International Journal of Pavement Engineering

ISSN: 1029-8436 (Print) 1477-268X (Online) Journal homepage: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/gpav20

3D FEM analysis of flexible base asphalt pavement

structure under non-uniform tyre contact pressure

Xin Jiang, Cheng Zeng, Xiaofeng Gao, Zhujun Liu & Yanjun Qiu

To cite this article: Xin Jiang, Cheng Zeng, Xiaofeng Gao, Zhujun Liu & Yanjun Qiu (2019)
3D FEM analysis of flexible base asphalt pavement structure under non-uniform tyre
contact pressure, International Journal of Pavement Engineering, 20:9, 999-1011, DOI:
10.1080/10298436.2017.1380803

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/10298436.2017.1380803

Published online: 14 Oct 2017.

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INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PAVEMENT ENGINEERING
2019, VOL. 20, NO. 9, 999–1011
https://doi.org/10.1080/10298436.2017.1380803

3D FEM analysis of flexible base asphalt pavement structure under non-uniform tyre
contact pressure
Xin Jianga,b,c, Cheng Zenga,b,c, Xiaofeng Gaoa,b,c, Zhujun Liua,b,c and Yanjun Qiua,b,c
a
School of Civil Engineering, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu, China; bMOE Key Laboratory of High-Speed Railway Engineering, Southwest
Jiaotong University, Chengdu, China; cHighway Engineering Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu, China

ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY

Circular uniform pressure distribution has been traditionally utilised in the analysis of mechanical-based Received 25 July 2016
asphalt pavement. However, both the magnitude along tyre width and length shows non-uniformity. Accepted 13 September 2017
Thus, EverStressFE, a 3D software package, was applied to establish a numerical model of the flexible base
KEYWORDS
asphalt pavement structure under non-uniform vertical tyre contact pressure. Comparisons were made Flexible base asphalt
among the distribution of non-uniformity and uniformity on pavement surface deflection, pavement pavement; non-uniform
structure shear strain, the tensile strain at the bottom of the asphalt concrete surface layer and the vertical pressure; mechanical
compressive strain on the top of the subgrade. The control index on the design life of the pavement under responses; distress type; 3D
the non-uniform vertical contact pressure was discussed. The results show that, compared with uniform finite element method
distribution, convex non-uniform distribution produces larger deflection on the pavement surface and
maximum tensile strain at the bottom of the asphalt concrete surface layer, while the concave one generates
larger shear strain on the pavement structure. Meanwhile, the non-uniform distribution has a little effect
on the vertical compression strain on the subgrade top except for the convex half sine wave non-uniform
distribution. And the maximum tensile strain at the bottom along the driving direction is larger than that
along the tyre width regardless of the wheel loading distribution. In addition, the damage for the flexible
base asphalt pavement structure is permanent deformation, specifically the allowable number of load
repetitions to limit rutting for convex half sine wave non-uniform distribution is the smallest among all the
computational cases.

1. Introduction elastic systems, which only took uniform circular loading into
consideration. So on its basis, the software products were devel-
Asphalt pavement structure is classified into three types: rigid
oped successfully for computing primary responses in the asphalt
base, semi-rigid base and flexible base according to the base
pavement structure with the rapid development of computers,
materials and their stiffness. The flexible base construction
such as KENLAYER (Huang 1993), BISAR (Bitumen Business
materials can be applied by hot or cold mix asphalt, bitumi-
Group 1998) or EverStress (Washington State Department of
nous penetration macadam or granular without any binder in
Transportation 2005). However, several studies, including
asphalt pavement engineering. Among the three, the responses
experimental measurements and finite element analyses have
to flexible base asphalt pavement are more sensitive to the wheel
demonstrated that the tyre-pavement contact pressure distribu-
load distribution because its stiffness is much lower. Different
tion is very complicated (De Beer et al. 1997, Hu and Sun 2005,
response models that are involved in semi-infinite half space,
Hernandez and Al-Qadi 2017b). The contact pressure distribu-
layered system and numerical simulation can be used to get the
tion is far from uniformly distributed due to a number of factors
responses (stresses, strains and displacements) from the asphalt
contributing to such distribution, among which are tyre tread,
pavement structure in a given load.
tyre inflation pressure, load magnitude, bending stiffness in the
Boussinesq (1885) established the equations for the responses
tyre structure, vehicle speed, truck suspension system, temper-
of a semi-infinite elastic solid, for a point load perpendicular
ature, pavement surface macro texture and pavement type (thin
to the surface and for the centre line of a circular load. But the
or thick) and vehicle operating conditions (free rolling, brak-
closed form solutions are too simple to deal with a layered system
ing or traction) (Tielking and Roberts 1987, Siddharthan et al.
unless a special algorithm is applied to transform the layered
2002, Hernandez and Al-Qadi 2016a, Hernandez and Al-Qadi
system to semi-infinite half space.
2016b, Hernandez and Al-Qadi 2017a). Therefore, this model
Since the asphalt pavements are horizontally layered,
cannot handle complex surface loads, for example, non-uniform
Burmister et al. (1944), Burmister (1945) proposed a different
tyre-pavement contact pressure distribution of any tyre imprint
approach, layered analytical model (LAM), to handle layered

CONTACT Xin Jiang xjiang01@163.com, xjiang01@swjtu.edu.cn

© 2017 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
1000  X. JIANG ET AL.

shape. Nevertheless, one software, CIRCLY (Wardle 1977, 2004),

widely used in Australia and New Zealand, allows the analysis of
a comprehensive range of load type, like selecting non-uniform
surface contact stress distribution.
Meanwhile, numerical models can deal with important factors
of pavement responses, such as non-linear material behaviour
for the pavement layers, complex tyre contact stresses and irreg-
ular geometric conditions. Many researchers and engineers make
great efforts to utilise numerical models, arranging from finite
element method (FEM) to finite-layer approach which are used
to compute primary responses in the asphalt pavement structure.
Vale (2008) conducted a study of the influence of load models
(uniform vs. non-uniform distribution and non-moving vs. mov-
ing load) to analyse flexible pavement in a rectangular contact
area using the software DIANA. The pavement section in the
numerical analysis consisted of a granular base layer. El-kholy
and Galal (2012) modelled the non-uniformity of the tyre con-
tact stress with finite elements in computing the rigid pave- Figure 1. Flexible base asphalt pavement section.
ment responses, where a 2D FE model, namely SAP2000, was
employed. Specifically, the contact area was modelled as a rectan-
gular, and the surface pressure command from the Area Loads Table 1. Wheel load distribution descriptions.
Submenu in the SAP2000 is selected to apply the contact pressure Contact
to the contact area. Generally speaking, no direct procedure in pressure/
Distribution
the FEM software with a general purpose can be used to model Tyre contact along tyre Imprint
MPa
the non-uniform contact pressure easily and effectively. On the Case No. pressure type length shape Max./Mini.
other hand, a problem in modelling the non-uniform tyre contact 1 Uniform Constant Circular 0.7/0.7
pressure lies in how to determine a suitable mesh configuration 2 Rectangular
3 Convex Banded Rectangular 1.2/0.6
to predict the responses with the tyre imprint of any shape, e.g. 4 non-uniform Parabolic
circular or elliptical, not rectangular. But it’s time-consuming 5 Half sine wave
for researchers to apply these packages effectively in generating 6 Concave Banded
7 non-uniform Parabolic
model, solving problems and extracting results in the case of 8 Half sine wave
3D analysis.
Notes: The radius of contact imprint is 107 mm for circular uniform distribution, the
As a result, some specialised finite element software was tyre width is 225 mm for another seven cases and the single wheel load is 25 kN,
developed to conduct the mechanical analysis on asphalt pave- the centre-to-centre tyre spacing is 350 mm for all cases.
ment structure, among which ILLI-PAVE (Thompson and Elliot
1985), MICHPAVE (Harichandran et al. 1990), ARKPAVE (Qiu
et al. 2000) and GT-PAVE (Tutumluer and Thompson 1997) are
widely used in analysing flexible pavements. These non-linear
programmes can be applied to compute displacements, stresses
and strains on the pavement under a circular wheel load. The
model must be simplified axisymmetrically and the non-uni-
formity of wheel load cannot be applicable.
This paper is to investigate the effect of wheel load models
on flexible base asphalt pavements. A 3D FE model, developed
from EverStressFE (Davids and Clapp 2009), was used to predict
the selected pavement responses. This software can specify the
four distinct layers and spatially varying tyre contact pressure to
reach a more realistic representation of actual load conditions.
The selected flexible base asphalt pavement structure with six
non-uniform contact stress distributions was analysed in this
study, where the mechanical responses were also compared
with those from the uniformed distribution, namely circular
and rectangular.

2. FE model
The Tread Designer in EverStressFE can discrete a spatially var-
ying contact pressure distribution and generate a list of coordi- Figure 2. Simplified imprint of contact area under non-uniform distribution (unit:
nates with the corresponding stress values to approximate the mm).

Figure 3. Non-uniform contact stress distribution.
distribution. As the number of points to discrete the stress dis-
tribution increases, its accuracy is also enhanced. It is assumed
commonly that the contact stress remains constant along the
driving direction when the contact area was represented by a
series of rectangular treads at a particular contact stress level.
However, the mesh generation is independent on the imprint
shape and the vertical stress magnitude can vary along the driv-
ing direction in EverStressFE. The stress distribution along the
tyre length can be selected as constant, parabolic or half sine
wave. The user even has the possibility to apply loads that can-
not be generated within the graphical user interface by creating
pressure files. Therefore, it is an ideal tool to conduct 3D analysis
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PAVEMENT ENGINEERING   1001
of asphalt pavement structure under complex non-uniform con-
tact stress.
2.1. Pavement section and materials
The pavement section, shown in Figure 1, consists of an asphalt
concrete (AC) layer with a thickness of 15 cm, an asphalt gravel
base of 20 cm and a graded gravel sub-base of 30 cm, with the
subgrade soil being 120 cm thick. The mechanical parameters of
the pavement materials, including elastic modulus and Poisson
ratio are also shown in Figure 1, on the assumption that the
pavement materials are linear elastic.
1002 X. JIANG ET AL.
Figure 4. 1/4-symmetric model.
2.2. Load model
Several studies have demonstrated that the actual contact stress
(magnitude value and imprint shape) is influenced by many fac-
tors, therefore, it is very difficult to simulate the real non-uni-
form distribution using a specified closed-form equation. For
this reason, Table 1 illustrates the distribution of the simulated
contact stress for two uniform and six non-uniform pressure
cases. The non-uniform contact stress distribution is divided into
two types in the case of the distribution along tyre width, namely
convex and concave, while three distribution models (banded,
parabolic and half sine wave) along tyre length are taken into
consideration. Then the detailed explanations are presented as
follows (here the wheel and axle are selected as tandem and sin-
gle, respectively, while the load per tyre is 25 kN and the cen-
tre-to-centre tyre spacing is 350 mm).
(1) Imprint shape (contact area). It has been proved that
the contact area between tyre and pavement surface
is similar to a rectangle along its length according
to the applied load, while the width is almost con-
stant (Weissman 1999, Hu and Sun 2005). So the
imprint shape is assumed to be rectangular with tyre
width 225 mm for six non-uniform contact stress
distributions. The tyre contact area was determined
by several factors, such as the tyre tread shape, the
inflation pressure and the axle load (De Beer et al.
1997, Al-Qadi et al. 2004). They represented the
tyre contact area by a series of rectangles with its
particular contact stress level because the contact
stress on each area was typically different from that
on others. The tyre imprint (contact area) with five
discrete rectangular areas was shown in Figure 2,
with contact stress only distributing at the shading
areas.
(2) Tyre contact pressure and distribution along the tyre
length. El-Kholy and Galal (2012) represented the dis-
tribution shapes for the over- and under-inflation tyre
pressure when modelling the non-uniformity of the
tyre contact stress by utilising finite elements method
in calculating the rigid pavement responses. In the
case of over-inflation, the stress distribution along the
tyre width was simplified to a second-order parabolic
shape with its peak value at the centre of the contact
area, while in the case of under-inflation, the contact
stress distribution was expressed by a shape with a dis-
tance between the two peak values of the contact stress
along the tyre width. So over-inflation and under-infla-
tion can be simplified by a convex and concave shape,
respectively. These simplifications are fairly near to
experimental results (De Beer et al. 2004).
In addition, El-Kholy and Galal (2012) experimented with
the distribution of the contact stress in the driving direc-
tion by a second-order parabolic shape with its maximum
value at the centre of the contact area and zero value at two
edges. As a result, three distributions along the tyre length
are considered: banded, parabolic and half sine wave.

Figure 5. FEM model (unit: mm).
(3) Contact pressure. De Beer et al. (1997) measured ver-
tical, longitudinal shear and transverse shear stress
at a creep vehicle speed of 0.7 mph using a measure-
ment system called Vehicle-Road Surface Pressure
Transducer Array (VRSPTA). Wang et al. (2012)
showed the vertical contact stress transverse distri-
bution from experimental measurements provided by
tyre manufacturer. Anghelache and Moisescu (2012)
examined the stress distribution on three orthogonal
directions across the contact patch of truck tyres. So
the maximum and minimum contact pressure was 1.2
and 0.6 MPa for six non-uniform distributions, respec-
tively in this study.
Roughly speaking, the distribution types are affected by tyre
inflation and wheel load greatly. Engineers can control the pres-
sure distribution pattern in their practice according to the test
results made by Sun (2013). Higher inflation and lower wheel
load are usually distributed by a convex shape as in cases 3, 4
and 5, for example, the combination of tyre inflation and wheel
load is 600 kPa/1328 kg, 810 kPa/1328 kg and 1050 kPa/2500 kg.
Lower inflation and higher wheel load are usually distributed by
a concave shape as in cases 6, 7 and 8. The lower inflation, lower
load or higher inflation, higher load is usually distributed as
in cases 1 and 2, for example, the combination of inflation and
wheel load is 460 kPa/1328 kg, 600 kPa/1900 kg, 810 kPa/1900 kg
and 1050 kPa/3750 kg.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PAVEMENT ENGINEERING 1003
The contact pressure for the non-uniform distribution is
depicted in a coloured 3D (Figure 3). The Tread Designer built-in
EverStressFE package is applied to create a spatially varying tyre
contact distribution.
2.3. Mesh generation and boundary conditions
In Figure 4, only 1/4 of the total wheel is applied in the FE model
since it is 1/4-symmetric to minimise computational time and
save hard disc for data files storage. Twenty-noded solid quad-
ratic elements are used to discrete the pavement structure as
they provide a good balance between computational time and
accuracy. A mesh with locally refined region near the loaded
area is shown in Figure 5, with the total number of elements
and nodes is 9716 and 43,058 specifically. The selected features
are listed as follows:
• In the driving direction, the total length of 1 m is divided
into three regions. The first region, X being between 0 and
488 mm, is equally divided into 12 elements; the second,
X being between 488 and 588 mm, is a transitional region
from refined region to coarse region; the third, X being
between 588 and 1000 mm, is equally divided into 10
elements.
• In the tyre width direction, the total width of 1 metre is
also divided into three regions. The first region, Y being
1004 X. JIANG ET AL.
Figure 6. 3D plot of asphalt pavement surface deflection.
between 0 and 312 mm, is equally divided into eight ele-
ments; the second, Y being between 312 and 412 mm, is
a transitional region from coarse region to refined region;
the third, Y being between 412 and 1000 mm, is equally
divided into 12 elements.
• 
Within any layer, all elements have the same vertical
dimension. The number of elements in each layer in the
vertical direction depends on the layer thickness. Six ele-
ments are used in the AC layer and asphalt gravel base and
eight elements in graded gravel sub-base and subgrade.
 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PAVEMENT ENGINEERING   1005

Table 2. The maximum pavement surface deflection Uz and corresponding distri- along tyre length under the same non-uniform tyre con-
bution coordinate (X, Y, Z) under different load models.
tact pressure are not significant.
Distribution • The deflection decreases progressively as the convex
Tyre contact along tyre Imprint Uz/0.01 mm non-uniform distribution, then the uniform and the
Case No. pressure type length shape (X, Y, Z)/mm
concave non-uniform distribution are tested. For exam-
1 Uniform Constant Circular 39.5 (0, 853, 0)
2 Rectangular 39.4 (0, 853, 0) ple, if the convex half sine wave is selected, the non-uni-
3 Convex Banded Rectangular 41.5 (0, 829, 0) form distribution produces a deflection value of 42.8
4 non-uniform Parabolic 41.4 (0, 829, 0) (0.01 mm) while the rectangular uniform distribution
5 Half sine wave 42.8 (0, 829, 0)
6 Concave Banded 39.1 (0, 926, 0) being 39.4 (0.01 mm), which increases by 8.6%; if the
7 non-uniform Parabolic 39.3 (0, 926, 0) concave banded is selected, it produces a deflection value
8 Half sine wave 39.2 (0, 926, 0) of 39.1 (0.01 mm) while the rectangular one being 39.4
(0.01 mm), which increases by 0.8%. Also it can be con-
cluded that under the same tyre contact pressure, there is
Table 3. The maximum pavement structure shear strain γyz max and corresponding
distribution coordinate (X, Y, Z) under different load models. no significant difference when it comes to the deflection in
various distributions along the tyre length except for the
Distribution
Tyre contact along tyre Imprint γyz max/×10−6
convex half sine wave non-uniform distribution.
Case No. pressure type length shape (X, Y, Z)/mm • The non-uniform distribution load causes the deflection
1 Uniform Constant Circular 456.8 (0, 706, plane distribution coordinate to move along the axis Y
25) (tyre width direction). The plane distribution coordinate
2 Rectangular 532.2 (41,
706, 25)
point for concave non-uniform distribution is closer to the
3 Convex Banded Rectangular 502.9 (0, 735, position between the wheels (X = 0, Y = 1000 mm, Z = 0),
non-uniform 50) while it for the convex is closer to the position under a
4 Parabolic 475.0 (0, 735,
50)
wheel. It seems that under the same tyre contact pressure,
5 Half sine wave 472.3 (0, 735, the maximum deflection distribution coordinate in vari-
50) ous distributions along the tyre length remains fixed.
6 Concave Banded 754.1 (41,
non-uniform 706, 25)
7 Parabolic 736.6 (0, 706,
25) 3.2. Pavement structure shear strain
8 Half sine wave 735.3 (0, 706,
25) Table 3 summarises the maximum shear strain γyzmax (X = 0)
value and its corresponding distribution space coordinate. Figure
7 shows the shear strain distribution contour along the wheel
0, the interface stiffness value between AC layer and asphalt axial profile (X = 0). Figure 7 and Table 3 can demonstrate the
gravel base, as well as between asphalt gravel base and graded following points:
gravel sub-base, is defined to imply that the layers are fully
bonded, while the interface elements will not be used in the FE • The value of the maximum shear strain in the pavement
mesh. The interface condition between graded gravel sub-base structure is relatively larger if the concave non-uniform
and subgrade is assumed to be fully bonded based on the soft- contact stress distribution is selected; if the convex one is
ware assumptions. selected, it is larger than that from the circular uniform
Infinite elements are used to model an infinite domain and distribution. And it is 502.9 (×10−6) and 754.1 (×10−6)
free boundary condition is chosen for the asphalt concrete layer individually when the convex banded and concave banded
along the boundary that would correspond to the edge of a road- non-uniform distribution is selected, which is an increase
way. These various options for boundary conditions can best of 10.1 and 65.1%, respectively compared with 456.8
idealise the scenario of interest. (×10−6) for the circular uniform distribution.
• The maximum shear strains all occur in the upper part of
the AC surface layer. Under the same tyre contact pressure,
3. Results and discussion the distribution depth in different distributions along the
3.1. Pavement surface deflection tyre length remains constant. However, in terms of convex
non-uniform distribution, it is deeper than that generated
The results of the pavement surface deflection are illustrated in by uniform and concave non-uniform distribution.
Figure 6 and Table 2. 3D spatial distributed deflection basin is • As for the uniform distribution, it increases by 16.5%
adopted here to visualise the minor difference more clearly and when compared with the circular uniform distribution if
directly since the deflection value is relatively small. Figure 6 and rectangular uniform distribution is selected. Additionally,
Table 2 can show the following points: it is ranked descendingly – from banded, parabolic to half
• Some differences in surface deflection basin exist when the sine wave when convex and concave non-uniform distri-
non-uniform and uniform contact stress distributions are bution are considered.
applied. Focused on the loaded area, these differences will • The entire shear strain distributions are similar to each
be decreased as the distance between the contact area and other under different tyre contact pressure, whose max-
the interest location increases. The deflection differences imum value at a certain depth beneath the edge of the
1006 X. JIANG ET AL.

Figure 7. Contour of asphalt pavement structure shear strain γyz (X = 0 (×10−6)).


Figure 8. The maximum tensile strain at the bottom of asphalt concrete surface layer.
tyre load can be achieved and which can change between
inter-layers of the pavement. What’s more, two distin-
guishing shear strain bubbles occur under the edge of the
applied tyre load area; at the same depth, the strain on the
left is approximately two times more than that on the right.
• Under different tyre contact pressure, the main shear
strain distribution lies in the middle and upper parts of the
asphalt concrete surface layer. The distributions are quite
similar in the case of uniform and convex non-uniform
distributions, while the higher shear strain of concave
non-uniform distributions is more concentrated around
the edge of applied wheel load area.
• Under the same tyre contact pressure, the different distri-
butions along tyre length lead to the similar distributions
of shear strain, but the values are slightly different at the
same depth.
3.3 Tensile strain at the bottom of the asphalt concrete
surface layer
The maximum tensile strain at the bottom of asphalt concrete
surface layer (Z = 150 mm) for eight types of contact stress dis-
tributions is illustrated in Figure 8. The following conclusions
can be made:
• 
The maximum tensile strain in the driving direction
(X-direction) is larger than that in the tyre width direc-
tion (Y-direction) regardless of the tyre contact pressure
of the wheel load. For example, in the case of circular and
rectangular uniform distribution, it increases by 39 and
88% compared with that in the Y-direction. This conclu-
sion can be confirmed by the situ experiments conducted
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PAVEMENT ENGINEERING 1007
by Xiao et al. (2014) in the test of Chengdu-Deyang-
Nanchong Expressway asphalt pavement.
• At the bottom of the asphalt concrete surface layer, the
rectangular uniform contact stress distribution increases
the maximum tensile strain in X-direction, while the cir-
cular uniform distribution multiplies the maximum ten-
sile strain in Y-direction.
• Also the maximum tensile strain in Axis Y remains almost
fixed under the same non-uniform tyre contact pressure
when convex or concave non-uniform distribution is
considered, while it in X-direction is increased with the
banded non-uniform distribution.
• At the same time, the non-uniform contact stress distri-
bution has no effect on the spatial distribution coordi-
nates of the maximum tensile strain, while the latter in
X-direction and Y-direction is (0, 853, 150) and (0, 804,
150), respectively.
The contour of the tensile strain in X-direction at the bottom
of the asphalt concrete surface layer (Z = 150 mm) can be seen
from Figure 9. The tensile strain distribution in different contact
stress distributions is almost similar; the contour distribution
seems more intensive near the loaded area. The contour around
the loaded area is the most intensive for convex non-uniform
distribution; however, it is the sparsest for concave non-uniform
distribution in all cases.
3.4. Vertical compression strain on the top of subgrade
In Figure 10, the maximum vertical compression strains on the
top of subgrade with different tyre contact pressure are com-
pared. It is possible to verify that the type of load distribution
makes little difference in the vertical compression strain except
1008 X. JIANG ET AL.

Figure 9. Contour of the tensile strain in X-direction εxx at the bottom of asphalt concrete surface layer (Z = 150 mm (×10−6)).
 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PAVEMENT ENGINEERING 1009

Figure 10. The maximum vertical compression strain εzzmax on the top of subgrade.

Figure 11. The allowable numbers of load repetitions to cause fatigue cracking or to limit rutting.

for the convex half sine wave non-uniform distribution. The con- 4. Prediction and comparison of design life
vex half sine wave distribution produces a vertical strain value,
Transfer functions that apply structural responses to various
which increases by 3.6% compared with that for the circular
types of fatigue proposed by America Asphalt Institute (AI) are
uniform distribution.
1010 X. JIANG ET AL.
adopted in this study to predict reliable fatigue. So as for the
standard mix, the equation for 20% of area cracked is:
( )−3.291
N f = 0.0796 𝜀𝜃 |E |−0.854
| ∗| (1)
In which Nf is the allowable number of load repetitions to
cause fatigue cracking, εθ the tensile strain at the bottom of the
HMA and |E*| the HMA modulus.
In this case, the allowable number of load repetitions Nd to
limit rutting is related to the vertical compressive strain εz, on
the top of the subgrade by:
( )−4.477
N d = 1.365 × 10−9 𝜀z (2)
In Figure 11, the allowable number of load repetitions to cause
fatigue cracking or to limit rutting is shown in terms of two uni-
form and six non-uniform distributions. These data can verify
the following:
• With regard to the allowable number to cause fatigue crack-
ing, all the convex non-uniform distributions are lower
than the uniform. Specifically, the concave parabolic and
half sine non-uniform distributions are greater than the
uniform, while the concave banded non-uniform distribu-
tion is lower than the circular uniform, but greater than the
rectangular uniform. Under the same tyre contact pressure,
the allowable number for circular uniform distribution is
greater than that for rectangular uniform, while convex and
concave parabolic and half sine non-uniform distributions
are greater than that for the banded non-uniform.
• As for the allowable number to limit rutting is almost the
same, except for the convex half sine wave non-uniform
distribution whose values are slightly lower than those in
circular uniform distribution (14.7%).
• Nf are larger than Nd in terms of two uniform and six
non-uniform distribution loads. The degree of difference
between Nf and Nd decreases gradually from concave
non-uniform distribution, uniform distribution to convex
non-uniform distribution.
5. Conclusions
In this study, a 3D FE model is used to investigate the effects
of applying six non-uniform contact stress distributions on the
flexible base asphalt pavement responses. Based on the analysis
mentioned above, the following conclusions can be drawn:
• With regard to the surface deflection, the non-uniformity
has a major effect only on the local area of the pavement.
Under the same wheel load, the convex non-uniform dis-
tribution has a significant effect on the deflection of the
pavement surface compared with the uniform and con-
cave non-uniform distribution.
• The non-uniformity has a significant effect on the shear
strain of the pavement structure, whose effecting zone
are mainly distributed on the upper and middle parts of
the asphalt concrete surface layer. In addition, the con-
cave non-uniform distribution has larger maximum shear
strain value whose distribution depth will drop downward
when the convex non-uniform distribution is considered.
• The non-uniformity of contact stress distribution has
a major effect on the tensile strain at the bottom of the
asphalt concrete surface layer, especially in the case of the
convex non-uniform distribution. Meanwhile, the maxi-
mum tensile strain value in the driving direction is larger
than that in the direction of tyre width.
• The non-uniformity has a little effect on the vertical com-
pression strain of the subgrade top except for the convex
half sine wave non-uniform distribution, the latter shows
an increase in the vertical compression strain among all
the other distributions.
• The allowable numbers of load repetitions to limit rutting
are smaller than that to cause fatigue cracking, the lowest
is the convex half sine wave non-uniform distribution on
the flexible base asphalt pavement.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Funding
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of
China under Grant (No. 51378440), National Key Basic Research Program
of China under Grant (No. 2013CB036204) and the Fundamental Research
Funds for the Central Universities under Grant (No. SWJTU12CX067).
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