Viscoelastic and elastic structural analysis of flexible pavements

Abstract

Hot Mix Asphalt layers have been typically considered with linear elastic behavior, with the elastic modulus determined in repeated load tests performed under diametral compression (resilient modulus). However, it is well known that asphalt mixtures have a viscoelastic behavior. The effect of elastic on viscoelastic behavior in the structural response is significant for paviment design. In this work, numerical analysis provides information about three parameters used in pavement design: (i) displacement on the top of the asphalt surface layer; (ii) tensile stress at the bottom of the asphalt surface layer and (iii) compression stress at the top of subgrade granular layer. The asphalt layer is considered either elastic or viscoelastic in each analysis performed. Considerations about the load time durations are also presented.