Fast and Accurate Method for Calculating the Surface

Mechanical Responses of Asphalt Pavements

Songqiang Chen 1; Dongsheng Wang 2; Decheng Feng 3; and Dazhi Guo 4
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Abstract: Since the linear elastic layered theory was developed in 1940s, it has been widely used to evaluate asphalt pavement soundness,
and the mechanical responses have been used to analyze the bearing capacity of pavement structures and top-down fatigue cracking.
However, there is poor convergence of mechanical responses on the surface of the top layer. Therefore, this article proposes an approach
to quickly and accurately determine the mechanical response of asphalt pavement surfaces. This approach separates the equations for
calculating the mechanical response into two parts, and then the two parts are solved according to the convergence of integrals of surface
mechanical responses. The result shows that the surface point calculation method cannot only ensure the accuracy of calculation, but also
greatly improve the efficiency of calculation. This approach provides an effective tool to determine mechanical responses. DOI: 10.1061/
(ASCE)EM.1943-7889.0001808. © 2020 American Society of Civil Engineers.
Author keywords: Asphalt pavement; Linear elastic layered theory; Surface; Mechanical responses; Bessel function.

Introduction routine design is difficult. LELT-based procedures include BISAR

The theoretical basis of asphalt pavement design in most countries
and regions is linear elastic layered theory (LELT) (ARA 2004;
Asphalt Institute 1991; Shell International Petroleum 1978). LELT
was introduced by Burmister, who developed the theory into a
three-layered system (Burmister 1945a, 1945b, 1945c). Huang
(2004) extended the solutions of the three-layered system to an
arbitrary number of layers. With the continuous emergence of prac-
tical engineering problems, traditional empirical procedures no
longer suffice, and so the new Mechanistic Empirical Pavement
Design Guide was developed by the National Cooperative Highway
Research Program under the patronage of American Association
of State Highway and Transportation Officials (ARA 2004). In this
procedure, the structural responses such as stresses, strains, and dis-
placements were calculated based on mechanistic or empirical
models. Therefore, accurately and efficiently determining the re-
sponse of the pavement is very important.
Many computer software applications have been developed
and used for airport and highway pavement, such as finite element
(FE) and LELT-based programs. FE has an advantage in solving
nonlinear material properties and discontinuity problems, but it is
computationally expensive, and implementation of the method for
1
Ph.D. Candidate, School of Transportation Science and Engineering,
Harbin Institute of Technology, 73 Huanghe Rd., Nangang District, Harbin,
HeiLongjiang 150090, China (corresponding author). ORCID: https://
orcid.org/0000-0003-3346-0698. Email: csongq@126.com
2
Professor, School of Transportation Science and Engineering, Harbin
Institute of Technology, 73 Huanghe Rd., Nangang District, Harbin,
HeiLongjiang 150090, China. Email: hitwangds@126.com
3
Professor, School of Transportation Science and Engineering, Harbin
Institute of Technology, 73 Huanghe Rd., Nangang District, Harbin,
HeiLongjiang 150090, China. Email: fengdecheng@hit.edu.cn
4
Professor, School of Transportation Science and Engineering, Harbin
Institute of Technology, 73 Huanghe Rd., Nangang District, Harbin,
HeiLongjiang 150090, China. Email: hitguodz@126.com
Note. This manuscript was submitted on August 10, 2019; approved on
February 25, 2020; published online on June 19, 2020. Discussion period
open until November 19, 2020; separate discussions must be submitted for
individual papers. This paper is part of the Journal of Engineering Me-
chanics, © ASCE, ISSN 0733-9399.
(De Jong et al. 1979), KENLAYER (Huang 2004), JULEA (Uzan
1994), WESLEA (Van Cauwelaert et al. 1989), and LEAF (Hayhoe
2002). These programs can solve the nonsurface response of as-
phalt pavement efficiently.
However, when surface points are calculated, the poor con-
vergence of solutions near the pavement surface may lead to
large deviations in the response results. Maina and Matsui (2005)
and Erlingsson and Ahmed (2013) used Richardson’s extrapola-
tion to improve the accuracy of surface response calculations.
Khazanovich and Wang (2007) improved the inverse Hankel trans-
form of the layered elastic solutions, which leads to a significant
reduction in time to calculate the surface response. Zhao et al.
(2015a, b) used the Lucas algorithm to separate the definite integral
into high- and low-frequency components, which converts the
complicated oscillating behavior of the product of Bessel functions
to regular oscillations. The result shows that the calculation times
for surface response were 6.9 s, 5.4 s, and 3.1 s for BISAR,
KENLAYER, and the proposed approach on a computer with an
Intel i5 CPU of 2.67 GHz, respectively.
There are other solutions to the theory of layered elastic sys-
tems. Ameri et al. (2014) used a layerwise finite element formu-
lation to solve the LELT. Liu et al. (2016, 2018) adopted the
semianalytical FE method to develop the asphalt pavement struc-
tural soundness evaluation software named SAFEM. You et al.
(2018, 2019) used a spectral element method to analyze the
mechanical response of asphalt pavement under different working
conditions. However, in general, no matter what mechanics solu-
tion method of layered elastic system is adopted, the mechanical
response of asphalt pavement surface points is difficult to solve.
Therefore, this study proposed a new method for determining
the mechanical response of asphalt pavement surfaces quickly and
accurately. This article begins with a review of linear elastic layered
theory. Then the integral convergence of mechanical response at the
surface is analyzed, and convergence of the integral kernel of the
infinite integral is elucidated. Next, the theory of surface mechani-
cal response computation is proposed and a computer code, PADS,
is developed. Finally, the efficiency and accuracy of the proposed
theory are verified and analyzed.

© ASCE 04020090-1 J. Eng. Mech.

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 Review of Solutions for LELT

The geometry and loading conditions of a multilayered elastic

system are shown in Fig. 1, in which δ and p are the radius of cir-
cular loading and uniform pressure; r and z are radial and vertical
coordinates, respectively; and hi , Ei , and μi are thickness, elastic
modulus, and the Poisson ratio of the ith layer (thickness of the last
layer is assumed to be infinite), respectively.
In multilayered elastic systems it is assumed that each layer is
isotropic, homogenous, and linear elastic. The governing equation
for the system begins with a stress function ψ, which satisfies the
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equilibrium and compatibility equations as follows:

ψ ¼ J 0 ðξrÞ½Ai ðξÞe−ξz þ Bi ðξÞe−ξz þ Ci ðξÞξeξz þ Di ðξÞξeξz  ð1Þ Fig. 1. Multilayered elastic system.

where J 0 is a Bessel function of the first kind. Ai , Bi , Ci , and Di are where

the coefficients of the ith layer. ξ is a Hankel transform parameter.
Z ∞ nh 
The circular uniform vertical load applied to the pavement struc- z i z
U¼ A i − 1 − x B i e− δ x
ture can be expressed as follows: 0 δ
h  z i zx o J 1 ðxÞJ 1 ðδr xÞ

− Ci þ 1 þ x Di eδ dξ
pðrÞ r ≤ δ δ x
pjz¼0 ¼ ð2Þ
0 r>δ and where σz and σr are vertical stress and radial stress, respec-
tively; τ rz is the shear stress; w and u are vertical and radial dis-
placements; and x is an integral variable.
The Hankel transformed load function can be expressed as
The coefficients Ai , Bi , Ci , and Di can be determined by solving
follows:
the simultaneous equations that satisfy the boundary and continuity
conditions of the multilayered system. At the surface, the two con-
pδJ 1 ðξδÞ ditions, σz ¼ 0 and τ rz ¼ 0, can be substituted into Eq. (4), result-
pðξÞ ¼ ð3Þ ing in the following equations (Huang 2004):
ξ
2 3
A1
" # 6 7 " #
The stress and displacement equations for the system in 1 1 − 2μ1 −1 1 − 2μ1 6 B1 7 0
Fig. 1 can be obtained by substituting the stress function ψ into the ·66
7¼
7 ð5Þ
general stress and displacement equations (Huang 2004). The equa- 1 −2μ1 −1 2μ1 4 C1 5 1
tions are as follows: D1

For the continuity conditions at the interfaces, the vertical stress,

Z
    shear stress, vertical displacement, and radial displacement are the
∞ z
Ai − 1 þ 2μ − x Bi e−δx
z
σr ¼ −p same at z ¼ h1 ; h2 : : : hn−1 . These boundary conditions between
0 δ

       the upper and lower layers result in the following equations (Huang
z z r δ 2004):
− Ci þ 1 þ 2μ þ x Di eδx J 1 ðxÞJ 0 x dx − U
δ δ r 8 9 8 9
Z ∞     > Ai > > Ai−1 >
r 1 >
> >
> >
> >
>
2μ Bi e−δx þ Di eδx J 1 ðxÞJ 0 x dx − U >
<B > <B >
>
z z
σθ ¼ −p = =
0 δ r i i−1
Z ∞
    ¼ ½Pi−1  ð6Þ
z >
> Ci >> >
> Ci−1 >
>
Ai þ 1 − 2μ þ x Bi e−δx >
> > > >
: > > >
z
σz ¼ −p ; : ;
0 δ Di Di−1
      
z z r
− Ci − 1 − 2μ − x Di eδx J 1 ðxÞJ 0 x dx where
δ δ
Z
z ∞ ½Pi−1 
f½Ai − ð2μ − ξzÞBi e−δx
z
τ zr ¼ −p
δ 0 2 3
  P11 P12 P13
H i−1
2 δ x P14
H i−1
2 δ x
i−1 e i−1 e
z r
þ ½Ci þ ð2μ þ ξzÞDi eδx gJ 1 ðxÞJ 1 x dx 6 i−1 i−1
7
6 21 H H 7
δ 6 Pi−1 P22 P 23 2 i−1
e δ x P 24 2 i−1
e δ x 7
¼6 7
i−1 i−1 i−1
ð1 þ μÞpδ 6 31 −2Hi−1 x H 7
u¼− 6 Pi−1 e δ 32 2 i−1
Pi−1 e δ x 33
Pi−1 34
Pi−1 7
E
U 4 5
Z
    P41 e
Hi−1
−2 δ x
P
Hi−1
42 2 δ x
e P 43
P 44
ð1 þ μÞpδ ∞ z i−1 i−1 i−1 i−1
Ai þ 2 − 4μ þ x Bi e−δx
z
w¼−
E 0 δ
     The recursive formula linking coefficients Ai , Bi , Ci , and Di for
z z J 1 ðxÞJ 0 ðδr xÞ an arbitrary layer and A1 , B1 , C1 , and D1 for the first layer can be
þ Ci − 2 − 4μ − x Di eδx dx ð4Þ
δ x further deduced from Eq. (6) as follows:

© ASCE 04020090-2 J. Eng. Mech.

J. Eng. Mech., 2020, 146(9): 04020090

 8 9 8 9 8 9 Table 1. Gauss points and quadrature formula coefficients
>
> Ai >
> >
> A1 >
> >
> A1 >
>
>
> > > > > >
<B > = <B >
> = <B >
> = Gauss points Quadrature formula coefficients
i 1 1
¼ ½Pi−1 ½Pi−2  · · · ½P1  ¼ ½Ri−1  ð7Þ 0.9789065285
>
> Ci >
> >
> C1 >
> >
> C1 >
>
0.0666713443
>
> > > > > > 0.8650633667
: > ; >
: >
; >
: >
; 0.1494513492
Di D1 D1 0.6794095683 0.2190863625
0.4333953941 0.2692667193
where ½Ri−1  ¼ ½Pi−1 ½Pi−2  · · · ½P1 . 0.1488743390 0.2955242247
Cn , Dn ¼ 0 can be determined from an assumption that stresses
and displacements vanish as r → ∞ and z → ∞. Therefore, the
equations linking the uppermost and lowest layers can be derived
as follows: the load circle center and a vertical distance z from the surface of
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2 3 2 3 the top layer. And n is equal to 0 or 1, depending on the type of

A1 An mechanical response.
6 7 6 7 Eq. (13) is an anomalous integral formula with the product
6 B1 7 6 Bn 7
½Rn−1 6 7 6 7
6C 7 ¼ 6 0 7 ð8Þ of two Bessel functions. Therefore, the numerical integral method
4 15 4 5 was used to evaluate the value of the infinite integral. Various
D1 0 programs have adopted different methods. BISAR, JULEA, and
KENLAYER used the Gauss integral method, whereas WESLEA
Equations with the latter two terms equal to 0 in Eq. (8) can be adopted the Newton–Cotes integral method. In this article, the
expressed as follows: 10-node Gauss integral method is used to calculate the mechanical
response, and the node values and node coefficients are given in
R31
n−1 e
−2h1 ξ
A1 þ R32
n−1 e
−2h1 ξ
B1 þ R33 34
n−1 C1 þ Rn−1 D1 ¼ 0 ð9Þ Table 1.
Therefore, Eq. (13) can be discretized as follows:
R41
n−1 e
−2h1 ξ
A1 þ R42
n−1 e
−2h1 ξ
B1 þ R43 44
n−1 C1 þ Rn−1 D1 ¼ 0 ð10Þ
X∞ Z a  
iþ1 r
Eqs. (5), (9), and (10) can be expressed in the form of matrix as Ri ðr; zÞ ¼ fi ðz; r; μi ; Ei ÞJ 1 ðxÞJ n x dx
k¼0 ai
δ
follows:
XX
∞ 16  
8 9 8 9 r
>
>
>
A1 >
>
> >1>
> > ¼ Ai f i ðz; r; μi ; Ei ÞJ 1 ðxi ÞJ n xi
δ
>
< > >
= > >
< >
0=
k¼0 i¼1
B1  
½M ¼ ð11Þ XM X 16
r
>
> C1 >
> >
> 0>> ¼ Ai f i ðz; r; μi ; Ei ÞJ 1 ðxi ÞJ n xi þ ξ ð14Þ
>
> >
> > >
: ; > : > ; δ
D1 0 k¼0 i¼1

where M is an integral interval number, Ai is a quadrature formula

where
coefficient of the Gauss integral, and ξ is a truncation error.
2 3
1 ð1 − μ1 Þ −1 ð1 − 2μ1 Þ
6 7
61 −2μ1 −1 2μ1 7 Surface Calculation Method
6 7
½M ¼ 6
6 R31 e−2hδ1 x h
−2 δ1 x
7
7
6 n−1 R32
n−1 e R33
n−1 R34
n−1 7 To calculate the mechanical response of pavement structures accu-
4 h h
5 rately and efficiently, it is necessary to analyze the convergence of
−2 δ1 x −2 δ1 x
R41
n−1 e R42
n−1 e R43
n−1 R44
n−1 functions. A four-layer pavement structure was selected, and the
material parameters for any layer are listed in Table 2. Because
Hence, the integration constants of the first layer can be deter- the radial stress or strain at the bottom of the asphalt mixture layer
mined as follows: and vertical displacement on the surface of the asphalt mixture
8 9 8 9 layer were considered as the analysis parameters of fatigue cracking
>
> A1 >
> >
> 1>> of the asphalt layer and structural bearing capacity, the mechanical
>
> >
> >
> >
>
< B1 = < 0 = responses on the surface and the bottom of the top layer were
−1
¼ ½M ð12Þ chosen to investigate the behavior of the integrand. It can be found
> C1 >
> > >
> 0>>
>
> >
> >
> > that Eq. (14) consists of fi ðz; r; μi ; Ei Þ and J 1 ðxÞJ n ðδr xÞ, where
: ; : > ;
D1 0 J 1 ðxÞJ n ðδr xÞ becomes J 1 ðxÞJ 0 ðδr xÞ and J 1 ðxÞJ 1 ðδr xÞ, respectively.
It can be seen in Fig. 2 that the attenuation of the zero-order and
By successive multiplications, the integration constants for any first-order Bessel functions is similar. Therefore, J 1 ðxÞJ 0 ðδr xÞ was
layer can be derived based on Eqs. (7) and (12). chosen to evaluate the case of oscillatory convergence. As shown in
Fig. 3, the function fi ðz; r; μi ; Ei Þ is relatively monotonic, and the

Numerical Integration Method

Table 2. Pavement structure and parameters of materials
It can be easily shown that the solution of LELT subjected to a
cylindrical load can be expressed as follows: Thickness Material properties Poisson
Z ∞   Layer (cm) (MPa) ratio
r
Ri ðr; zÞ ¼ f i ðz; r; Ei ; μi ÞJ 1 ðxÞJ n x dx ð13Þ Asphalt mixture 18 10,000 0.25
0 δ Base 30 7,500 0.25
where Rðr; zÞ is a mechanical response (stresses, shear stresses, or Subbase 18 250 0.35
Subgrade — 81 0.4
displacements) in the point located at a horizontal distance r from

© ASCE 04020090-3 J. Eng. Mech.

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 0.7 z=0,r=1 z=1,r=1 z=5,r=1
0.6 0.0010

0.5 0.0005

0.4 0.0000

0.3 -0.0005

0.2 -0.001040 50 60 70 80 90 100

0.1
0.0
-0.1
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0 20 40 60 80 100
x

Fig. 2. Oscillation diagram of a Bessel function. Fig. 4. Effect of distance from surface on shape J 1 ðxÞJ0 ðδr xÞ for
vertical displacement.

0.5
z=0,r=1 z=1,r=1 z=5,r=1 As for fi ðz; r; μi ; Ei Þ, shown in Fig. 3, it is a monotone bounded
function when z ¼ 0. The limit of fi ðz; r; μi ; Ei Þ is a constant
0.0 value, mðE1 ; μ1 Þ, when x approaches infinity. And fi ðz; r; μi ; Ei Þ
is a monotone subtraction function when z > 0. And the limit of
-0.5 fi ðz; r; μi ; Ei Þ is zero when x approaches infinity


-1.0 mðE1 ; μ1 Þ ðz ¼ 0Þ
lim fi ðz; r; μi ; Ei Þ ¼ ð16Þ
x→xs 0 ðz > 0Þ
-1.5
where xs is a number large enough.
Eq. (13) can be expressed as follows:
-2.0
0 20 40 60 80 100 Z  
x ∞ r
f i ðz; r; Ei ; μi ÞJ 1 ðxÞJ n x dx
0 δ
Fig. 3. Effect of distance from surface on shape of fi ðz; r; μi ; Ei Þ for Z x  
vertical displacement. s r
¼ f i ðz; r; Ei ; μi ÞJ 1 ðxÞJ n x dx
0 δ
Z ∞  
r
þ fi ðz; r; Ei ; μi ÞJ 1 ðxÞJ n x dx ð17Þ
value tends to be a constant with an increase of x. The value tends to xs δ
be −1.5 at z ¼ 0, and the value is close to zero. The larger z is, the
faster it tends to be fixed. As shown in Fig. 4, the product of and RM ¼ ∫ ∞xs f i ðz; r; Ei ; μi ÞJ 1 ðxÞJ n ðδ xÞdx is a remainder term.
r

two Bessel functions, J 1 ðxÞJ 0 ðδr xÞ, exhibits oscillations with an As shown in Eq. (16), when x is larger than xs and z ¼ 0, the re-
increase of x. Therefore, it is easily observed that the larger z is, mainder term can be expressed as follows:
the faster the convergence rate of the values of Ri ðr; zÞ is.
Z  
As described in the previous section, the integral convergence ∞ r
rate of mechanical responses accelerates with the increase in z of the f i ðz; r; Ei ; μi ÞJ 1 ðxÞJ n x dx
xs δ
calculating point, which indicates that the calculation points at or Z ∞  
r
near a surface required expensive computation. Many researchers ¼ mðEi ; μi Þ J 1 ðxÞJ n x dx
have proposed various solutions, such as Richardson’s extrapolation xs δ
Z   Z x   
(Maina and Matsui 2005), the Lucas algorithm (Zhao et al. ∞ r s r
2015a, b), and the use of near-surface points to represent surface ¼ mðEi ; μi Þ J 1 ðxÞJ n x dx þ J 1 ðxÞJ n x dx
0 δ 0 δ
points (Huang 2004). All these methods could solve the problem
of surface point calculation very well. In this article, we propose ð18Þ
a method that can calculate the mechanical response of the pave-
ment structure surface. The mechanical response illustrated in As shown in Eq. (17), the mechanical response integral consists
Eq. (13) is a two-part infinite integral. One part is related to the prod- of two integrals. To solve the mechanical response more accurately
uct of two Bessel functions, J 1 ðxÞJ n ðδr xÞ. The other part is related to and to better evaluate pavement structure soundness, both parts of
the exponential function, fi ðz; r; μi ; Ei Þ. the integral must be solved accurately and quickly. Therefore, in
The Bessel function has oscillation characteristics. When the this article the previous integral adopted a Gauss integral, and the
variable x approaches infinity, the limit of the product of two Bessel latter integral used the calculation method shown in Eq. (18).
functions is zero As shown in Eq. (18), the second part can be obtained by the
  numerical integration method, and the first part can be derived by
r
lim J 1 ðxÞJ n x ¼ 0 ð15Þ computation equations of infinite integrals with a Bessel function,
x→∞ δ as shown in Eq. (19).

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 8
> 1 ðr < δÞ analysis. First, BISAR was used to verify the accuracy of the PADS
Z ∞   >
>
< program, and then the efficiency and accuracy of PADS were
r 1
J 1 ðxÞJ 0 x dx ¼ ðr ¼ δÞ analyzed with and without the surface point calculating program.
0 δ >
> 2
>
: Because the material parameters modulus and Poisson ratio would
0 ðr > δÞ not affect the accuracy and efficiency of calculation, this article an-
8   alyzes only the influence of the number of layers. The difference
>
> 1 1 r2
>
> F ; ; 1; ðr < δÞ between two methods is as follows:
>
> 2 2 δ2
Z ∞ >
> sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
 
<
J 1 ðxÞJ 0 ðδ xÞ
r
2 1X n
RA − R B 2
dx ¼ ðr ¼ δÞ err ¼ × 100% ð20Þ
>
>π 
>
0 x n i¼1 RA
>
> 
>
> 1δ 1 1 δ2
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>
:2r F ; ; 2; ðr > δÞ where RA and RB are the results calculated by two methods.
2 2 r2
8
>
> 1r
Z ∞ < ðr ≤ δÞ
J 1 ðxÞJ 1 ðδ xÞ
r
2δ Verification against BISAR
dx ¼ ð19Þ
0 x >
> 1δ
: ðr ≥ δÞ To evaluate the responses obtained from the solution of LELT, the
2r results of the proposed solution were compared with those calcu-
lated by BISAR. The number of layers ranged from three to seven,
where Fða; b; c; xÞ is the hypergeometric function. and the modulus of layers ranged from 80 to 10,000 MPa. The re-
sponses of points, including surface points and other points, were
verified. Twenty calculation points were selected for each structural
Verification and Analysis of Proposed Solution form, at a depth ranging from 0 to 60 cm and a horizontal distance
ranging from 0 to 15 cm, as shown in Fig. 5. Therefore, a total of
The proposed solution was implemented in C++ version 14 and 100 points were used for verification.
named PADS. To investigate the accuracy and efficiency of the pro- Fig. 6 presents the comparison of the results calculated by
posed solution, several elastic multilayered systems subjected to a BISAR and PADS. As shown in Fig. 6 and listed in Table 3, the
cylindrical vertical load with a 10-cm radius were selected for results calculated by PADS were in good agreement with those by
BISAR, and the average error rate of the calculated results was
less than 10–3.

Analysis Calculation Time and Error Rates

To investigate the analysis efficiency and accuracy of the surface

15cm
point calculation method, the number of layers ranged from three to

1cm
Table 3. Calculation error rates between PADS and BISAR
Number of layers err (%)
3 5.00 ×10−2
4 4.20 ×10−2
5 6.30 ×10−2
6 5.40 ×10−2
Fig. 5. Computational points distribution. 7 3.60 ×10−2

0.2 18

16
0.0

14
-0.2
12
-0.4
10

-0.6 8

-0.6 -0.4 -0.2 0.0 0.2 8 10 12 14 16 18

(a) PADS (b) PADS

Fig. 6. Comparison of radial stress and vertical displacement from PADS and BISAR: (a) radial stress (MPa); and (b) vertical displacement
(0.01 mm).

© ASCE 04020090-5 J. Eng. Mech.

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 0.3 30
28
26
0.0 24
22
20
18
-0.3 16
14
12
-0.6 10
-0.6 -0.3 0.0 0.3 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30
(a) with surface treatment method (b) with surface treatment method
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Fig. 7. Comparison of radial stress and vertical displacement from program with and without proposed solution: (a) radial stress; and (b) vertical
displacement (0.01 mm).

Table 4. Calculation time and error rates of two methods

Number of layers
Calculation time (ms) 3 4 5 6 7
With surface point calculating method 44 61 54 65 60
Without surface point calculating method 66,246 82,806 91,541 110,499 116,017
err (%) 9.3 ×10−4 9.0 ×10−4 8.0 ×10−4 7.6 ×10−4 7.4 ×10−4

seven, several points located on the surface of the top layers were This method can be applied to a mechanical calculation of
considered, and the horizontal distance ranged from 0 to 15 cm, one layered viscoelastic system, and the idea of dealing with special
point per 1 cm. A total of 80 points were used for analysis. In the functions can be applied to a mechanical response calculation of
following section, A and B were the PADS calculations with and surface points of asphalt pavement structure dynamics. At present,
without the surface point calculating method, respectively. the PADS program is being packaged into an interface program
Fig. 7 presents a comparison of the results calculated by the pro- for the mechanical calculation of asphalt pavement structure and
grams with and without the proposed solution. The results shown asphalt pavement structure design.
in Fig. 7 and listed in Table 4 indicate that there was excellent
agreement between the programs with and without the proposed
solution. However, Table 4 indicates that the calculation time of Appendix. Calculation Coefficient
the program without the proposed solution increased with the in-
crease in layers, whereas the calculation time of the program with P11
i−1 ¼ 1 − M i−1
the proposed solution would not be affected by the number of
  
layers; it is stable at 60 ms, which is almost 2,000 times faster than 1 H
that of the program without the proposed solution. And the ratio P12
i−1 ¼ ð1 − M i−1 Þ 1 − 4μi−1 þ 2 i−1 x
2 δ
of computational efficiency increases with the increasing number  
H
of calculation layers. − Li−1 1 − 4μi þ 2 i−1 x
δ
 
Conclusion Hi−1
P13 ¼ M i−1 1 − 4μ i þ 2 x
i−1
δ
This article proposes an approach to quickly and accurately deter-
mine the mechanical responses of the surface of the top layer of   
1 Hi−1
asphalt pavement. This approach separates infinite integrals of P14 ¼ ð1 − Li−1 Þ − M i−1 1 − 4μi−1 − 2 x
i−1
2 δ
mechanical responses into two parts. The first part is obtained by  
the numerical integration method, and the latter part is derived by a H
× 1 − 4μi þ 2 i−1 x
simple formula for calculating infinite integrals with Bessel func- δ
tions and a numerical integration method. A computer code, PADS,
was developed to implement the proposed approach. A comprehen- P21
i−1 ¼ 0
sive comparison of accuracy and efficiency between PADS with
and without the surface point calculation approach was performed. P22
i−1 ¼ Li−1
The results calculated by the two methods were in good agreement,
and the computation speed of PADS with the surface point calcu-
P23
i−1 ¼ −2M i−1
lation approach was 2,000 times faster than that without, and the
calculation time was about 60 ms for 15 points on the surface of  
Hi−1
the top layer. The approach is an effective tool to evaluate the P24 ¼ M i−1 1 − 4μ i−1 − 2 x
mechanical properties of the surface of asphalt pavement.
i−1
δ

© ASCE 04020090-6 J. Eng. Mech.

J. Eng. Mech., 2020, 146(9): 04020090

   Burmister, D. M. 1945b. “The general theory of stresses and displacements
Hi−1
P31 ¼ M i−1 1 − 4μi − 2 x in layered soil systems. II.” J. Appl. Phys. 16 (3): 126–127. https://doi
i−1
δ
.org/10.1063/1.1707562.
    Burmister, D. M. 1945c. “The general theory of stresses and displacements
1 Hi−1 Hi−1
P32 ¼ Mi−1 1 − 4μi−1 þ 2 x 1 − 4μi − 2 x in layered soil systems. III.” J. Appl. Phys. 16 (5): 296–302. https://doi
i−1
2 δ δ .org/10.1063/1.1707590.
 De Jong, D. L., M. G. F. Peutz, and A. R. Korswagen. 1979. Computer
− ð1 − Li−1 Þ program BISAR. Layered systems under normal and tangential surface
load. External Rep. No. AMSR. 0006.73. Amsterdam, Netherlands:
Koninklijke/Shell Laboratorium.
P33 11
i−1 ¼ Pi−1 Erlingsson, S., and A. Ahmed. 2013. “Fast layered elastic response pro-
gram for the analysis of flexible pavement structures.” Road Mater.
  
Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by "University of Massachusetts, Amherst" on 06/24/20. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved.

1 H Pavement 14 (1): 196–210. https://doi.org/10.1080/14680629.2012

P34
i−1 ¼ Li−1 1 − 4μi − 2 i−1 x .757558.
2 δ
  Hayhoe, G. F. 2002. LEAF: A new layered elastic computational
H program for FAA pavement design and evaluation procedures, 1–15.
− ð1 − M i−1 Þ 1 − 4μi−1 − 2 i−1 x
δ Washington, DC: Federal Aviation Administration.
Huang, Y. H. 2004. Pavement analysis and design. 2nd ed. Upper Saddle
P41 23 River, NJ: Pearson Education.
i−1 ¼ −Pi−1
Khazanovich, L., and Q. Wang. 2007. “MnLayer: High-performance
  layered elastic analysis program.” Transp. Res. Rec. 2037 (1): 63–75.
Hi−1
P42 ¼ M i−1 1 − 4μi−1 þ 2 x https://doi.org/10.3141/2037-06.
i−1
δ Liu, P., D. Wang, J. Hu, and M. Oeser. 2016. “SAFEM: Software with
graphical user interface for fast and accurate finite element analysis
P43
i−1 ¼ 0
of asphalt pavements.” J. Test. Evaluation 45 (4): 1301–1315. https://
doi.org/10.1520/JTE20150456.
P44 Liu, P., D. Wang, F. Otto, J. Hu, and M. Oeser. 2018. “Application of semi-
i−1 ¼ Li−1
analytical finite element method to evaluate asphalt pavement bearing
capacity.” Int. J. Pavement Eng. 19 (6): 479–488. https://doi.org/10
1 þ ð3 − 4μi Þmi 1 − mi
Li ¼ ; Mi ¼ ; .1080/10298436.2016.1175562.
4ð1 − μiþ1 Þ 4ð1 − μiþ1 Þ Maina, J., and K. Matsui. 2005. “Elastic multi-layered analysis using
ð1 þ μi ÞEiþ1 DE-integration.” PRIMS 41 (4): 853–867. https://doi.org/10.2977/prims
mi ¼ /1145474598.
ð1 þ μiþ1 ÞEi Shell International Petroleum. 1978. “Shell pavement design manual.”
In Asphalt pavements and overlays for road traffic. London: Shell
International Petroleum.
Data Availability Statement Uzan, J. 1994. “Advanced backcalculation techniques.” In Nondestructive
testing of pavements and backcalculation of moduli: ASTM special
All data, models, and code generated or used during the study are technical publication No. 1198, 3–37. Philadelphia, PA: ASTM.
proprietary or confidential in nature and may only be provided with Van Cauwelaert, F. J., D. R. Alexander, T. D. White, and W. R. Barker.
restrictions. 1989. “Multilayer elastic program for backcalculating layer moduli
in pavement evaluation.” In Nondestructive testing of pavements and
backcalculation of moduli: STP 1026, edited by G. Y. Baladi, and
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© ASCE 04020090-7 J. Eng. Mech.

J. Eng. Mech., 2020, 146(9): 04020090