The effect of water on pavement response based on 3D FEM simulation and experiment evaluation

It has been recognized that asphalt pavement performance will decrease with the presence of water within the pavement structure, while current pavement mechanics analysis has not taken into account the effect of moisture on dynamic response of pavement appropriately. Consequently, a 3D finite element simulation model was performed to study the mechanical response of saturated asphalt pavement based on Biot consolidation theory. Then, a laboratory test procedure was developed to analyze the attenuation of mixture performance induced by the coupled water/loading action. The result indicates that the presence of water changes stress distribution within pavement structure. What's more, it is interesting to find that the adverse position is in the middle and bottom HMA layer according to the distribution of pore pressure, which tallies with the raveling phenomenon of asphalt pavement caused by water. Another finding from the research is that the fatigue life of specimen subject to the coupled water/loading action decreases obviously. It is recommended to consider the effect of water when analyzing and designing flexible pavements. Copyright ASCE 2008.