Modeling of Strain Energy Absorbers for Rehabilitated Cracked Flexible Pavements

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to evaluate the potential use of a specially designed geocomposite membrane to delay the reflection of cracks in flexible pavement systems. Two-dimensional finite element models, which simulate different rehabilitated pavement structures, were developed to evaluate the effects of the geocomposite membrane on the crack initiation and propagation phases. Four contour lines were simulated around the crack to allow the calculation of the path independent J integral. Analysis of results indicates that the geocomposite membrane is effective in dissipating a large amount of energy around the cracked region. The placement of a soft interlayer creates a protective shield around the crack tip, separating the criticality of the stress field in the cracked region from the bottom of the overlay. Moreover, a compressive horizontal stress field around the crack tip helps to close the crack rather than to open it. However, the geocomposite membrane would be effective on the crack propagation phase only if the crack does not pass through the interlayer and propagates horizontally at the interlayer-existing pavement interface.