3D FE Analysis of Flexible Pavement with Geosynthetic Reinforcement
Publication: Journal of Transportation Engineering
Volume 132, Issue 5
Abstract
A series of finite element (FE) simulations are carried out to evaluate the benefits of integrating a high modulus geosynthetic into the pavement foundation. The simulations are conducted under a parametric study to investigate the beneficial effects of geosynthetic reinforcement to the fatigue and rutting strain criteria, and to determine how such effects are influenced by the base quality and thickness as well as the subgrade quality. Three locations of the geosynthetic reinforcement are studied, namely the base–asphalt concrete interface, the base–subgrade interface, and inside the base layer at a height of 1/3 of its thickness from the bottom. It is found that placing the geosynthetic reinforcement at the base–asphalt concrete interface leads to the highest reduction of the fatigue strain (46–48%). The placement of geosynthetic reinforcement in thin bases is particularly effective; the highest decrease of rutting strain (16–34%) occurs when the reinforcement is placed at a height of 1/3 of the base thickness from the bottom. The study is carried out with the finite element program ADINA using a three-dimensional (3D) dynamic modeling technique with implicit solution scheme.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
AASHTO. (2001). “Recommended practice for geosynthetic reinforcement of aggregate base course of flexible pavement structures.” AASHTO Designation 46–01, AASHTO, Washington, D.C.
Baladi, G. Y., and Chen, W. F. (1985). Soil plasticity: Theory and implementation, Elsevier, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Barksdale, R. D. (1971). “Compressive stress pulse times in flexible pavements for use in dynamic testing.” Highway Research Record 345, Highway Research Board, 32–44.
Barksdale, R. D., Brown, S. F., and Chan, F. (1989). “Aggregate base reinforcement of surfaced pavement.” Geotext. Geomembr., 8, 165–189.
Bathe, K. J. (1996). Finite element procedures, 2nd Ed., Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, N.J.
Benedetto, H., and La Roche, C. (1998). “State of art on stiffness modulus and fatigue of bituminous mixtures.” RILEM Rep. 17, Bituminous Binders and Mixes, London.
Berg, R. R., Christopher, B. R., and Perkins, S. W. (2000). “Geosynthetic reinforcement of the aggregate base course of flexible pavement structures.” GMA White Paper II, Geosynthetic Materials Association.
Chang, T. T. D., Ho, H. N., Chang, Y. H., and Yeh, H. S. (1988). “Laboratory and case study for geogrid-reinforced flexible pavement overlay.” Transportation Research Record 1687, Transportation Research Board, National Research Council, Washington, D.C., 125–130.
Cho, H. Y., McCullough, F. B., and Weissmann, J. (1996). “Considerations on finite element method application in pavement structural analysis.” Transportation Research Record 1539, Transportation Research Board, National Research Council, Washington, D.C., 96–101.
Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL). (2003). “Base-course reinforcement: Proposed FHWA pooled fund study.” FHWA Project TPF-5 (010), USACE Engineer Research and Development Centre.
Cook, R. D., Malkus, D. S., and Plesha, M. E. (1989). Concepts and applications of finite element analysis, 3rd Ed., Wiley, New York.
Desai, C. S., and Siriwardane, H. J. (1984). Constitutive laws for engineering material, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, N.J.
Desai, C. S., Somasundaram, S., and Frantziskonis, G. N. (1986). “A hierarchical approach for constitutive modeling of geologic materials.” Int. J. Numer. Analyt. Meth. Geomech., 10, 25–257.
Dondi, G. (1994). “Three-dimensional finite element analysis of a reinforced paved road.” 5th Int. Conf. on Geotextiles, Geomembranes and Related Products, Vol. 1, Singapore, 95–100.
Erickson, H., and Drescher, A. (2001). “The use of geosynthetics to reinforce low volume roads: Final report.” Rep. No. MN/RC-2001-15, Minnesota Department of Transportation, St. Paul, Minn.
Espinoza, R. D. (1994). “Soil-geotextile interaction: Evaluation of membrane support.” Geotext. Geomembr., 13, 281–293.
Adina R&D Inc. (Adina R&D). (2001). “Finite element computer program, theory and modeling guide.” Rep. ARD 01-7, Vol. 1, Adina R&D Inc., Watertown, Mass.
Haas, R. (1984). “Structural behavior of tensar reinforced pavement and some field applications.” Proc., Polymer Grid Reinforcement Conf., Thomas Telford, London, 166–170.
Haas, R., Walls, J., and Carroll, R. G. (1988). “Geogrid reinforcement of granular bases in flexible pavements.” Transportation Research Record 1188, Transportation Research Board, National Research Council, Washington, D.C., 19–27.
Hansen, R. W., Bertrand, C., Marshek, K. M., and Hudson, W. R. (1989). “Truck tire pavement contact pressure distribution characteristics for super single 18-22.5 and smooth 11R24.5 tires.” Rep. 1190-1, Center for Transportation Research, Univ. of Texas at Austin, Austin, Tex.
Harold, L. V. (1994). “Performance prediction models in the SuperPave Mix design system.” SHRP-A-699, Strategic Highway Research Program, National Research Council, Washington, D.C.
Hjelmstad, K. D., Kim, J., and Zuo, Q. H. (1997). “Finite element procedures for three-dimensional pavement analysis.” Proc., Aircraft/Pavement Technology: In the Midst of Change, ASCE, Seattle, 125–137.
International Society for Asphalt Pavements (ISAP). (2002). 9th Int. Conf. on Asphalt Pavements: An Outstanding Success, Issue No. 27, ISAP, White Bear Lake, Minn.
Kim, J., and Buttlar, W. G. (2002). “Analysis of reflective crack control system involving reinforcing grid over base-isolating interlayer mixture.” J. Transp. Eng., 128(4), 375–384.
Kuo, M. C., Hall, K. T., and Darter, M. (1995). “Three-dimensional finite element model for analysis of concrete pavement support.” Transportation Research Record 1505, Transportation Research Board, National Research Council, Washington, D.C., 119–127.
Ling, H. I., and Liu, Z. (2001). “Performance of geosynthetic-reinforced asphalt pavements.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 127(2), 177–184.
Ling, H. I., and Liu, H. (2003). “Finite element studies of asphalt concrete pavement reinforced with geogrid.” J. Eng. Mech., 129(7), 801–811.
Liu, X., Scarbas, A., Blaauwendraad, J., and Genske, D. D. (1998). “Geogrid reinforcing of recycled aggregate materials for road construction: Finite element investigation.” Transportation Research Record 1611, Transportation Research Board, National Research Council, Washington, D.C., 78–85.
Maine Department of Transportation, the Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory, and the University of Maine (Maine DOT). (2002). Structural improvement of flexible pavements using geosynthetics for base-course reinforcement: Proposal for a national pooled-fund study, Maine DOT, Augusta, Me.
Mallick, S. B., Zhai, H., Adanur, S., and Elton, D. J. (1996). “Pullout and direct shear testing of geosynthetic reinforcement: State of art report.” Transportation Research Record 1534, Transportation Research Board, National Research Council, Washington, D.C., 80–90.
Miura, N., Sakai, A., Taesiri, Y., Mouri, K., and Ohtsubo, M. (1988). “Model and field tests of reinforced pavement on soft clay ground.” Int. Geotechnical Symp. on Theory and Practice of Earth Reinforcement, Vol. 2, Fukuoka, Japan, 227–232.
Nejad, Moghaddas -F., and Small, J. C. (1996). “Effect of geogrid reinforcement in model track tests on pavement.” J. Transp. Eng., 122(6), 468–474.
Palmeira, E. M., and Milligan, G. W. E. (1989). “Scale and other factors affecting the results of pull-out tests of grids buried in sand.” Geotechnique, 39(3), 511–524.
Perkins, S. W. (2001). “Numerical modeling of geosynthetic reinforced flexible pavements: Final report.” Rep. No. FHWA/MT-01/003/99160-2, Montana Department of Transportation, Helena, Mont.
Poorooshasb, H. B. (1961). “The properties of soils and other granular media in simple shear.” Ph.D. thesis, Cambridge Univ., Cambridge, U.K.
Schofield, A., and Wroth, C. P. (1968). Critical state soil mechanics, McGraw-Hill, New York.
Terrel, R. L., Awad, I. S., and Foss, L. R. (1974). “Techniques for characterizing bituminous materials using a versatile triaxial testing system.” ASTM STP 561, American Society for Testing and Materials, Philadelphia, 47–66.
Wathugala, G. W., and Desai, C. S. (1993). “Constitutive model for cyclic behavior of clays. I: Theory.” J. Geotech. Eng., 119(4), 714–729.
Wathugala, G. W., Huang, B., and Pal, S. (1996). “Numerical simulation of geogrid reinforced flexible pavements.” Transportation Research Record 1534, Transportation Research Board, National Research Council, Washington, D.C., 58–65.
Yoder, E. J., and Witczak, M. W. (1975). Principles of pavement design, 2nd Ed., Wiley, New York.
Zaghloul, S. M., and White, T. D. (1993). “Use of a three-dimensional, dynamic finite element program for analysis of flexible pavement.” Transportation Research Record 1388, Transportation Research Board, National Research Council, Washington, D.C., 60–69.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Transportation Engineering
Volume 132 • Issue 5 • May 2006
Pages: 402 - 415
Copyright
© 2006 ASCE.
History
Received: Oct 20, 2003
Accepted: Jul 6, 2005
Published online: May 1, 2006
Published in print: May 2006
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.