Effect of dual and new generation wide-base tire assembly on inverted pavements

Abstract

The conventional flexible pavements have been constructed such that the stiffness of the layer reduces with depth. The crust thickness becomes significantly high for heavy traffic corridors resulting in the consumption of large quantities of construction materials and also increasing environmental pollution. Inverted pavements with the aggregate interlayer (AIL) or stress absorbing membrane interlayer (SAMI) are considered to be one of the alternatives for thick conventional flexible pavements for heavy traffic corridors. The AIL or SAMI is placed between a stiff cement-treated base and asphalt concrete layer to function as crack relief layers. This change in the composition alters the behaviour of inverted pavements compared to the conventional flexible pavements. On the other hand, wide-base tires are being increasingly preferred by trucking industries due to increased fuel economy and cargo capacity. However, the effect of wide-base tires on the performance of inverted pavements is yet to be investigated. In this study, the 3D finite element (FE) models of inverted pavements considering different crack relief layers were developed, and load from dual-wheel and wide-base tires were applied. The stress-strain evolution in the various layers of inverted pavements was investigated and discussed in this study. The results indicated the higher stress and strains due to wide base tires compared to the dual-wheel assembly. Further, pavement with SAMI was found to result in lower stress and strains in the asphalt concrete layer compared to AIL pavements. • Pavement with stress absorbing membrane interlayer resulted in lower stress in asphalt layer. • Transition from compressive to tensile stress occurred at a depth of 0.66 times asphalt thickness. • Wide-base tires caused higher longitudinal stress in asphalt layer. • Confining effect of wheels due to low aspect ratio was observed for thin asphalt layers.