Mechanical Analysis of the Stress State and Damage Risk of Asphalt Pavement Based on a Three-Dimensional Space Calculation Program

Abstract

The existing research on pavement mechanics was rarely conducted from the perspective of the spatial stress state. In this research, by utilizing analytical solutions, a three-dimensional space calculation program for asphalt pavement was developed to study the spatial distributions of the stress state and damage risk of the pavement structure. First, this study selected various types of pavement structures to analyze the spatial distribution of the stress state. The results indicated that the important influence factors are the order and quantity of asphalt-bound material, chemically stabilized material, and granular material in the structure. In contrast, the thicknesses of these materials have a limited effect. Then, the stress states of the asphalt pavements in winter and summer were compared. The results demonstrated that the tensile region bulges upward at low temperatures, and the structure is more inclined to experience tension and compression simultaneously. In addition, the failure criterion suitable for asphalt mixture materials was applied, and a strength conversion coefficient between different temperatures was proposed to calculate the damage situations of asphalt mixture layers. Three-dimensional images were generated to display the differences in the dangerous positions and damage forms for different structural types and temperature conditions.