Modelagem da vida de fadiga e do acúmulo de deformações permanentes em pavimentos asfálticos por meio de um modelo de dano contínuo

Abstract

It is known that the conditions of the Brazilian roadways have an enormous impact over the national economy. In face of this problem, there is a need for new methodologies for pavement analyses and design that can more accurately predict pavement distresses. Among the main methods currently used, one can find purely empirical methods and mechanistic-empirical methods which make use of the pavement structure response. The evolution of numerical methods such as the Finite Element Method (FEM) or the Boundary Element Method (BEM) has made the mechanistic-empirical methods more popular for pavement analysis applications. This work shows a mechanistic model that can consider the damage evolution caused by the loads and, subsequently, it can better predict the fatigue life of the asphalt layer. The approach also allows better modeling of permanent deformation in pavements, and therefore it is able to better predict the two most commons distresses in asphaltic pavements.