FORMULATION AND VALIDATION OF A 'SIMPLE' ANALYTICAL METHOD FOR THE STRUCTURAL DESIGN OF HYDRAULICALLY STABILISED COMPOSITES?

Existing designs for composite pavements in the UK include pavements with determinate and indeterminate lives. Data collected for over 30 years have led to the determinate designs provided in UK design standards for traffic loading up to 20 million standard axles (MSA). Beyond 20 msa, the indeterminate design has been derived from a theoretical calculation of pavement stresses and this design is currently limited to 80 msa. The competitiveness of these designs has declined in recent years with the advent of long life designs for fully flexible roads. Increasingly, new technology such as induced cracking in cement bound materials (CBMs), is being used to reduce the thicknesses of the asphalt surfacing and make composite pavements more cost effective. The nature of the materials used in composite pavements, in particular the characteristics of CBMs, has not allowed the theoretical analysis of their viability because of the variability of the constituent materials with each construction project. In addition, the introduction of new materials, such as hydraulically stabilised secondary aggregates, requires an appropriate theoretical method of evaluation. This paper outlines the research programme being carried out for the UK Highways Agency by TRL, to develop a finite element method to analyse the behaviour of composite pavement structures. The paper includes a description of the finite element procedure being employed to create the appropriate model and details of the finite element software selected as the most appropriate tool. The programme of validation being used to verify the efficacy of the design method and the future use of the method for site specific evaluation of composite pavement design are also outlined. (A) For the covering abstract see IRRD E100657.

• Corporate Authors:

  AEDIFICATIO PUBLISHERS

  IMMENTALSTR 34
  FREIBURG I.BR,   Germany  D-79104
• Authors:
  • Ellis, S J
  • DUDGEON, R P
• Conference:
  • PERFORMANCE AND DURABILITY OF BITUMINOUS MATERIALS AND HYDRAULIC STABILISED COMPOSITES. PROCEEDINGS OF THE THIRD EUROPEAN SYMPOSIUM, LEEDS, APRIL 1999. ADDITIONAL PAPERS
• Publication Date: 1999

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: References;
• Pagination: 14 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Cement; Composite materials; Cracking; Finite element method; Flexible pavements; Pavement design; Pavements; Standards; Strength of materials; Structural strengthening; Surfacing
• ITRD Terms: 4758: Cement; 9005: Composite; 5211: Cracking; 6490: Finite element method; 2944: Flexible pavement; 3055: Pavement design; 187: Specification (standard); 3096: Strengthening (pavement); 2972: Surfacing
• Subject Areas: Highways; Pavements;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00764352
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Transport Research Laboratory
• Files: ITRD
• Created Date: May 28 1999 12:00AM