Mechanistic Design Concepts for Heavyweight F‐15 Aircraft on Flexible Pavement

Abstract

A new F‐15 aircraft is now the heaviest fighter aircraft in the United States Air Force inventory. A mechanistic design procedure is developed for flexible pavements to accommodate the heavyweight F‐15 loading. The ILLI‐PAVE finite element computer program is used as the structural model to compute pavement structural responses. Design algorithms are developed from an ILLI‐PAVE data base and are demonstrated in an example problem. The proposed design procedure is then compared with the present U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) procedure. The DOD procedure does not adequately consider asphaltconcrete fatigue effects. DOD minimum surface thickness requirements may not be sufficient to prevent premature cracking of pavements subjected to long‐term use by the heavyweight F‐15 aircraft. However, the DOD procedure may be overly conservative for subgrade rutting.