THE THEORY OF STRESS AND DISPLACEMENTS IN LAYERED SYSTEMS AND APPLICATIONS TO THE DESIGN OF AIRPORT RUNWAYS

THEORIES OF LAYERED SOIL DEPOSITS ARE REVIEWED. THE THEORY OF STRESSES ARE DISPLACEMENTS IN A TWO-LAYERED SYSTEM WAS DEVELOPED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE METHODS OF THE MATHEMATICAL THEORY OF ELASTICITY AND IS PRESENTED IN ORDER TO REVEAL SOME OF THE FUNDAMENTAL RELATIONS EXISTING BETWEEN THE PHYSICAL FACTORS, WHICH CONTROL THE LOAD-SETTLEMENT RELATIONS, AND IN ORDER TO PROVIDE A PRACTICAL METHOD OF ANALYSIS FOR THE DESIGN OF AIRPORT RUNWAYS. THE THEORY REVEALS THE CONTROLLING INFLUENCE OF TWO IMPORTANT RATIOS ON THE LOAD-SETTLEMENT CHARACTERISTICS OF THE TWO-LAYER SYSTEM: (1) THE RATIO OF THE RADIUS OF THE BEARING AREA TO THE THICKNESS OF THE REINFORCING OR PAVEMENT LAYER, AND (2) THE RATIO OF THE MODULUS OF THE SUBGRADE TO THAT OF THE PAVEMENT, FOR PRACTICAL DESIGN PURPOSES, THE THEORETICAL RESULTS WERE EVALUATED NUMERICALLY AND EXPRESSED IN BASIC INFLUENCE CURVES, GIVING VALUES OF THE SETTLEMENT COEFFICIENT IN TERMS OF THESE BASIC RATIOS. THE SETTLEMENT COEFFICIENT IS APPLIED AS A SIMPLE MULTIPLYING OR CORRECTION FACTOR TO THE BOUSSINESQ EQUATION FOR SURFACE SETTLEMENT AT THE CENTER OF A CIRCULAR FLEXIBLE BEARING AREA. THE DESIGN FOR AIRPORT RUNWAYS INVOLVES THE SELECTION OF SUITABLE TYPES OF PAVEMENT CONSTRUCTION AND THE DETERMINATION BY THE INFLUENCE CURVES FOR THE TWO-LAYER SYSTEM OF THE THICKNESS REQUIRED TO GIVE ADEQUATE SUPPORT TO AIRPLANE WHEEL LOADS AND REASONABLE LENGTH OF SERVICE. FIELD LOAD TEST CHECKS OF QUALITY AND STRENGTH CAN BE MADE DURING CONSTRUCTION ON: (1) THE NATURAL SUBGRADE TO DETERMINE TENTATIVELY THE THICKNESS OF BASE COURSE AND PAVEMENT REQUIRED, (2) TOP OF THE BASE COURSE TO CHECK THE QUALITY AND STRENGTH AT THIS STAGE OF CONSTRUCTION, AND (3) TOP OF THE FINISHED PAVEMENT TO CHECK THE EFFECTIVE SUPPORTING CAPACITY OF THE WHOLE PAVEMENT CONSTRUCTION.

• Record URL:
  https://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/hrbproceedings/23/23-016.pdf
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Vol 23, pp 126-148, 13 FIG, 2 TAB, 5 REF. 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:
  • Burmister, D M
  • Palmer, L A
  • Barber, E S
  • Middlebrooks, T A
• Discussers:
  • Casagrande, A
• Publication Date: 1944

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Monograph Title: Proceedings of the Twenty-Third Annual Meeting of the Highway Research Board Held at Edgewater Beach Hotel, Chicago, Illinois November 27-30, 1943
• Serial:
  • Highway Research Board Proceedings
  • Volume: 23
  • Publisher: Highway Research Board

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Airport runways; Base course (Pavements); Boussinesq equation; Diagrams; Dislocation (Geology); Elasticity (Mechanics); Load tests; Loads; Material reinforcement; Pavements; Settlement (Structures); Soil deposits; Stresses; Subgrade (Pavements); Thickness
• Old TRIS Terms: Boussinesq formula; Elastic theory; Layered theories; Load settlement diagram; Pavement course thickness; Settlement rate; Thickness design
• Subject Areas: Geotechnology; Highways; Pavements;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00205591
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Nov 23 1970 12:00AM