FEM Modelling of the Temperature Influence on the Stress-Strain State of the Pavement

Abstract

The highways that are used in the countries with a sharp continental and a hot climate operate in the conditions when the pavement temperature changes along its height. This fact can lead to a significant increase in stresses in the layers of the road structure. In this paper is suggested an approach to solution of the joint problem of the pavement deformation and the heat propagation in it by a finite element modelling technique. The ANSYS software package was applied to solve the described problem. It is shown that an increase in the road surface temperature leads to a significant increase in the von Mises-equivalent stresses in the asphalt concrete upper layer and that is the cause for the ruts formation. Computational results also showed that at low temperatures of the road surface, the significant tensile stresses arise in its upper layers and that leads to formation of cracks.