Quasi-static analysis of rigid pavement subjected to tandem axle load resting on elastic foundation: a parametric study

Abstract

It is very important to study the response of pavement thoroughly for designing rigid vehicular pavements and airport runway pavements in the most realistic manner. There are few studies available in the literature that presents the static response of pavement resting on an elastic foundation subjected to moving loads. In most of these studies, single axle load was considered on the pavement and further, the pavement was treated as an infinite long beam supported by elastic foundations on lines similar to that of Winkler’s model. However, tandem axle or multi-axle loading arrangement is a more realistic and rational approach for studying the response of pavement. Further, most of the studies are still using the one-parameter foundation model (Winkler); but the two-parameter subgrade models are more accurate for rational analysis. Moreover, seldom any study have considered the effect of dowel bars on the response. On this backdrop, the present study reports a quasi-static analysis of rigid pavement subjected to tandem axle load resting on a two-parameter soil model. A numerical procedure is developed based on the finite element algorithm formulation using FORTRAN 90/95. The effect of various parameters such as shear modulus of soil, modulus of subgrade reaction, thickness of pavement, and spacing of tandem axle load is evaluated on the response of pavement for different load positions. The response evaluated includes the maximum deflection and bending moment in the pavement. Further, the aspect of dowel bars is also incorporated to study the response of pavement for all the aforementioned parameters.