RESPONSE OF CONTINUOUS PAVEMENTS TO MOVING

DYNAMIC LOADS
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By M. S. A. Hardy I and D. Cebon z

ABSTRACT: A linear theory that may be used to predict the primary responses
(stress, strain displacement) of continuous pavements to moving dynamic loads is
presented. The theory is derived from the well-known convolution integral and its
formulations in moving and stationary frames of reference are derived. A detailed
solution, in the frequency/wave-number domain, is given for a quarter-car vehicle-
model driving up a step on an elastic beam resting on a damped elastic foundation.
The effects of speed and frequency on predicted stresses and displacements are
observed to be consistent with those measured by other writers. The convolution's
practical implementation is explained. The results of validation experiments, in-
volving impulse response measurements to check the assumptions of the theory,
and an instrumented vehicle driving over an instrumented test track, are described.
The results demonstrate that the theory can be used to predict accurately the strains
generated in a road as a vehicle drives over, including the effects of vehicle speed
and dynamic tire forces.

INTRODUCTION
Motivation
Since the A m e r i c a n Associatibn of State Highway Officials ( A A S H O )
road test ["The A A S H O " 1962] the fourth p o w e r law has been used widely
by highway engineers to predict the expected life of pavements, for the
optimization of p a v e m e n t comparing the a m o u n t of d a m a g e caused by dif-
ferent vehicles, and for establishing legislative and taxation systems.
A consequence of a high p o w e r in the d a m a g e law is that any fluctuation
in wheel loads due to vehicle vibration ( " d y n a m i c tire forces") causes a
significant increase in the d a m a g e suffered by the road. Estimates of this
additional road d a m a g e vary anywhere from 20% to 400% ( C e b o n 1989).
The smaller estimates are based on the assumption that p e a k dynamic forces
(and hence the resulting r o a d d a m a g e ) are distributed r a n d o m l y over the
road surface. The larger factors are based on the assumption that vehicles
consistently apply their p e a k wheel loads in the same general areas of the
pavement.
There is considerable evidence to suggest that the higher estimates may
be the more accurate. It has b e e n known for some time that for any given
testing speed, the wheel load time histories g e n e r a t e d by a particular heavy
vehicle are highly r e p e a t a b l e on successive runs over a given stretch of r o a d
(Addis et al. 1986; H a h n 1985; W o o d r o o f f e et al. 1988). This m a y be ex-
pected since the vehicle encounters the same r o a d profile, and hence ex-
citation, on each run. F u r t h e r m o r e , according to ( H a h n 1985): "Since all
heavy commercial vehicles have a p p r o x i m a t e l y the same natural frequencies
and are driven at a p p r o x i m a t e l y the same speed on motorways and long

~Res. Fellow, Dept. of Engrg., Univ. of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB21PZ, United

Kingdom.
2Lect., Dept. of Engrg., Univ. of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 1PZ, United
Kingdom.
Note. Discussion open until February I, 1994. To extend the closing date one
month, a written request must be filed with the ASCE Manager of Journals. The
manuscript for this paper was submitted for review and possible publication on
October 28, 1991. This paper is part of the Journal of Engineering Mechanics, Vol.
119, No. 9, September, 1993. 9 ISSN 0733-9399/93/0009-1762/$1.00 + $.15
per page. Paper No. 2901.
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J. Eng. Mech., 1993, 119(9): 1762-1780

 distance roads, it may be concluded that for a given pavement the dynamic
wheel load peaks always occur within relatively narrowly defined road sec-
tions." Recent theoretical work by Cole (1990) confirmed that for typical
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highway traffic, certain areas of the road surface always suffer the largest
wheel forces, even when the vehicles have a wide range of different sus-
pension parameters, payloads, and speeds.
In order to understand the importance of dynamic tire forces on pavement
damage and to assess the "road-friendliness" of vehicles, it is necessary to
predict accurately the primary responses of roads (stresses, strains and dis-
placements) due to fluctuating, moving axle loads. This is the main moti-
vation for the research described in this paper.

Road Response Models

The importance of road dynamics in calculating the stresses and strains
induced by a moving vehicle has been recognized for some time [see Hardy
(1990) for a detailed review]. Methods for predicting the response of con-
tinuous pavements (flexible or unjointed rigid) have, however, been limited
by the complexity of a full analytical solution. The most common approaches
have been to use either an analogous mechanistic model with discrete masses,
viscous dampers, and springs (Alpan and Baker 1977; Harr 1962; Kerr 1964)
or to modify a layered elastic response model by introducing material prop-
erties that depend on vehicle speed (Kenis et al. 1982; Monismith et al.
1988; Ullidtz and Larsen 1983) or the effective frequency of dynamic loads
(Monismith et al. 1988). Such methods are, at best, a qualitative represen-
tation of dynamic response and few can accommodate dynamic loads. Fur-
thermore, the various authors have disagreed about whether road surface
response increases or decreases with speed (Alpan and Baker 1977; Harr
1962; Monismith et al. 1988) [see Hardy (1990) for details].
Recently, there have been efforts to develop realistic dynamic road re-
sponse models. In order to simulate the effects of moving vehicles, some
writers have considered linear systems subjected to a constant moving force.
Examples of such models are a beam (Fryba 1972; Nogemi and Lain 1987)
or plate (Fryba 1972) supported by a (damped) Winkler foundation (Kerr
1964) or half-space (Fryba 1972). Battiato et al. (1977), simulated a pave-
ment consisting of two viscoelastic layers with a harmonic surface load.
Kausel et al. (Kausel and Peek 1982; Kausel and Ro6sset 1981) derived the
Green's functions (displacements per unit load) of a layered structure built
on a rigid base and these were used by Sebaaly to simulate impact tests on
pavements (Sebaaly 1987). See Hardy (1990) for a more detailed review of
this topic.
There are thought to be only two solutions in the literature for dynamic
road response to moving random loads. Fryba calculated the covariance of
the response of a beam on a Winkler foundation that had statistically varying
stiffness to a statistically stationary "ergodic" force moving along it at con-
stant velocity (Fryba 1972) but he did not extend the model to two or three-
dimensional systems. Cebon (1988) presented a numerical convolution method
for calculating the time domain response of an infinite beam on a damped
Winkler foundation to moving random loads. No analysis was found in the
literature of the dynamic response of a realistic layered road model to
moving steady or random forces.
Very few pavement response models have been validated by comparison
with field measurements [see Cebon (1989) for details]. In general, the
agreement between experiment and theory has been qualitative and for low
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J. Eng. Mech., 1993, 119(9): 1762-1780

 speeds only. There are two main reasons for this. Firstly there are significant
difficulties in measuring the primary response of roads accurately. This is
highlighted in an OECD report ("Strain" 1985) that shows large discrep-
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ancies (up to a factor of two) between the outputs of various types of buried
strain gauges, for "identical" measurement conditions. Secondly, vehicles
traveling at highway speeds generate substantial dynamic tire forces even
for the smoothest road surfaces. These forces appear as random errors in
the pavement simulation, unless they are measured and taken into account.
The analysis described and validated in this paper is an extension of the
numerical convolution theory (Cebon 1988) and provides a method for
calculating the primary responses of continuous pavements to moving dy-
namic surface loads. It is sufficiently general to predict the effects of vehicle
speed, frequency of loading and combinations of these effects on pavement
response. The method lends itself to experimental validation, because it
accounts for the influence of dynamic loads, and implicitly removes the
effects of systematic strain measurement errors.

RESPONSE OF ROAD SURFACE TO MOVING DYNAMIC LOADS

Response in Time Domain
The response of a linear system to a time-varying input is given by the
well-known convolution integral (Newland 1985). If the system has Nl in-
puts: f,,(t), m = 1, 2 . . . . , Ni, with positions r#~(t) at time t, and the
response is measured at a point with position vector ry, the impulse response
function becomes dependent on three variables, and is given by h(ry, rim ,
t). The convolution integral then becomes:

y(ry, t) = ~N~ f , h[ry, rfm('r), t - "r]f,~(T) dr .................... (1)

m=l --~

This is a general expression for the response of a linear system to a set of

moving inputs. A number of simplifying assumptions can be made when it
is used to model the response of a road due to a passing vehicle:

1. If the road is isotropic, the impulse response is not a function of the

output position but only of the separation of the input and output. In this
case
h[ry, l'f,,,('r), t -- T] = h[ry - r/m('r), t - r] ...................... (2)
2. If the input is the force applied by the tire of a vehicle that is moving
at constant velocity then
rlm(t ) = r:,,(O) + Vt ......................................... (3)
where ra~(O) = the position of the force at time t = 0 and V = the velocity
vector of the vehicle.
3. If all the inputs act along the same line and the response is also required
on that line (i.e., each wheel follows the same path as the one in front of
it and the road response is required on this wheel path) then axes may be
chosen so that all position vectors are collinear and parallel with the velocity.
In this case, the problem is confined to one space dimension (x, say) and
position vectors may be reduced to ordinates along the x-axis:
y(ry, t) = y ( x , t) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (4a)
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 h[ry - rf,,(r), t - r] = h[x - (d,, + vr), t - r] ................ (4b)
where y ( x , t) = the response at position x at time t; d,, = the position of
tire m at time zero: d,, = rp,(0); v = the vehicle speed; and h ( x , t) = the
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response at position x and time t to a unit impulse at the origin at time t

= 0. Under these conditions (1) becomes

y ( x , t) = m=, . -= h[x - (d,, + v r ) , t - rlf,,(r) dr ............... (5)

This equation is similar to that derived by Cebon (1988), where it was used
to find the response of a continuously supported beam to arbitrary, moving
excitation.
4. As the deflections of the road surface (typically 0.1-1 mm) are gen-
erally much smaller than the deflections of the tire and vehicle suspension
(10-100 mm) the vehicle response to road surface irregularity and the de-
flection of the road due to the vehicle loads may be considered as uncoupled
systems.

Eq. (5) gives the response at a position, x, fixed on the road. It is some-
times more convenient to calculate the response at a point moving with the
load, for example, the response under a tire.
The position of a point moving with the truck is defined by 2 = x - vt.
Substituting this into (5) gives an alternative equation for the response of
the road at a point moving with the vehicle:

y(~,t) -- ~ _~h[2 - am + v(t - , ) , t - ,lfm(~)d~ . . . . . . . . . . . . (6)

/v, f ,

Frequency Domain Solution of Moving Convolution Integral

The simple convolution integral, (1), is often solved in the frequency
domain using Fourier transforms because the transform of the integral re-
duces to a simple multiplication (Newland 1985).
The same technique may be used to simplify the moving convolution
integral [(5)] but it is necessary to take Fourier transforms with respect to
both time and space variables as follows:

Y(~, ~ ) = ( 1~ ; f f~_ y ( x , t)e-i~'e - i ~ dt d x .................... (7a)

1 2 ~
Y(~, 03) -~ (~-~) m~=lf f -
+ zrr), t - r]f,,(T)e-"~'e - ` ~ dr dt d r ........................... (7b)
Nr
Y(~, 03) = 2'IT E H(~, 03)Fm(03 4- v~)e -'earn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (7c)
m=l
where 03 = the angular frequency of loading, corresponding to the time t;
= the wave number, corresponding to the distance x; Y(~, ~0) = the
Fourier transform of y ( x , t); H(~, 03) = the two-dimensional Fourier trans-
form of h ( x , t); and Fm(03) = the Fourier transform O f f m ( t ) .
It is apparent that the term v~ = an effective frequency or "Doppler
shift." A similar derivation from (6), for the convolution in the moving
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J. Eng. Mech., 1993, 119(9): 1762-1780

 frame of reference, yields a similar solution in the frequency/wave-number
domain:
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f'(~, to) = 2~ ~ H(~, to - v()Fm(to)e -i~dm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (8)

m--1

where I;'(~, to) = the Fourier transform of y(2, t).

If the set of loads and impulse response function are described by ana-
lytical expressions, the response may be evaluated by direct integration of
(5) or (6), or by using (discrete) Fourier transforms and evaluating (7) or
(8).
In order to calculate the Fourier transforms in (7) and (8), the wheel
loads must be either periodic or transient. The wheel loads may have a
steady (DC) offset because this can be considered as "periodic" with zero
frequency. Fourier transforms do not exist for statistically "stationary" ran-
dom loads (Newland 1985).

Example: Frequency Domain Calculation of Road Response to

Transient Loads
The following is a sample calculation of the response of a road to transient
dynamic wheel loads, using the frequency domain calculation described in
the previous section. In order to illustrate the method, the simplest possible
road and vehicle response models are used. The road model is an Euler
beam supported by a damped elastic (Winkler) foundation with mass, elastic
and damping parameters chosen to simulate the responses measured during
the AASHO road tests (Cebon 1988). The response of this type of system
to moving harmonic loads was investigated by Mathews (Mathews 1958),
but in the case of damped beams (Mathews 1959) his study was restricted
to either stationary harmonic loads or nonoscillating moving loads. The
vehicle is a linear "quarter-car" model, with parameter values typical of
one wheel station of a heavy commercial vehicle. The vehicle is excited by
a stepup of height u -- 10 mm in the road surface profile. The models and
parameter values are shown in Fig. 1.
The equation of motion of the beam is:

~4 O2Y Oy
El--+ O" -Ot
-2 + X ~ + 13y = f ( x , t) ......................... (9)

where y(x, t) = the vertical displacement of the beam and f(x, t) = the
applied tire force.
In order to evaluate (8), it is necessary to determine F(to) (the one-
dimensional Fourier transform of the dynamic tire force time history), and
H(~, co) (the two-dimensional Fourier transform of road surface impulse
response function). H(~, co) is essentially the harmonic response function
and is given by:
1
H(~, to) = 27r(Ei~4 _ t02~ + itok + 13) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (10)

F(to) = the product of the Fourier transform of the step input and the
vehicle response transfer function relating tire forces to road surface dis-
placements. For the simple quarter-car vehicle model, this gives:
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J. Eng. Mech., 1993, 119(9): 1762-1780

 Speed v

m'l
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Cl ~ kl

c2 k2 Stepheightu
I

raI = 4450 kg kl = l 000 k N / m c I = 15 kNs/rn EI = 1.38 M N r n 2 13 = 170 M N / m ~

Irn2 = 550 kg k2 = 1 750 kN/m c2 = 2 kNs/m o = 353 M g / m 2t = I M N s / m 21

FIG. 1. Model and Parameter Values for Transient Road Response Calculation

U
2---~ k 2 [ - i t ~ - t~ + m2) + itok,(ml + m2)]
F(to) =
[to4mlm2 - ito3(mlcl + m2c I + mlc2)
- to2(mlk I + m 2 k 1 + mlk2 + CLC2)
+ ito(Clk 2 + C2kl) + klk2]

-t- (m I + rn2)gS({o) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (11)

The last term, containing the Dirac delta function 80o), is the Fourier
transform of the static wheel load, (ml + m2) g, where g = the acceleration
due to gravity. Combining H(~, co) and F(oJ) according to (8) gives the
Fourier transform of the beam displacement response, in a frame of ref-
erence moving with the load at speed v.
The inverse Fourier transform, required to determine y(s t) from (8) can
be evaluated using a two-dimensional fast Fourier transform (FFT) algo-
rithm. In order to generate real responses, the function H(~, to - v~)F(r
must be sampled at a grid of points and formed into a symmetric "Her-
mitian" array, before transformation [see Newland (1985) for details].
This procedure was carried out for the vehicle and beam with parameters
shown in Fig. 1. The displacement of the beam immediately under (and
moving with) the load was found at various speeds and the responses of the
beam for speeds of 10, 20, and 30 m/s are shown in Fig. 2. The road responses
can be seen to display high frequency oscillations just downstream of the
step due to dynamic tire forces at the "wheel hop" frequency of the vehicle.
Lightly damped, lower-frequency oscillations also occur due to sprung mass
bouncing motion, for up to 100 m downstream. The wavelength of these
oscillations along the road is proportional to the vehicle speed, as expected.
The mean road surface deflection under the load decreases with increasing
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J. Eng. Mech., 1993, 119(9): 1762-1780

 0.6

0.58t i
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0.561.- 4I
0.54 i
cD
0.52
0.5
'i", /' ," "'/ ", ,'/ '", ,/" ""'-
0.48
0.46
0.44 o "'"' 1
io 20 30 40 50 60
Distance from step (m)

FIG. 2. Road Surface Displacement Response due to Quarter-car Vehicle Model

Mounting 10-ram Step at Speeds of: 10 m / s - - , 20 m/s . . . . . , 3 0 m/s . . . .

vehicle speed, in accordance with the "speed effect" (Alpan and Baker
1977; Cebon 1988; Harr 1962).
Increasing the vehicle speed has no effect on the dynamic loads for the
assumed instantaneous step input. However, it can be observed that the
amplitude of road surface motion under the load is smaller for the higher
speeds, due to the dynamics of the road surface model. The same conclusion
is also true for the peak displacement, just behind the load (not shown in
the figure). The decrease in the amplitude of oscillations is, however, almost
completely masked by the overall change in response magnitude due to the
effect of speed. The response is not simply the static response of the road
scaled according to the applied loads the effect of speed is significant. It
may, however, be approximated by the response to a unit load moving at
the appropriate velocity scaled according to the instantaneously applied load
(Hardy 1990).
It is interesting to investigate the behavior of the foundation stress re-
sponse under the same set of applied forces. In this case H(~, to) is replaced
by H(~, to) • (~ + itok), which will, on completion of the inverse Fourier
transform, produce the foundation reaction force per unit length. The results
for the same three speeds are shown in Fig. 3. It is clear that the mean
foundation reaction increases with increasing speed. This is again consistent
with observations of dynamic amplification (Sousa et al. 1988).

Implementation of Theory for Measured Wheel Loads and

Impulse Responses
If the impulse response function or the forces are derived from experi-
mental measurements then the integrals 5 and 6 can in general only be
solved numerically [see Hardy (1990)].
In order to evaluate the integral of (5) it must be replaced by a summation
by substituting 0 as 0 = t - ,r and then discretizing so that 0 = jA0
Nf Nh - 1

y(x, t) = m~=l E h[x - (dm -~- "otI -~ "L)jAO, jAO]fm(t- jA0)A0 ...... (12/
= /=o
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J. Eng. Mech., 1993, 119(9): 1762-1780

 xl~ Beam responseto lOmmstep

3.9
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,/, ',,;' ',/' '\ ,' /~-.. ,, ........'" "...

3.63"--
7 ':i
i!, ,"; ,"" ", ~ " / ',
; ', " " :"......

r/a 3.5
.o

3,f
3.3

3.2

3.1

3 0 1'0 2'0 3'o 4b 5'0 60

Distance from step (m)

FIG. 3. Foundation Stress Response due to Quarter-car Vehicle Model Mounting

lO-mm Step at Speeds of: 10 m/s--, 20 m/s . . . . . ,30 m / s - - - - -

The summation is terminated at a time 0 = (Nh - 1)A0, after which the

impulse response function is considered to have effectively died away to
nothing.
If the impulse response functions are measured at distances Ag along the
road and with time interval AO, then a discretized version of the impulse
response is h(kAg, jAO) = hkj. Similarly, if the force is measured at time
intervals AT and the response is required at space intervals of Ax and time
intervals of At then the response and the input force as well as the impulse
response function can be discretized as follows:
y(kAx, 1At) = YkJ ......................................... (13a)
h(kAg, jAO) = hkj ........................................ (13b)
fro(tAT) = fro,, ............................................. (13C)

Substituting these into (12) gives

IV[ Nh l
Yk.l = AO m~_1 E hcKk-rm)-Xt+f~i,.qjfm,vl-o.] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (14)
= ]=0

where a = Ax/Ag, 13 = A0/Ag, 7 = vAt/Ag, rm = dm/AX, ~ = A0/A@, v =

At,A'r, and Ix = A0/A~r.
If the integral is to be evaluated in a frame of reference moving with the
vehicle then the same procedure can be followed starting from (6) with the
result:
Nf Nh-- 1
YkJ = A0 E E ha(k-rrn)-vl+f3j,njfm,vl--~.j . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (15)
m=l j=O

Each of these equations, (14) and (15), requires NhNf + 1 multiplications

for each value of y. If the response y is required at Ny positions in space
and N, times then a total of NyNt(NhN I + 1) real multiplications is required.
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J. Eng. Mech., 1993, 119(9): 1762-1780

 In addition interpolation will be required because neither the arguments of
the impulse response function nor the argument of the forcing function are
likely to fall exactly on measured values.
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EXPERIMENTAL FACILITIES
Test Section
A program of experiments was carried out on an instrumented section
of test track at the Transport and Road Research Laboratory (TRRL) in
the United Kingdom in order to verify the theory just described. The test
section was constructed of 150 mm of dense bituminous macadam (DBM),
laid in two equal layers, with a 50-mm wearing course of hot-rolled asphalt
(HRA), built on 300 mm of crushed granite subbase. The subgrade was a
heavy clay with a CBR of 2 - 3 % , which was laid to a depth of 3 ft in the
existing hoggin, which had a CBR of approximately 3%.

Impulse Hammer and Instrumentation

The test section contained two banks of instruments. Each bank consisted
of a surface accelerometer, a soil strain gauge, and a base strain gauge,
mounted directly one above the other. The banks were nominally 3 m apart
and in the nearside wheel path. The soil strain gauges were LVDTs (linear
variable differential transformers) mounted vertically with their centers 650
mm below the surface of the road. The undisturbed length of both LVDTs
prior to installation was 79 mm. The base strain gauges were of a conven-
tional metal foil type and were mounted to measure strains transverse to
the wheel path at the bottom of the asphaltic layers.
The locations of the soil strain gauges were established as accurately as
possible using the impulse hammer described next. The base strain gauges
were assumed to be directly above the soil gauges and the accelerometers
were installed at the surface on the same vertical line.
The instrumented hammer used to measure the impulse responses, was
a modified version of the one described by Hunt (1988). The head of the
hammer had a mass of 18.2 kg and was faced with latex so that it would
not damage the road surface. The hammer arm was 2 m long, giving an
impact velocity of 6.3 m/s when dropped from full height. The peak force
during the impulse was approximately 40 kN and the impulse duration
approximately 0.01 s.
The impulse and road responses were recorded by a digital data logger.
Details of signal conditioning equipment and data processing can be found
elsewhere (Hardy 1990).
In addition to the equipment directly involved in the measurement of
impulse responses, temperature probes were mounted in the road surface.
The road surface temperature was recorded with every impulse response
and the temperature profile through the road was monitored at regular
intervals throughout the testing period.

EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF TEST ROAD

Linearity Tests
The theory of "Response of Road Surface to Moving Dynamic Loads"
in this paper relies on use of the convolution integral, which is based on
the principle of superposition. This requires the road to behave linearly,
i.e., the magnitude of the road's response must be proportional to the
magnitude of the input at any excitation frequency.
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J. Eng. Mech., 1993, 119(9): 1762-1780

 The linearity of the test road was investigated by applying impulses of
different magnitudes. The size of the applied impulse is proportional to the
square root of the height from which the hammer is dropped:
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I = mh(1 + e)X/2-gh ........................................ (16)

where I = the impulse; m h ---- the effective mass of the hammer head; e =
the coefficient of restitution; g = the acceleration due to gravity; and h =
the height from which the hammer head is released.
For each test, the hammer was dropped from three different heights: 2
m, 1 m and 0.5 m. For every hammer drop the impulse response function
was obtained by dividing the Fourier transform of the output response by
the Fourier transform of the input force and then inverse Fourier trans-
forming the result. This had the effect of normalizing the response at each
frequency by the magnitude of the input at that frequency.
The normalized responses from the accelerometer in one instrument bank
are shown in Fig. 4. The three curves are hardly distinguishable, indicating
that the response measured by this accelerometer was from a system showing
a high degree of linearity. The base strain response was observed to be
similarly linear. The soil strain response illustrated in Fig. 5, however, shows
distinctly nonlinear behavior. The largest response (solid line) is to the
larg.est impulse indicating a system with a characteristic like a softening
spring.
Soils have been observed to exhibit this type of behavior under large
strains (Atkinson and Bransby 1987) but conversely Felice et al. (1977)
reported stiffening characteristics of a silty clay. If the soil exhibited sig-
nificantly nonlinear behavior then it would be expected to influence the
response of the whole structure. This is not the case, because the responses
measured by the accelerometer and base strain gauges were linear. There-
fore, the nonlinearity in the soil strain response is probably introduced by
the soil strain measurement system.
Fig. 5 shows that the soil strain gauge output does not return to zero after
the impulse response has reached a steady state. This offset was observed
to be stable and permanent. It is probably caused by sticking of the LVDT
or inelasticity in the soil supporting it. If friction is present in the LVDT

~ 0 '! ' ' ' I . . . . I . . . . I . . . . I . . . . 1

20 -

<
-:J 1
Time (s)
FIG. 4. Accelerometer Linearity Test Hammer Height: 2 m--, 1 m ..... ,
0.5 m .....

1771

J. Eng. Mech., 1993, 119(9): 1762-1780

 . . . . I . . . . I . . . . I . . . . i . . . .

~Z' 600
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"~ 400

~'~
= 200

m 0
. v,,,I

o
-200
.... [ , , , I . . . . I , , , , I , , , (~
0.00 0.02 6.o4 o.o6 0.08 .

Time (s)

FIG. 5. Soil Strain Gauge Linearity Test Hammer Height: 2 m--, 1 m ..... ,
0.5 m .....

30 i . . . . I . . . . 1 . . . . ] "

Z 20
#
~ 0
o
9~ -~o

~ -20
<
i , I .... I , , ./ .... i ,
-~0.0'0 0.02 o.o4 oo. 6 o.o8 ' 0'.10
Time (s)

FIG. 6. Aecelerometer Isotropy Test (Bank 1)

then it would be expected to behave with the softening spring characteristic

as observed.
It is concluded that, under the conditions of testing, the test section
behaved in an essentially linear manner but that some nonlinearities may
have been introduced by the soil strain measuring system. The effect of
these nonlinearities on the convolution calculation were minimized by using
a hammer that applied a force of magnitude similar to typical wheel loads
(Bendat and Piersol 1980).

Isotrnpy Tests
To investigate how road responses varied with absolute position on the
road, impulse responses were measured for h a m m e r drops at four positions
(at 90 ~ intervals) around each gauge. Each impulse position was 2 m away
from the gauge. Ten impulse response functions were measured and aver-
aged for each position.
Fig. 6 shows the impulse response functions measured by the accelerom-
1772

J. Eng. Mech., 1993, 119(9): 1762-1780

 eter in instrument bank 1. The four responses are similar both in overall
shape and magnitude and the differences are primarily in the ringing after
the initial peaks. The largest response (solid line) was to the hammer blows
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that were outside the nearside wheel path (i.e., towards the middle of the
road). Similar results were observed for the accelerometer in bank 2. The
differences between the responses appear to be due to anisotropy in the
road construction. The road surface temperature only varied between 27.7~
and 30.1~ during these measurements and is not thought to be the source
of the differences.
The base strain gauge responses for bank 1 (Fig. 7) show two distinctly
different characteristics. The larger responses are to hammer blows at po-
sitions off the nearside wheel path (with the solid line representing the
response to inputs outside it). These are longitudinal (radial) strain impulse
responses. The smaller response curves are transverse (circumferential) strain
impulse responses. As with the accelerometers the responses show reason-
able isotropy until they start to decay.
Fig. 8 shows the response of the bank 1 soil strain gauge to the isotropy

100 . . . . [ . . . . I ' ' " ' I . . . . . . . .

50

=t.

r~

-50

0.00 ;.o2 0.04 0.06 o.

Time (s)
FIG. 7. Base Strain Gauge Isotropy Test (Bank 1)

200
Z
100

:=L o

-lOO
r~
o -2oo
r,~
'i".:
i i i i

_ 3,0~oo
nn 0.02 0.04- 0.06 0.08 O.lO
Time (s)
FIG. 8. Soil Strain Gauge Isotropy Test (Bank 1)
1773

J. Eng. Mech., 1993, 119(9): 1762-1780

 test. It again shows good isotropy with the solid line representing the re-
sponse to hammer blows outside the wheel path. The responses of the gauge
in bank 2 were somewhat less isotropic.
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The two most likely reasons why the responses from the L V D T in bank
2 do not indicate as isotropic a response as the L V D T in bank 1 are:

1. The exact position of each L V D T gauge was not known and was
difficult to determine.
2. The use of heavy rollers on the subgrade during construction may have
rotated the soil strain gauges away from the vertical. This would give rise
to a directional response.

If a road is significantly anisotropic it is not practical to use a different

response model at every point, unless statistical methods are used [e.g.,
Kenis et al. (1982)]. Otherwise, it is necessary to calculate a representative
response for the road, which is the assumption made by most mechanistic
flexible pavement design procedures.
Whilst the results of the isotropy tests have not shown ideal behavior, it
was decided that the test sections could be considered to be locally isotropic
(Ullidtz and Larsen 1983) for the purpose of further study and theoretical
development. This is thought to be an area where more research may be
required.

T e m p e r a t u r e Effects
Road responses were observed to vary significantly as the temperature
in the road varied. In order to monitor this to some degree the road surface
temperature was recorded with every impulse response. Fig. 9 shows the
peaks of the normalized impulse responses plotted against the surface tem-
perature for all hammer drops that were directly over gauges. For base
strain measurements the peaks are negative whereas they are positive for
the soil strain gauges. This corresponds to peaks in compression in the soil
and peaks in tension at the bottom of the asphaltic bound layers.
There is clearly a correlation between the peak impulse response and
surface temperature. It should be noted, however, that the surface tem-
perature is not always indicative of the mean effective temperature of the
road structure and so a high correlation is not expected. The response of

,-,5OOO 0

9~ -1000

3O0O
@ xx xx ll.
.~ -200(I
x
e-,
m 2000
xx xx ~ -3000
~ 10011
0

0 .t t t .t .... l, i
~.40oe t
10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 10 2b z5 30 4b 45
Surface Temperature (*C) Surface Temperature (*C)

FIG. 9. Impulse Response Peaks Plotted against Road Surface Temperature

1774

J. Eng. Mech., 1993, 119(9): 1762-1780

 the pavement can be seen to be very sensitive to temperature, with ap-
proximately a factor of four variation in soil strain response for a surface
temperature range of 13~ to 42~
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Because of the temperature sensitivity of the road response, the impulse

responses used in the convolution calculation were measured under con-
ditions that were as close as possible to those during the vehicle tests. From
an examination of the daily temperature variation it was decided to carry
out these tests very early in the morning when temperatures were at their
most stable and the effects of solar heating minimized.

ROAD RESPONSES TO PASSING VEHICLES

Description of Experiments
An instrumented four-axle articulated vehicle was provided by TRRL.
Each axle was fitted with two strain gauge bridges and two accelerometers,
so that all tire forces could be measured and logged by an on-board analog
tape recorder. Details for the instrumentation and calibration are given
elsewhere (Cole and Cebon 1988).
The static weights of the axles were measured to be 29.1 kN on each
wheel of the steering axle, 40.4 kN on each wheel of the drive axle, and
37.9 kN on each wheel on the trailer's tandem axle group. The three heavily
loaded axles all had dual tires.
The vehicle was driven over the test section at two nominal speeds: 50
and 80 km/hr. In each test the truck was driven over the measuring points
with each outside tire of the three sets of dual tires passing as accurately as
possible over the nominal position of the gauges. The single tire of the
steering axle was slightly in-board of the outside tire of the dual tires. The
longitudinal position of the vehicle along the test section was monitored at
three points by infrared beams that placed pulses on one track of the analog
tape recorder. Simultaneously, pulses were recorded by the roadside digital
data logger, which also measured the pavement strains.
The lateral position of the vehicle was not monitored but observations
of the tire position as the vehicle passed showed that the tires followed a
line within 200 mm of the nominal gauge position at high speeds and were
more accurate at lower speeds. In separate tests, using the same driver, the
lateral position of a vehicle was monitored by a video recorder mounted
underneath. The recorded picture showed that the steering axle strayed
from its line by less than 100 mm at 50 km/hr.
A set of impulse responses was measured on one side of one bank of
buried strain gauges immediately before the vehicle was driven over the
test section. The impulse responses were measured at 21 points at 150-mm
intervals along the wheel path. At each position the hammer was dropped
five times and the normalized impulse responses were averaged.

Calculation Results
The discrete convolution calculation in a stationary frame of reference
[(14)] was used to combine the measured wheel forces with the measured
field of impulse responses. Impulse responses were taken at relatively widely
spaced points along the road and it was found necessary to interpolate
between these responses. No distinction was made for single or dual wheels
and no correction was made for the small differences in wheel path. The
effects of the offside tire forces on the nearside road response were assumed
to be negligible.
1775

J. Eng. Mech., 1993, 119(9): 1762-1780

 Fig. 10 shows a typical base strain gauge response to a truck pass at 50
km/hr. Peaks are clearly visible when each axle passes over the gauges, with
the first peak in response due to the steering axle. The magnitudes of the
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calculated peaks are quite accurate and the main discrepancy is the rate at
which the response decays after each wheel has passed. The calculated rate
is a little fast giving an exaggerated trough between the wheels of the tandem
axle trailer suspension. This is thought to be due to a slightly nonlinear
viscoelastic response of the road surface, which is more pronounced at the
slower loading rates associated with the passing vehicle than at the rapid
loading rates used to make the impulse response measurements.
Fig. 11 shows a typical base strain response for an 80-km/hr truck pass.
A similar pattern was shown by all other results. The calculated peak re-
sponses correlate well for all axles. Comparison with the 50-km/hr runs show
that the peaks in the measured responses are generally lower in magnitude,
as expected from the speed effect. The simulation still does not quite follow

300 I . . . . I . . . . I . . . . I

200

::L
100
9

-100o.o 1 . . . . I

0.5
, , , ,

1.o
I , ,

1.5
I ,

T i m e (s)

FIG. 10. Base Strain Gauge Response to 50-km/hr Test: Measured--, Calculated

3 0 0 . . . . L . . . . , . . . . I . . . . L . . . . I . . . . L''

200
::L
100 ~ .
c/)
0

- %.'(' ' o.2

I . . . .

0.4
I . . . .

o.6
[ , , , ,

o.B
I , , . . . . . .

~.o
I

~.2
,

TLme (s)
FIG. 11. Base Strain Gauge Response to 8O-km/hr Test: Measured--, Calculated

1776
J. Eng. Mech., 1993, 119(9): 1762-1780
 500 l . . . . I . . . . l . . . .
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r.r
-500
0
o~

l , , , , I , , , , I
- 100%,'1
0.5 1.0 1.5
Time (s)

500 . . . . 1 . . . . i . . . . , . . . .

=L 0 ~''"
~
-500
o
~q

, , , , I , , , , I , , , , I . . . .
- 100~.'(
0.5 1.0 1.5
Time (s)
FIG. 12. Soil Strain Gauge Responses to 50-km/hr Test: Measured--, Calculated

the decay of the measured response as it falls away from the peaks although
it is somewhat more accurate than at 50 km/hr.
Typical responses of the soil strain gauges to 50 km/hr and 80-km/hr tests
are shown in Figs. 12 and 13. At 80 km/hr, the peak strains under the
tandem axles change significantly between the two banks of gauges for both
measurement and simulation. This indicates that dynamic tire forces on the
tandem suspension affect the road's response between the banks of gauges.
The calculated responses to the 50-km/hr tests underpredict the measured
response by approximately 15% on all of the runs. For the 80-km/hr tests
the overall error is reduced slightly.
The calculated responses give the peaks and troughs in the correct places
and also follow the dynamic component of the tire forces. The calculated
and measured responses all vary in overall magnitude with speed and the
general trends are the same. The main source of error in the magnitude of
the soil strain predictions is thought to be due to the nonlinearity of the soil
strain gauges.
Other sources of error for both sets of gauges are thought to be:
1777

J. Eng. Mech., 1993, 119(9): 1762-1780

 500 . . . . I . . . . I ' """ ' I ' '' ' . . . . '' "1""' ' " "
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:=L

.=.

~ -500
o

- 100~).' . . . . 0.12 . . . . . I . . . . [ . . . . I . . . . I , . ., ,
o.,, 0.6 o,8 ~.o
Time (s)

500 ' ' ' ' [ . . . . I . . . . I ' " ' - ' I . . . . I . . . .

=E 0

-500

- 100%.', ' ' ' ' P . . . . l ' ' ' , I . . . . 1 . . . . . . . r , , , 1

o,2 0.4 o.6 o,a ~.o

T i m e (s)
FIG. 13. Soil~rainGaugeResponsestoSO-km/hr~st:Measured~,Calculated

1. Lateral offtracking of the tires from the strain gauge positions.

2. Inaccuracy in the exact location of the strain gauges.
3. Road-surface temperature variations during the period between the
measurement of the impulse response functions and the truck tests.
4. The effects of single and dual tires on the pavement response, which
was not included in the calculations.
5. Dynamic contact area variations.

CONCLUSIONS

1. The theory required to calculate the response of a continuous, linear

system to moving transient, periodic, and random loads has been presented.
2. The assumptions of linearity and isotropy that are required by the
theory were tested on an instrumented section of the TRRL test track. They
were found to be satisfied sufficiently well to justify use of the theory to
predict the response of the road to passing vehicles.
"/778

J. Eng. Mech., 1993, 119(9): 1762-1780

 3. The response of the test road was found to be very sensitive to tem-
perature.
4. The theoretical response of the test road was found to agree closely
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with the measured response. The calculation method was found to simulate
the effects of speed and dynamic wheel loads correctly.
5. Further research is required to investigate the assumptions of linearity
and isotropy on a large sample of roads if the calculation method is to be
used more widely.
6. The measured and predicted strains in the test road and in a simple
road model were observed to decrease significantly as the load speed in-
creased. The stresses in the simple road model were, conversely, observed
to increase with increasing speed.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The writers are grateful to the Director of the Transport and Road Re-
search Laboratory and to members of the Vehicles and Environment Di-
vision and Pavement Engineering Division of T R R L for provision of the
instrumented vehicle and test track and for assistance with the experimental
program described in this paper.

APPENDIX. REFERENCES
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Highway Research Board, Washington, D.C.
Addis, R. R., Halliday, A. R., and Mitchell, C. G. B. (1986). "Dynamic loading
of road pavements by heavy goods vehicles." Congress on Engineering Design,
Seminar 4A-03.26 pp.
Alpan, I., and Baker, R. (1977). "The speed effect in pavement deflection." Acta
Technica. 85(12), 11-28.
Atkinson, J. H., and Bransby, P. L. (1987). The mechanics of soils: an introduction
to critical state soil mechanics. McGraw-Hill, New York, N.Y.
Battiato, G., Verga, C., and Ronca, G. (1977). "Viscoelastic deformations in a two
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Bendat, J. S., and Piersol, A. G. (1980). Engineering applications of correlation and
spectral analysis. John Wiley and Sons, New York, N.Y.
Cebon, D. (1988). "Theoretical road damage due to dynamic tyre forces of heavy
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Cebon, D. (1989). "Vehicle-generated road damage: A review." Veh. Syst. Dyn.,
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Cole, D. J. (1990). "Measurement and analysis of dynamic tyre forces generated by
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Cole, D. J., and Cebon, D. (1988). "Simulation and measurement of vehicle response
to road roughness." Proc., Institute of Acoustics, 10(2), 477-484.
Felice, C. W., Gaffney, E. S., Brown, J. A., and Olsen, J. M. (1977). "Dynamic
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Hardy, M. S. A. (1990). "The response of flexible pavements to dynamic tyre forces,"
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Harr, M. E. (1962). "Influence of vehicle speed on pavement deflections." Proc.
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 Hunt, H. E. M. (1988). "Measurement and modelling of traffic-induced ground
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Kausel, E., and Peek, R. (1982). "Dynamic loads in the interior of a layered stratum:
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Kausel, E., and Rorsset, J. M. (1981). "Stiffness matrices for layered soils." Bulletin
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Kerr, A. D. (1964). "Elastic and viscoelastic foundation models." J. Appl. Mech.,
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far angewandte Mathematik und Mechanik, 38(3/4), 105-115.
Mathews, P. M. (1959). "Vibrations of a beam on elastic foundation II." Zeitschrift
fiir angewandte Mathematik und Mechanik, 39(1/2), 13-19.
Monismith, C. L., Sousa, J., and Lysmer, J. (1988). "Modern pavement design
technology including dynamic load conditions." SAE Conf. on Vehicle~Pavement
Interaction, SP765, SAE Trans., Society of Automotive Engineers.
Newland, D. E. (1985). Random vibrations and spectral analysis, 2d Ed., Longman,
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Nogemi, T., and Lam, Y. C. (1987). "Two-parameter layer model for analysis of
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Sebaaly, B. E. (1987). "Dynamic models for pavement analysis," PhD thesis, Arizona
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Sousa, J. B., Lysmer, J., Chen, S. S., and Monismith, C. L. (1988). "Effects of
dynamic loads on performance of asphalt concrete pavements." Tramp. Res. Rec.,
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"Strain measurement in bituminous layers." (1985). OECD Road Transport Re-
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Ullidtz, P., and Larsen, B. K. (1983). "Mathematical model for predicting pavement
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dynamics--experimental findings and regulatory implications." SAE Trans., So-
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1780

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