45 45 Approximate Air Temperature
Actual Air Temperature Observed Temperature Predicted Temperature
Depth = 0.04m Depth = 0.14m Depth = 0.04m Depth = 0.14m 07/02/2017
07/02/2017
Depth = 0.16m Depth = 0.36m Depth = 0.16m Depth = 0.36m
Depth = 0.56m Depth = 0.76m Depth = 0.56m Depth = 0.76m
40 40
Temperature ( qC)

Temperature ( qC)

35 35

30 30

25 25
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24
Time of Day (h) Time of Day (h)
(b)
Fig. 11. Comparison between predicted (right) and observed temperature (left) for: (a) 04th March 2017 and (b) 2nd July 2017.

of simulating the time-dependent temperature profile in asphalt predicted response using laboratory-characterized material prop-
pavement structure under daily temperature variation. And, the erty, measured tire contact stress, and the dynamic implicit analy-
thermal properties issued from the Chinese specifications for the sis were compared to the field measurements of 2nd July 2017
design of highway asphalt pavement (JTG D50-2017) adopted in (summer day).
the model yielded a great temperature prediction. Figs. 12 and 13 illustrate the comparison between field-
measured and FEM predicted dynamic strain for pavement struc-
4.3. Accuracy of the response to dynamic moving load ture STR-A under a full load truck (front axle loaded at 75.53 kN
and rear tandem axle loaded at 203.864 kN) operating at 40 km/h
In addition to the accuracy of the response to the thermal load, speed, respectively, at the bottom of the asphalt layer and
the accuracy level of the developed FE model in predicting mecha- semi-rigid layer. As expected, the time histories of horizontal
nistic response of the pavement under vehicular loading and the [Fig. 12(a)] and vertical [Fig. 12(b)] dynamic strain taken at the
temperature gradient must be verified and validated. Thus, FE bottom of the asphalt layer, as well as the horizontal [Fig. 13(a)]
16 O.C. Assogba et al. / Construction and Building Materials 235 (2020) 117406

Table 10
Result of the predictions error analysis.

Depth from pavement surface 0.04 0.14 0.16 0.36 0.56 0.76
07–02-2017 (Summer)
Field Observed Maximum Temperature, °C 41.81 39.47 39.02 37.23 34.67 31.96
Minimum Temperature, °C 33.92 34.84 35.07 35.67 34.26 31.57
FEM Predicted Maximum Temperature, °C 40.80 37.80 37.49 35.10 33.40 31.92
Minimum Temperature, °C 34.44 35.35 35.37 34.66 33.27 31.79
Prediction error, % Maximum Temperature 2.42 4.22 3.92 5.72 3.67 0.14
Minimum Temperature 1.52 1.46 0.84 2.84 2.90 0.69
03–04-2017 (Spring)
Field Observed Maximum Temperature, °C 13.13 10.90 10.60 9.30 7.99 7.09
Minimum Temperature, °C 4.51 5.80 6.16 7.60 7.49 6.84
FEM Predicted Maximum Temperature, °C 13.33 10.85 10.49 8.37 8.37 7.50
Minimum Temperature, °C 4.89 6.24 6.48 7.46 7.46 7.27
Prediction error, % Maximum Temperature 1.54 0.53 1.05 9.96 4.77 5.78
Minimum Temperature 8.48 7.43 5.05 1.76 0.36 6.26

5 25

0 0
Dynamic Strain (PH )

-5 Dynamic Strain (PH ) -25

Stering Axle
-10 -50
Stering Axle Field Measurement
Field Measurement
FEM Prediction FEM Prediction
-15 -75
Anmbient Temperature: 36 qC Rear Tandem Axle Anmbient Temperature: 36 qC
-20 Target Truck Speed : 40 km/h -100 Target Truck Speed : 40 km/h Rear Tandem Axle
Steering Axle: Single ~75.53kN Front Tandem Axle Steering Axle: Single ~75.53kN
Drive Axle: Tandem ~ 203.86kN Front Tandem Axle
-25 -125 Drive Axle: Tandem ~ 203.86kN

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Time (s) Time (s)
(a) (b)

Fig. 12. Comparisons between field-measured and FEM predicted dynamic strain at the bottom of the asphalt layer in the (a) longitudinal direction and (b) vertical direction.

20 15
Field Measurement Field Measurement
FEM Prediction FEM Prediction
Rear Tandem Axle
15 Rear Tandem Axle
Dynamic Strain (PH )

Front Tandem Axle

Dynamic Strain (PH)

Front Tandem Axle

10 Anmbient Temperature: 36 qC
Anmbient Temperature: 36 qC Target Truck Speed : 40 km/h
10 Target Truck Speed : 40 km/h Steering Axle: Single ~75.53kN
Steering Axle: Single ~75.53kN Drive Axle: Tandem ~ 203.86kN
Stering Axle 5
Drive Axle: Tandem ~ 203.86kN
5 Stering Axle

0
0

-5 -5
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Time (s) Time (s)
(a) (b)

Fig. 13. Comparisons between field-measured and FEM predicted dynamic strain at the bottom of the semi-rigid layer in the (a) horizontal direction and (b) longitudinal
direction.

and longitudinal [Fig. 13(b)] obtained at the bottom of the semi- to accurately control truck speed and wheel position. The latter
rigid layer, were in agreement with those recorded during field should ideally be symmetrically applied to the wheel path and just
test. It can be seen that the time histories of both measured and below the center of dual tires. (2) The dynamic responses recorded
calculated strains showed the same trend of change over time by strain gauge are influenced by surrounding material constraints.
and peak values were close. However, there were slight differences The sensors were still under compressive stress whether the
observed in response time and stress peaks. The differences gauges were subjected to compressive stress when approaching
between the measured and calculated responses may be due to the vehicle or after the passage of the vehicle. (3) It was assumed
the following reason: (1) In large-scale field trials, it was difficult that the wheel load was uniformly distributed over a rectangular
 O.C. Assogba et al. / Construction and Building Materials 235 (2020) 117406
contact area between each tire and pavement surface, which dif-
fers from the actual contact and tire pressure induced by the tires
in field tests. Only a realistic three-dimensional contact pressure
and non-uniform contact area can simulate with high accuracy
level the actual stress distribution on the pavement structure.
Overall, the dynamic responses predicted by numerical simula-
tion are fundamentally consistent with field data. Therefore, the
developed FE model can be used to predict the pavement response
under the effect of traffic load and temperature gradient.
5. Results and discussion
5.1. Temperature analysis
Prior studies indicated that the modulus of elasticity of asphalt
concrete can depend strongly on the temperature. The temperature
at pavement surface varies with the time during the day, which in
turn changes the temperature gradient along with the pavement
structure. For instance, Fig. 14[(a) and (b)] shows a typical temper-
ature variation in STR-A pavement sections at different times dur-
ing a summer and spring days. As indicated, the temperature of the
pavement surface increases with increasing solar radiation, while
the temperature inside the pavement structure decreases with
increasing depth. When solar radiation reaches its maximum
value, the temperature on the pavement surface starts to decrease
progressively, although the temperature inside the pavement con-
tinues to increase. This indicates that there is a continuous transfer
of thermal energy within the pavement system while sun radiation
decreases. After sunset, the heat exchange between the cold air and
the pavement structure leads to a rapid decrease in the tempera-
ture of the AC upper layer. At this stage, the temperature in AC
middle layer is higher than that of the AC upper layer, AC bottom
layer and layers beneath. It was observed that the temperature
inside the cement stabilized subgrade remains almost constant in
spring day and showed a slight variation in summer day (less than
2 °C). This reveals that the pavement structures studied could
reduce the adverse effect of the temperature variation on the foun-
dation soil. The temperature variation inside the pavement struc-
ture, especially in the asphalt layer (AC upper layer to bottom
layer) was found to be nonlinear. The temperature gradient along
the asphalt layer was generally larger than that along with the
semi-rigid layer (base and subbase) and the subgrade. Overall,
the temperature field within the pavement structure is strongly
affected by the physical properties of the non-asphaltic layers
and by the viscoelastic nature of the asphalt concrete layers. In
(a)
Fig. 14. Variations of pavement temperature along with pavement depth at a different time periods: (a) on a spring day and (b) on a summer day in STR-A.
17
addition, the non-linearity of the thermal gradient causes a varia-
tion of stiffness modulus as a function of depth, which directly
influences the response and performance of the pavement struc-
ture. Therefore, the assumption of constant temperature for these
layers may be misleading for a realistic prediction of mechanical
response, which is essential for the future design of more durable
pavement structures. For this reason, the nonlinear characteristics
of temperature were incorporated into the mechanistic model.
Accordingly, the asphalt layers were subdivided into several sub-
layers and the corresponding mechanical properties were assigned
to take into account the variation with the depth of the dynamic
properties of the asphalt mix.
5.2. Combined effect of axle load and temperature gradient on the
pavement mechanical response
As indicated in the previous section the temperature gradient
along the pavement structure depth varies with the time during
the day. Also, the temperature gradient along the asphalt layer
was generally larger than that along with the semi-rigid layer (base
and subbase) and the subgrade. Thus, in this study, the nonlinear
thermal gradient profiles at 5: 00 and at 16:00 in summer and
spring day were applied to account for most adverse temperature
gradient of the day. The temperature gradient in the asphalt layer
at 5: 00 and at 16:00 on summer days was 10.47 °C/m and
+36.56 °C/m, respectively. In spring, the temperature gradient
along with the asphalt layer at 5: 00 and at 16:00 was 34.85 °C/m
and 49.54 °C/m, respectively. In order to allow a better analysis
of the coupling effect of traffic load and temperature on the
mechanical response of the roadway, specific analysis points were
selected (Fig. 15) to investigate the pavement response according
to depth. Figs. 16 and 17 illustrate the effect of thermal gradients
on the three directional strain and stress that occur inside the
pavement structure STR-B under a fully loaded test truck [Table 3]
moving at a speed of 20 km/h. It can be seen that the amplitude
and distribution of mechanical responses along with the depth of
the pavement structure changed with change in temperature gra-
dient. This indicates that the effects of the temperature gradient
have a significant impact on the distribution of stresses and strains
in the pavement system.
The result of the dynamic strain shown in Fig. 16[(a)–(c)] indi-
cates that there were greater compressive and tensile strains in the
asphalt layer. The transverse strain [Fig. 16(a)] at the top of the
upper asphalt layer is in tension, it decreases with depth and
inverted to compressive approximately at the mid-depth of the
(b)
18 O.C. Assogba et al. / Construction and Building Materials 235 (2020) 117406

Rear axle dual tire Moving Direction

(Left tire footprint)
1 - Horizontal strain ɛx and stress σx
Wheel path
2 - Vertical strain ɛy and stress σy
- Longitudinal strain ɛz and stress σz
- Maximum shear stress τmax
1 3 - Shear stress τxy
4 - Shear stress τxz
5 - Shear stress τyz
4 2
Wheel path
3 5 Face
Rear axle dual tire Shear stress τyz
(Rigth tire footprint) Direction

Fig. 15. Analysis points where the dynamic response of the pavement structure is taken according to the depth.

Dynamic Strain (H) Dynamic Strain (H) Dynamic Strain (H)

-60μ -40μ -20μ 0 20μ 40μ -250μ -200μ -150μ -100μ -50μ 0 50μ -60μ -40μ -20μ 0 20μ
0.0 0.0 0.0
AC Layer

AC Layer

AC Layer
0.1 0.1 0.1
Depth From Pavement Surface (m)

Depth From Pavement Surface (m)

Depth From Pavement Surface (m)

0.2 0.2 0.2
Base

Base

Base
0.3 0.3 0.3

0.4 0.4 Thermal gradient 0.4 Thermal gradient

Subbase

Subbase

Subbase
Thermal gradient
in a spring day in a spring day in a spring day
+49.54 qC.m-1 +49.54 qC.m-1 +49.54 qC.m-1
0.5 0.5 0.5
-34.84 qC.m-1 -34.84 qC.m-1 -34.84 qC.m-1
Subgrade

Subgrade

Subgrade
0.6 Thermal gradient 0.6 Thermal gradient 0.6 Thermal gradient
in a summer day in a summer day in a summer day

0.7 +36.56 q C.m-1 0.7 +36.56 qC.m-1 0.7 +36.56 qC.m-1

-10.47 qC.m-1 -10.47 qC.m-1 -10.47 qC.m-1
Compression Tension Compression Tension Compression Tension
0.8 0.8 0.8
(a) (b) (c)
Fig. 16. Combined effect of thermal gradient and axle load on the distribution of the dynamic strain along with the depth of the pavement structure STR-B: (a) Transverse (b)
Vertical and (c) Longitudinal direction.

Dynamic Stress (kPa) Dynamic Stress (kPa) Dynamic Stress (kPa)

-375 -250 -125 0 125 -750 -600 -450 -300 -150 0 150 -625 -500 -375 -250 -125 0 125
0.0 0.0 0.0
AC Layer

AC Layer

AC Layer

0.1 0.1
Depth From Pavement Surface (m)

Depth From Pavement Surface (m)

0.1
Depth From Pavement Surface (m)

0.2 0.2 0.2

Base

Base

Base

0.3 0.3 0.3

0.4 Thermal gradient 0.4 Thermal gradient Thermal gradient

0.4
Subbase

Subbase

Subbase

in a spring day in a spring day in a spring day

0.5 +36.56 qC.m-1 0.5 +36.56 qC.m-1 +36.56 qC.m-1
0.5
-10.47 qC.m-1 -10.47 qC.m-1 -10.47 qC.m-1
0.6 Thermal gradient 0.6 Thermal gradient Thermal gradient
Subgrade

Subgrade

0.6
Subgrade

in a summer day in a summer day in a summer day

+49.54 qC.m-1 +49.54 qC.m-1 +49.54 qC.m-1
0.7 0.7 0.7
-34.84 qC.m-1 -34.84 qC.m-1 -34.84 qC.m-1
Compression Tension Compression Tension Compression Tension
0.8 0.8 0.8
(a) (b) (c)
Fig. 17. Combined effect of thermal gradient and axle load on the distribution of the dynamic stress along with the depth of the pavement structure STR-B: (a) Transverse (b)
Vertical and (c) Longitudinal direction.
 O.C. Assogba et al. / Construction and Building Materials 235 (2020) 117406
surface layer. The compressive strain reaches its highest value
around the mid-depth of the AC middle course, then decreases lin-
early along with the depth of the AC bottom course. The strain in
the upper half part of the semi-rigid base remains compressive
whereas, that of the lower part of the latter and the subgrade are
tensile. In contrast to the transverse strain, the longitudinal strain
[Fig. 16(c)] at the top of the upper asphalt layer is in tension. It
decreases with depth and changes to compression approximately
in the mid-depth of the AC middle course. The compression strain
reaches its peaks value approximately at the bottom of the middle
layer. The semi-rigid layer and the subgrade were in tension and
strain reponses magnitude increases with the depth. Regarding
the distribution of the vertical strain [Fig. 16(b)], it was observed
that they are all in compression and decreased with change in
pavement depth, especially when there was a change of layers. It
was also found that the decrease is more pronounced in the asphalt
layers than in the other layers.
The dynamic stress output obtained from the coupled thermal
and mechanistic modeling, illustrated in Fig. 17[(a)–(c)], were con-
sistent with the results of the dynamic strain. In that case, it can be
observed that transverse stresses [Fig. 17(a)] at the top of the
upper asphalt layer are in tension on summer days, whereas they
are in compression on spring days. The maximum compressive
stress appears in the AC middle course. The stresses in the sub-
base and the subgrade layer are in tension and decrease with the
increase of the depth. The shape of the distribution of vertical
stresses [Fig. 17(b)] is very similar to that of strain. However, it
can be noted that, in this case, the stresses decreased more slowly
with the increase of the pavement depth, and the magnitude of the
stresses tending to zero in the subgrade. The longitudinal stress
[Fig. 17(c)] indicates that there is a high concentration of compres-
sive stress at the top of the upper layer, which can easily cause
deformation of the pavement surface. The tensile stress occurs
when moving deeper into the semi-rigid layer and cement stabi-
lized subgrade.
5.3. Parametric study
5.3.1. Influence of interfacial conditions
The contact conditions of the asphalt layer and the interface of
the semi-rigid layer are of significant importance in the construc-
(a)
Fig. 18. Effect of interfacial condition on the distribution of the dynamic strain along with the depth of the pavement structure STR-B: (a) Transverse (b) Vertical and (c)
Longitudinal direction.
19
tion of a semi-rigid base asphalt pavement. In fact, the quality of
adhesion, which depends on the type and rate of application of
the tack coat, as well as the construction technologies and environ-
ments, greatly influences the field interface bond between these
layers. Thus, the contact condition of the interface could signifi-
cantly affect pavement response to temperature and traffic load.
Therefore, the response under two different bonding conditions,
namely full slip (m = 0) and frictionless (m = 1) were modelled in
addition to perfectly bonded condition (m = 1), and the results
are demonstrated in Figs. 18[(a)–(c)] and 19[(a) to (c)]. Note that
the dynamic response of the pavement was acquired by moving
a fully loaded truck [Table 3] at a constant speed of 20 km/h.
And, the measurement was taken under the rear axle of the truck
according to the depth.
As expected, Figs. 18 and 19 revealed that the distribution of
stresses and strain in the pavement structure are strongly affected
by the contact condition of the interfaces. The curvature and the
trend of the distribution of stresses and strains along the depth
of the pavement are distinctly different for each bonding condition,
in particular for a perfectly bonded interface condition. It was also
apparent that the tensile stress and strain at the bottom of the
asphalt layer decreased and change into compression with the
improvement of the interface bonding conditions, while the verti-
cal compressive stress and strain increased. This reduction of the
tensile strain and the tensile stress could be attributed to the coop-
eration of each layer because of the perfect contact between the
interfaces of the layers. For full slip (l = 0) and frictionless (l = 1)
bond conditions, it was obvious that there existed both tensile
and compressive stresses and strains at the bottom of the asphalt
layer. Longitudinal tensile stress and strain were found to be much
greater and could lead to premature bottom-up fatigue cracking.
5.3.2. Influence of vehicle speed and axle load
To investigate the impact of loading amplitude on the mechan-
ical response of a semi-rigid base asphalt pavement, the pavement
system was subjected to three load levels: empty truck load (rear
single axle load of 46.83 kN), full load truck (rear single axle load
of 101.93 kN) and overloading conditions (rear single axle load of
140.19 k0N), as shown in Tables 2–4. For each load, the controlled
load test truck was assumed to move at a constant speed of
20 km/h. The influence of vehicle speed on the dynamic response
(b) (c)
20 O.C. Assogba et al. / Construction and Building Materials 235 (2020) 117406

(a) (b) (c)

Fig. 19. Effect of interfacial condition on the distribution of the dynamic stress along with the depth of the pavement structure STR-B: (a) Transverse (b) Vertical and (c)
Longitudinal direction.

of the pavement was also evaluated by moving a full load truck
[Table 3] at three different traffic speeds, namely; 20 km/h,
40 km/h and 60 km/h. Although, for each type of pavement, the
mechanical response was computed under the aforementioned
loads and speed, however, only the distribution of the dynamic
stress and stress along the depth of the STR-C pavement structure
were reported in this section.
Figs. 20 and 21 presents the influence of truck moving speed on
the distribution of the dynamic strain and the dynamic stress,
respectively, along with the depth of the pavement structure. It
can be seen that the stress and strain distributions along with
the depth of the pavement, at each velocity, are consistent in terms
of curvature and trend, but not in magnitude. This magnitude
increases as the vehicle speed decreases. For instance, with the
decrease in travel speed from 60 km/h to 20 km/h, the dynamic
strain response in the asphalt layer increased by 1.104 times
(transverse strain), 1.109 times (vertical strain) and 1.119 times
(longitudinal strain). Similarly, the response to dynamic stresses
in the asphalt layer increases by 1.105 times (transversal stress),
1.107 times (vertical stress) and 1.042 times (longitudinal stress).
In this case, it may be appropriate to regulate the lowest traffic
speed on the pavement structure, as heavy trucks always drive at
a relatively lower speed. The effect of the vehicle speed on the
stress distribution extends in the semi-rigid layer, while for the
distribution of the strain, its influence is limited to the asphalt
layer. The influence of vehicle speed on the response to stresses
and strains decreases with increasing depth.Fig. 22.
Figs. 22 and 23 show the impact of the truck axle load level on
the distribution of the dynamic strain and the dynamic stress,
respectively, along with the depth of the pavement structure.
These figures show that the distributions of stresses and strains
along with the depth of the pavement system, whatever the load

(a) (b) (c)

Fig. 20. Effect of the truck moving speed on the distribution of the dynamic strains along with the depth of the pavement structure STR-C: (a) Transverse (b) Vertical and (c)
Longitudinal direction.
 O.C. Assogba et al. / Construction and Building Materials 235 (2020) 117406 21

(a) (b) (c)

Fig. 21. Effect of the truck moving speed on the distribution of the dynamic stresses along with the depth of the pavement structure STR-C: (a) Transverse (b) Vertical and (c)
Longitudinal direction.

(a) (b) (c)

Fig. 22. Influence of truck axle load level on the distribution of the dynamic strain along with the depth of the pavement structure STR-C: (a) Transverse (b) Vertical and (c)
Longitudinal direction.

condition, were consistent in terms of curvature and trend. It also
indicates that the stresses and strains within the pavement struc-
ture increases with increase of overload rate. For example, consid-
ering the mechanical response of the pavement under the weight
of the axle under an empty truck as the reference value; when
the axle load of the empty truck increases to an overload condition
while the truck’s travel speed remains constant, the response of
strain in the asphalt layer increased by 2.989 times (transverse
strain), 4.950 times (vertical strain) and 3.107 times (longitudinal
strain). Similarly, the response to dynamic stresses in the asphalt
layer increases by 2.992 times (transversal stress), 3.008 times
(vertical stress) and 3.127 times (longitudinal stress). Overall, all
of these responses demonstrated that the extra weight extension
of the truck axle has a significant influence on the distribution
and the amplitude of the mechanical response within the system.
This could affect its structural behavior and subsequently result
in adverse effects on its long-term performance. Therefore, it is
imperative to regulate the traffic load against the overload and
integrate the influence of the latter in the design phase of the pave-
ment structure.
The tensile strain in the asphalt layers and in particular at the
bottom of all proposed new semi-rigid pavement structures was
below the critical strain of a conventional pavement structure with
an ordinary asphalt (70 me) [37] or with a modified asphalt mixture
(100 me) [38], even under critical conditions such as overload or
low speed traffic. Therefore, it is expected that the asphalt layer
of these typical semi-rigid pavements will be able to withstand
premature fatigue failure, especially bottom cracking.
22 O.C. Assogba et al. / Construction and Building Materials 235 (2020) 117406
(a)
Fig. 23. Influence of truck axle load level on the distribution of the dynamic stress along with the depth of the pavement structure STR-C: (a) Transverse (b) Vertical and (c)
Longitudinal direction j.
5.4. Pavement structure damage analysis
Semi-rigid asphalt pavement consists of three components:
asphalt layer, semi-rigid layer, and subgrade. Each layer has a
specific failure mode. The failure mode of each layer is related to
the critical response of that layer (e.g., stress, strain and deforma-
tion) to a specific location under loading. In this study, fatigue
cracks, which represent the most serious type of load-associated
road damage on semi-rigid pavements, were investigated and used
to estimate the allowable number of load repetitions in order to
avoid failure in each structure. Two approaches were adopted to
model distress due to fatigue cracking: (1) model the number of
allowable load repetitions to prevent fatigue failure of the asphalt
layers, and (2) model the number of allowable load repetitions to
avoid fatigue failure of the semi-rigid layers. The asphalt institute’s
fatigue model presented in Eq. (37) was used to model fatigue of
the asphalt layer [39].
0:854
Nf ðet Þ ¼ A  0:00432  104:84ðVFA0:69Þ  e3:291
t  jE
j ð37Þ ber of allowable load repetitions to avoid fatigue failure of the
where:
N f = allowable load repetitions to prevent fatigue cracking of
the asphalt layer;
A = is the laboratory-to-field adjustment factor, the default fac-
tor of 18.4 was used for this study;
VFA = void filled with asphalt;
et = tensile strain at the bottom of asphalt layer;
jE
j = dynamic modulus.
In the case of fatigue failure of the semi-rigid layer, the
Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide (MEPDG) fatigue
failure transfer function [Eq. (38)] for a layer of chemically
stabilized material was used to model the number of traffic load
to fatigue failure of the semi-rigid layer.
  
0:9723b1  MrtR
logðNf Þ ¼
0:0825b2
(b) (c)
where:
N f = allowed load repetition until failure of the semi-rigid layer;
rt = tensile stress at the bottom of the semi-rigid layer;
M R = 28 days modulus of rupture (flexural strength);
b1 ; b2 = field calibration factors, the default factor of 1 was used
in this study.
The aforementioned transfer functions [Eqs. (37) and (38)] were
used to examine the bottom-up fatigue failure progressions for the
asphalt concrete layer and the semi-rigid layer of each structure.
Since the maximum tensile stress in the asphalt layer was
observed at the intermediate layer, the tensile stress at the bottom
of the asphalt intermediate layer was chosen as the critical
response. The flexural strength (M R ) of the CBG-A and CBG-B layers
was 2 MPa and 1.5 MPa, respectively.
Figs. 24 and 25 illustrate the results of fatigue analysis for each
pavement structure. As indicated in Fig. 24[(a) and (b)], the num-
asphalt layer and the semi-rigid layer decreases sharply with
increase of axle load of the truck. For instance, when the axle load
of the empty truck (rear single axle load of 46.83 kN) increases to
an overload condition (rear single axle load of 140.19 kN), the
allowable load repetitions to avoid fatigue failure of the asphalt
layer decreased by 96.547% (STR-A), 97.285% (STR-B) and
97.286% (STR-C). Likewise, the allowable load repetitions to avoid
fatigue failure of the semi-rigid layer decreased by 76.876% (STR-
A), 78.688% (STR-B) and 79.669% (STR-C). As shown in Fig. 25[(a)
and (b)], the fatigue life of the asphalt layer and semi-rigid layer
increases gradually with increase in the truck’s moving speed.
For instance, increase of moving speed of fully loaded truck from
20 km/h to 60 km/h, the fatigue life of the asphalt layer increased
by 1.524 times (STR-A), 1.131 times (STR-B) and 1.515 times
(STR-C). Similarly, the fatigue life of the semi-rigid layer increased
by 1.158 times (STR-A), 1.167 times (STR-B) and 1.173 times (STR-
C). Under a fixed moving speed and axle load, the fatigue life of the
asphalt layer of the three pavements can be arranged from smallest
ð38Þ
to the largest as follows: STR-A < STR-B < STR-C, while that of the
 O.C. Assogba et al. / Construction and Building Materials 235 (2020) 117406 23

(a) (b)
Fig. 24. Comparison oft he fatigue life of the asphalt layer of the three pavements structure under different axle load: (a) Asphalt layer and (b) Semi-rigid layer.

(a) (b)
Fig. 25. Comparison of the fatigue life of the semi-rigid layer of the three pavements structure under full loaded truck moving at a different speed: (a) Asphalt layer and (b)
Semi-rigid layer.

semi-rigid layer of the three pavements can be ordered from lar-
gest to smallest as follows: STR-C < STR-B < STR-A.
6. Summary and conclusions
This study investigated the mechanical response of three new
semi-rigid base asphalt pavements under traffic load and nonlinear
temperature gradient. Typical semi-rigid base asphalt pavement
structures were produced which was specifically designed to mit-
igate various functional and structural problems that traditional
pavement structures tend to exhibit. For each type of pavement
structure, the distribution of mechanical responses within the
pavement system was evaluated using a model of thermal and
mechanistic finite elements coupled in 3D. The models integrated
mechanical and thermophysical properties of each pavement’s
materials, examined the effect of transient dynamic wheels load,
and utilized transient heat transfer and implicit dynamic analysis.
The comprehensive data recorded from the full-scale RIOH track
pavement test was used to verify and validate the level of accuracy
of the developed 3D-FE model for the prediction of the pavement
temperature field and the mechanical response under thermal
and dynamic loads. Overall, the main findings of this numerical
investigations led to the following conclusions:
(1) The result of the 3D transient thermal analysis and the vari-
ation in pavement temperature observed in the field at dif-
ferent depths of the pavement, indicates that the model is
able to simulate with good accuracy, the time-dependent
temperature profile of the road system under a daily tem-
perature variation. This will assist pavement engineers in
the design process. In addition, the thermal properties
derived from the Chinese specifications for highway asphalt
pavement design adopted in the model yielded an excellent
temperature prediction.
(2) The dynamic response of pavement to vehicular loading and
non-linear temperature gradient at the bottom of the
24 O.C. Assogba et al. / Construction and Building Materials 235 (2020) 117406
asphalt layer and the semi-rigid layer were predicted and
the results are consistent with those recorded from RIOH-
track full-scale test facility. The developed FE model is there-
fore applicable for predicting the pavement response under
the effect of both traffic load and non-linear temperature
gradient.
(3) The analysis of the temperature of the three pavements
revealed that the surface temperature of the pavement and
the atmospheric temperature were strongly correlated,
while the temperature inside the pavement structure
decreased with depth. The temperature variation within
the pavement structure, particularly in the asphalt layer,
was non-linear. This non-linearity of the thermal gradient
causes variation of stiffness modulus as a function of depth,
which directly influences the response and performance of
the road system. Therefore, the assumption of constant tem-
perature for these layers can be misleading for a realistic
prediction of mechanical response, which are essential for
future design of more durable pavement structures.
(4) Analysis of the mechanical response of the three pavements
under the combined effect of axle load and temperature gra-
dient indicates that the non-linear temperature gradient
over the depth of the pavement structure significantly
affects the magnitude and the distribution of stresses and
strain in the pavement system. The results also show that
the distribution of stresses and strains in the pavement
structure is strongly affected by the contact condition of
the interfaces. It appears that improvement of the field inter-
face bond between pavement layers led to a considerable
reduction in the mechanical responses, which is beneficial
for the service life of the pavement structure.
(5) Analysis of the effects of vehicle speed and axle load on the
mechanical response of the pavement revealed that lowest
traffic speed and the extra weight extension of the truck axle
have a significant influence on the distribution of the
mechanical response within the system. This may affect its
structural behavior and, in turn, have adverse effects on its
long-term performance. Therefore, it may be appropriate,
to regulate the lowest traffic speed and the load of the vehi-
cles against the overload, and to integrate the influence of
the latter in the design phase of the pavement structure.
However, the tensile strain at the bottom of all proposed
new pavement structures are below the critical strain of a
conventional pavement structure with an ordinary asphalt
(70 me) or with a mixture of modified asphalt (100 me), even
under critical conditions such as overloading or low-speed
traffic. Therefore, it is expected that the asphalt layer of
these typical semi-rigid pavements will be able to withstand
premature fatigue, especially bottom cracks
(6) The analysis of the fatigue life of the three pavements
revealed that the fatigue life of the asphalt layer and the
semi-rigid layer is strongly dependent on the speed of the
truck and the magnitude of load on the axles. As a result,
factors such as low-speed traffic or overloading could have
a negative impact on the service life of the pavement
structure. Under a fixed axle load and moving speed, the
fatigue life of the asphalt layer of the three pavements are
as follows: STR-A < STR-B < STR-C; while that of the semi-
rigid layer of the three pavements are as follows: STR-C <
STR-B < STR-A.
7. Limitation and further research direction
This study extended the body of knowledge on the mechanical
response of semi-rigid pavements subjected to the combined effect
of non-linear thermal gradient and moving axle load, however,
there are some limitations. In order to achieve a more accurate
evaluation of the pavement response and its performance, it is rec-
ommended that future research should consider further improving
the mechanistic pavement modeling. Albeit the developed 3D FE
model predicts the mechanistic response with great accuracy,
however, some assumptions were inevitable. For instance: 1) the
asphalt concrete had a linear viscoelastic behavior. This does not
entirely reflect the actual dynamic properties of the asphalt
concrete; 2) the behavior of the non-asphaltic layers was assumed
linear and elastic in an isotropic system. This may not be represen-
tative of the stress-dependent state of these layers at some stage;
3) the tire-pavement contact stresses being uniformly distributed
on a rectangular equivalent areas may not entirely be indicative
of realistic loading condition. Thus, the authors recommend afore-
mentioned concerns for further investigations in future studies.
8. Data availability statement
The numerical model and subroutine code (FILM, DFLUX, and
DLOAD) generated in this study are available from the correspond-
ing author upon reasonable request. Also, the data supporting the
plots and tables in this paper, as well as other findings of this
study, are available from the corresponding author upon reason-
able request.
Funding
This work was funded by the National Key of Research and
Development Plan under Grant number 2016YFE0202400 and the
Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant number
U163320005.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Acknowledgments
The authors gratefully acknowledge the technical support
(equipment, software, etc.) provide by the Key Laboratory of Road
Structure and Materials, Research Institute of Highway Ministry of
Transport, Beijing, China, and Harbin Institute of Technology. The
authors also express their sincere gratitude to all the people
involved in this research project. Finally, the authors would like
to thank reviewers for useful comments and editors for improving
the manuscript.
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