摘要: |
Pavement design is an approach where detailed engineering and economic considerations are given to alternative combinations of sub base, base, and surface materials which will provide adequate load carrying capacity. Most of the analytical models used for the design of flexible pavements are based on linear elastic layered theory. The granular base and subgrade layer are considered to be linearly elastic which simplifies the design procedure but completely ignores the impact of nonlinearity of these layers. This paper presents the results of the study on studying the effect of nonlinearity of granular pavement layers in the analysis and design of pavement sections. This is carried out by considering four different conditions, one linear and three nonlinear conditions of different pavement materials to predict flexible pavement critical responses. The results of layered systems of linearly and nonlinearly elastic solutions are compared and it is observed that, results obtained from these two model solutions differ considerably for critical stresses, strains and number of allowable passes before failure. It was observed that although the nonlinearity in subgrade layer affected the critical responses, it is the nonlinearity in base layer which had a significant influence on the critical responses of the pavement sections and hence this has to be considered in the design. |