Abstract
Pavement structures cover vast areas of urban cities and non-urban roads and play a key role in daily commuting functionality and economic development; therefore, they must be conserved against any distress. The rutting problem, being a major distress to the pavement structure, must be solved and dealt with in order to preserve its value. One way of solving this dilemma is by using geo-grids within the pavement structure. A geo-grid is a synthetic material usually made from polymers with different thicknesses and stiffnesses. This paper investigates the effects of geo-grids on reducing the rutting occurrence through adding a layer of geo-grid with certain properties at different levels of the pavement structure. We also investigate, the result of the added geo-grid material to the developed vertical stresses within the pavement cross-section. This investigation is conducted by constructing a 3-D finite elements-based (FE) model of a pavement cross-section using ANSYS software; student version R1 2021. The FE-based model is validated by comparing its numerical predictions with the experimental results acquired from an accelerated large-scale paved model. The results show that the deeper the geo-grid is positioned, the more significant the rutting resistance is observed due to the stiffness of the geo-grid bearing the tensile force until a certain depth. Moreover, noticeable stress reduction is seen in the developed vertical compressive stresses below the loading area resisted by the geo-grid.
Highlights
IntroductionRutting is one of the major problems facing asphalt pavement [1]
Academic Editor: Sanjay NimbalkarRutting is one of the major problems facing asphalt pavement [1]
Pavements constructed over poor subgrade soil lead to pavement rutting, which results in a rapid increase in the need for maintenance funds, anticipated by the need for thicker asphalt layers and periodic failures
Summary
Rutting is one of the major problems facing asphalt pavement [1]. Rutting takes the shape of the vehicle wheel paths due to surface depression [2], usually extending in both asphalt layers and underlying unbound layers [3,4,5,6]. Traffic densities, speed, and vehicle loads influence pavement rutting, as do weather conditions [9]. Pavements constructed over poor subgrade soil lead to pavement rutting, which results in a rapid increase in the need for maintenance funds, anticipated by the need for thicker asphalt layers and periodic failures. Many industrial and academic engineers are seeking a method to improve pavement rutting resistance; some use asphalt binder modifiers, others drive towards using semi-flexible asphalts or cool asphalts as promising methods [1]. Geo-synthetics are being used in many civil engineering applications such as pavement improvement, retaining walls, dams, and embankments
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