Advanced Analytical Tool for Flexible Pavement Design and Evaluation

This paper presents a modeling study based on finite element (FE) analysis to mechanistically evaluate flexible pavements constructed with quarry by-products (QB). Twelve pavement test sections, a control section, and 11 others incorporating QB as unbound subgrade replacement and chemically stabilized base/subbase applications were evaluated for field performance using accelerated pavement testing (APT). First, falling weight deflectometer (FWD) deflection basin parameters were calculated and compared with critical pavement responses to evaluate the structural adequacies of the QB pavement sections. The moduli of the constructed pavement layers were then backcalculated from the FWD deflections using the GT-PAVE FE analysis program with nonlinear and cross-anisotropic layer characterizations. For stabilized QB applications, the layer properties calculated from this analysis for the base/subbase layers were used to calculate critical pavement responses. The sections were compared using a response benefit parameter, defined as the ratio of maximum resilient surface deflection in a conventional pavement, as the control section, to that obtained for each section having a certain QB application in consideration. According to the results obtained from the APT sections and the mechanistic FE analyses, the measured and calculated FWD deflection basins were successfully matched with individual sensor errors not exceeding 5% for all 12 test sections. The calculated response benefits indicated significant advantages for using cement-stabilized QB applications over fly ash-stabilized QB applications and conventional flexible pavement sections. Considering the pavement structural response benefits and good performance trends observed, major cost benefits can be realized by routine use of these sustainable QB applications.

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“…Huang el al. ( 9 ) presented a summary of available and commonly used programs based on the layered elastic approach and FE analysis.…”

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confidence: 99%

Mechanistic Analyses and Modeling of Pavement Sections Utilizing Sustainable Aggregate Quarry By-Product Applications

Qamhia

Tutumluer

Özer

et al. 2020

Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation R

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“…Flexible pavements are multi-layer systems consisting of asphalt concrete (AC) surfacing, aggregate base/subbase, and subgrade layers ( 1 ). The serviceability and performance of a flexible pavement relies heavily on factors including repeated application of moving traffic loads, field stress states, and pavement temperature/moisture conditions, which should be considered during an accurate and comprehensive pavement structural analysis procedure ( 2 , 3 ). Further, airfield pavements are different from highway pavements in both the geometry and the vehicular traffic loading aspects, and as such, they require special modeling techniques to be employed using numerical methods that can handle the level of sophistication needed for proper mechanistic analysis for pavement response prediction and pavement evaluation for estimating layer moduli.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…Repeated load triaxial tests are employed to evaluate the M R of unbound aggregate materials and cohesive subgrade soils as a function of the stress states ( 1 ). Unbound granular bases have been shown to accumulate locked-in residual compressive stresses as a result of compaction and subsequent trafficking and to behave differently in the vertical wheel load direction than in the horizontal direction leading to direction-dependent or anisotropic layer moduli ( 1 , 2 ). Additionally, such nonlinear stress-dependent and anisotropic material properties significantly affect the accuracy of predictions of the critical pavement responses ( 4 ).…”

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confidence: 99%

“…Most of these programs assign different properties to layers or sometimes sublayers within a pavement layer for analysis. Such closed-form and integral solutions with many idealizations and assumptions may not be sufficient to accurately consider the advanced material characterization and damage model input requirements for flexible pavement analysis and design ( 2 ). Therefore, to better capture the mechanistic and constitutive material behavior of flexible pavements, the finite element method (FEM) was adopted to characterize the anisotropic, stress-dependent properties of the granular materials, and the time- and temperature-dependent viscoelastic properties of the asphalt mixture in flexible pavements.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…The GT-PAVE finite element program developed by Tutumluer ( 1 ) considered both cross-anisotropic and nonlinear, stress-dependent base characteristics. More details can be found in the previous work of the authors which presented a comprehensive literature review on the currently available flexible pavement analysis programs ( 2 ).…”

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confidence: 99%

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C-FLEX Advanced Finite Element Analysis Program for Flexible Pavement Analysis and Design

Luo

Huang

Tutumluer

et al. 2021

Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation R

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The U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has initiated an effort to modernize the Department of Defense (DOD) pavement design and evaluation procedures initially developed in the 1950s. Flexible pavement analyses and evaluations are currently performed based on the elastic layered WESLEA and WESDEF software programs. To modernize the current pavement design and evaluation procedures used by the DOD, an advanced axisymmetric Finite Element Method (FEM) based analysis program, named C-FLEX, was developed and is introduced in this paper. The C-FLEX program is designed to feature accurate material models for all pavement layers with the capability to model the cross-anisotropic and nonlinear elastic properties of unbound base/subbase and subgrade layers, the viscoelastic behavior of the asphalt mixture, as well as mechanical reinforcement using geosynthetics in flexible pavements. The FEM formulation in C-FLEX and the program architecture and implementation details are introduced and discussed in this paper. The different analysis schemes and proper models used to characterize the cross-anisotropy and stress-dependent material nonlinearity are also described in detail. The viscoelastic analysis scheme and the geosynthetic characterization are currently under development and so are not included in this paper. Furthermore, two conventional flexible pavements with different layer properties are analyzed to verify the solutions and reliability of the C-FLEX program. Based on this development effort with ERDC, the C-FLEX program is envisioned to eventually serve as the flexible pavement analysis engine for the DOD’s new mechanistic design and evaluation platform.

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Finite Element Analysis of Nonlinear Elastic Behavior of Unbound Aggregate Materials Under Repeated Loading

Huang

Luo

Qamhia

et al. 2021

Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering

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Advanced Analytical Tool for Flexible Pavement Design and Evaluation

Cited by 9 publications

References 7 publications

Mechanistic Analyses and Modeling of Pavement Sections Utilizing Sustainable Aggregate Quarry By-Product Applications

Mechanistic Analyses and Modeling of Pavement Sections Utilizing Sustainable Aggregate Quarry By-Product Applications

C-FLEX Advanced Finite Element Analysis Program for Flexible Pavement Analysis and Design

Finite Element Analysis of Nonlinear Elastic Behavior of Unbound Aggregate Materials Under Repeated Loading

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