Numerical Analysis of Asphalt Pavements under Moving Wheel Loads

The responses of the pavement in service are the basis for the design of the semi-rigid base course asphalt pavement. Due to the dynamic characteristics of wheel loads and the temperature loads, the dynamic response analysis is very significant. In this article, the dynamic analysis of asphalt pavement under moving wheel loads is carried out using finite element method coupled with non-reflective boundary method. The influences of the base modulus, thickness, the vehicle velocity, the tire pressure, and the contact condition at the interface are studied using parametric analysis. The results of numerical analysis show that it is not appropriate to simply increase the base modulus or thickness in the design. It would be beneficial if the base design is optimized synthetically. The increase of damping is also beneficial to the pavements because of the surface deflection and the stresses declination. Furthermore, the good contact condition at the interface results in good performance because it combines every layer of the pavement to work together. As overload aggravates the working condition of the pavement, it is not allowed.