COMPUTATION OF STRESSES AND STRAINS FOR THE DESIGN OF FLEXIBLE PAVEMENTS

THE DEVELOPMENT OF IMPROVED DESIGN METHODS FOR FLEXIBLE PAVEMENTS REQUIRES AN ANALYTIC TOOL THAT IS RELATIVELY SIMPLE AND CHEAP FOR USE IN ROUTINE DESIGN. CURRENTLY LINEAR-ELASTIC THEORY IS CONSIDERED THE MOST SATISFACTORY FOR THIS PURPOSE, BUT THE VARIOUS SOLUTIONS AVAILABLE ARE THEMESELVES RATHER INCONVENIENT TO USE. TABULATED RESULTS FOR THREE-LAYER SYSTEMS REQUIRE A LENGTHY INTERPOLATION PROCEDURE TO OBTAIN RESULTS FOR VARIABLES OTHER THAN THOSE TABULATED. ON THE OTHER HAND, THE POWERFUL AND FLEXIBLE MULTILAYER COMPUTER PROGRAMS REQUIRE A LARGE, FAST COMPUTER AND CAN THUS BE EXPENSIVE TO RUN. A COMPUTER PROGRAM CALLED "INTERPOLATION" HAS BEEN DEVELOPED TO CARRY OUT INTERPOLATION CALCULATIONS ON THE THREE-LAYER ELASTIC LAYERED SYSTEM RESULTS TABULATED BY JONES IN 1962. THE OBJECT OF THIS PROGRAM IS TO PROVIDE A PAVEMENT DESIGN TOOL, CONSIDERED TO BE MORE CONVENIENT THAN EITHER THE TABLES THEMSELVES OR THE COMPLEX MULTILAYER COMPUTER PROGRAMS NOW AVAILABLE. THE INTERPOLATION PROCEDURE IS BASED ON FITTING A CURVE TO THE LOG-LOG PLOT OF STRESS FUNCTION AGAINST EACH OF THE DEPENDENT VARIABLES USED BY JONES, WHICH SPECIFY THE SYSTEM. THE RESULTS HAVE THE SAME RESTRICTIONS AS JONES' TABLES, NAMELY THAT ALL LAYERS HAVE A VALUE OF 0.5 FOR POISSON'S RATIO, AND RESULTS ARE PRODUCED ON THE CENTERLINE OF A SINGLE WHEEL LOAD AT THE TWO INTERFACES. FROM A DESIGN POINT OF VIEW, THIS LATTER RESTRICTION IS NOT LIKELY TO BE IMPORTANT. THE "BISTRO" MULTILAYER COMMPUTER PROGRAM WAS USED TO CHECK THE ACCURACY OF RESULTS, AND THIS APPERAS SATISFACTORY FOR DESIGN PURPOSES. THE INTERPOLATION PROGRAM HAS BEEN INCORPORATED IN A SIMPLIFIED PAVEMENT DESIGN PROGRAM IN WHICH AN APPROXIMATE NONLINEAR ANALYSIS MAY BE USED IF REQUIRED.

• Record URL:
  • http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/hrr/1972/407/407-006.pdf
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Sponsored by Committee on Flexible Pavement Design. Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
• Authors:
  • BROWN, S F
• Conference:
  • 51st Annual Meeting of the Highway Research Board
  • Location: Washington District of Columbia, United States
  • Date: 1972-1-17 to 1972-1-21
• Publication Date: 1972

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; References;
• Pagination: pp 55-64
• Monograph Title: Pavement technology
• Serial:
  • Highway Research Record
  • Issue Number: 407
  • Publisher: Highway Research Board

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Calculation; Computer programs; Flexible pavements; Interpolation; Pavement design; Strain (Mechanics); Structural analysis
• Uncontrolled Terms: Computation
• Old TRIS Terms: Layered system mechanics; Strains
• Subject Areas: Highways; Pavements;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00206041
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: May 15 1973 12:00AM