Elastodynamic analyses of transversely isotropic unsaturated subgrade–pavement system under moving loads

Abstract

In this paper, elastodynamic responses of the layered transversely isotropic unsaturated subgrade–pavement system subjected to the moving load are investigated. The unsaturated subgrade soil is described via a triphasic Biot‐type model introducing the effect of matric suction, immiscible flows of water and air, and transverse isotropy. The rigid pavement is modeled by the Kirchhoff plate theory, while the flexible pavement is modeled by the stratification medium theory. First, the governing equations of the unsaturated subgrade soil are obtained after algebraical manipulations. The precise integration method (PIM) is further combined with the double Fourier transform to solve the governing equations. The subgrade soil solution is utilized as the flexible coefficient to describe the plate–soil interaction, and the solution of the pavement is further acquired via the double inverse Fourier transform. Four verification examples regarding literatures and COMSOL are presented to verify the correctness of the theory. Finally, numerical examples are conducted to investigate the effect of various parameters on the dynamic behavior of the unsaturated subgrade–pavement system.

Three‐dimensional fundamental solution for unsaturated transversely isotropic half‐space under surface time‐harmonic load

“…There are few studies on the dynamic problems of unsaturated TI soils. Ye and Ai 72,73 were one of the first to use the extended precise integration method to investigate the dynamic response of layered unsaturated poroelastic TI soil. However, for simplification purposes, the momentum conservation, continuity, and constitutive equations in the governing equations do not account for circumferential displacement.…”