Simulação numérica do fluxo d’água em pavimentos asfálticos compostos por misturas asfálticas com diferentes coeficientes de permeabilidade

Abstract

The water can reach the pavement in various ways, such as by precipitation or by capillarity. The deleterious effect of water is a major factor responsible for the distresses in asphalt pavements. An important parameter to verify the quality of the pavement with respect to water flow is the material permeability. In this context, this work aims to evaluate the water flow pattern in asphalt pavements composed by different types of asphalt mixes. With this purpose, a finite element program was used to model the water flow in a hypothetical profile of asphalt pavement. Six types of asphalt mixes with different air voids content were analyzed: four with dense gradation, two types of sand asphalt (7% and 9% air voids), and two types of asphalt concrete (4% and 7% air voids), and two open grade friction course (20% and 23% air voids). The results show that the flow pattern depends not only on the average permeability of the material, but also on the material permeability distribution.