Analysis of Asphalt Pavement Structural Response Using Semi-Analytical Finite Element Method with Infinite Elements

A computational program SAFEM was developed based on semi-analytical finite element (FE) method to analyze asphalt pavement structural responses. It is a three-dimensional FE program that requires only a two-dimensional mesh by incorporating the semi-analytical method using Fourier series in the third dimension. The parallel computing technology can be applied easily in this code. These advantages could significantly reduce the computation time. The reliability and efficiency of this FE program was proved in previous studies. In order to further reduce the computational time yet still maintain high accuracy, the infinite element was added to this program. The results of the finite-infinite element coupling analysis were firstly compared with those of finite element analysis derived from the verified SAFEM program. And then the two computational programs were verified by comparing the predicted deflection with the measured data from a falling weight deflectometer (FWD). The study showed that finite-infinite element coupling analysis has higher reliability and efficiency, which has great feasibility to form a calculation basis for predicting the service life of new and existing asphalt pavement.