Dynamic shakedown behaviors of flexible pavement overlying saturated ground under moving traffic load considering effect of pavement roughness

Abstract

This paper presents a novel semi-analytical framework to dynamic shakedown behaviors of flexible pavement overlying saturated layered ground under moving traffic load. Distinctively, the framework accounts for the influence of dynamic component of vehicle load caused by pavement roughness on the dynamic responses and the shakedown limit analysis. By applying the Fourier transform technique and the robust global matrix method (GMM), the problem considered is formulated as a comprehensive matrix equation. This matrix equation integrates the boundary conditions, the continuity conditions at the interfaces, and the general solution to a single-layered saturated porous medium. By converting the solution to the real-time domain via the composite Gauss-Legendre integral method, the dynamic shakedown limit of pavement overlying layered half-space ground is determined using Melan’s lower-bound shakedown theorem. After verifying the present solution with two well-established solutions using other solution techniques, parametric analyses are performed to explore the dynamic responses of the layered ground at varying traffic load speeds. Special attention is paid to the effects the subsoil stiffness, traffic load moving speed, pavement friction coefficient, and pavement roughness on the dynamic shakedown limit. This newly proposed framework holds promise for designing layered road structures, factoring in dynamic responses and dynamic shakedown limits.