Mechanistic Pavement Design – Numerical Methods and

Probabilistic Approaches

M. Sc. Pengfei Liu,

Dr.-Ing. Dawei Wang,
Univ.-Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Markus Oeser

Institut für Straßenwesen Aachen

RWTH Aachen
Mies-van-der-Rohe-Straße 1
52074 Aachen
Tel.: +49 (0)241 80-25220
Fax: +49 (0)241 80-22141

Diesem Vortrag liegen Teile des im Auftrag des Bundesministeriums für Verkehr, Bau und
Stadtentwicklung, vertreten durch die Bundesanstalt für Straßenwesen, unter FE 07.0240/2010/LRB
laufenden Forschungsvorhabens zugrunde.
Die Verantwortung für den Inhalt liegt allein beim Autor.

The presentation is based on parts of the research project carried out at the request of the Federal
Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Development, requested by the Federal Highway Research
Institute, under research project No. 07.0240/2010/LRB.
The author is solely responsible for the content.
1
 Contents

 3D-(2D+) – FE-BE-Method
 Finite Elements
 Kinematic Couplings
 Steel Dowels
 Boundary Elements
 Semi-Analytical Finite Element Method (SAFEM)
 Demonstration of the Program Based on MATLAB
 Definition of the Model
 Operation of the Program
 Validation of the Results
 Summary and Conclusions

2
 Contents

 3D-(2D+) – FE-BE-Method
 Finite Elements
 Kinematic Couplings
 Steel Dowels
 Boundary Elements
 Semi-Analytical Finite Element Method (SAFEM)
 Demonstration of the Program Based on MATLAB
 Definition of the Model
 Operation of the Program
 Validation of the Results
 Summary and Conclusions

3
 3D(2D+)-FE-BE-Method

lateral joint

longitudinal
joint

Concrete cover layer

Base layer
Subbase layer
Subgrade

# consideration of physically nonlinearities

# consideration of structural nonlinearities

4
 3D(2D+)-FE-BE-Method

# FE-BE-mesh # Finite elements

FE mesh of the
concrete cover layer (2D)
FE mesh of the
Base layer (3D)
FE mesh of the
Subbase layer (3D)

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 3D(2D+)-FE-BE-Method

# FE-BE-mesh # hybrid elements

# kinematic couplings

2D kinematic couplings

2D/3D kinematic couplings

3D kinematic couplings

6
 3D(2D+)-FE-BE-Method

# FE-BE-mesh # hybrid elements

# boundary elements # kinematic couplings

7
 Contents

 3D-(2D+) – FE-BE-Method
 Finite Elements
 Kinematic Couplings
 Steel Dowels
 Boundary Elements
 Semi-Analytical Finite Element Method (SAFEM)
 Demonstration of the Program Based on MATLAB
 Definition of the Model
 Operation of the Program
 Validation of the Results
 Summary and Conclusions

8
 3D(2D+)-FE-BE-Method

5 7 concrete cover layer

reference plane 1 vx1, x1, x1 x
vy1, y1, y1
vz1, z1 2D-element 1
surface 1
8
PR1(x, y)
6
z1 PG1(x, y)

y vx, zx interface

vy, zy

side view surface 0

2D-element 0

1
vx0, x0, x0
3 cohesive base layer
reference plane 0
vy0, y0, y0
vz0, z0

4 PG0(x, y)
z0 z
2 PR0(x, y)

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 3D(2D+)-FE-BE-Method

# initial configuration

y1 PR1
reference plane 1 concrete cover layer
z1 PG1
interface
PG0
y0
reference plane 0 cohesive base layer
PR0
z0

# displaced configuration

vY1
y1 X1
PR1
1 vZ1
z vY
PG1 vY 0
0
y X0 PG0
0
vZ
z0 PR0

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 Contents

 3D-(2D+) – FE-BE-Method
 Finite Elements
 Kinematic Couplings
 Steel Dowels
 Boundary Elements
 Semi-Analytical Finite Element Method (SAFEM)
 Demonstration of the Program Based on MATLAB
 Definition of the Model
 Operation of the Program
 Validation of the Results
 Summary and Conclusions

11
 3D(2D+)-FE-BE-Method

# Undamaged state # Damaged state

full moment transfer reduced moment transfer

k = 
k < 

Longitudinal or lateral Damaged area of the

joint longitudinal or lateral joint

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 Contents

 3D-(2D+) – FE-BE-Method
 Finite Elements
 Kinematic Couplings
 Steel Dowels
 Boundary Elements
 Semi-Analytical Finite Element Method (SAFEM)
 Demonstration of the Program Based on MATLAB
 Definition of the Model
 Operation of the Program
 Validation of the Results
 Summary and Conclusions

13
 3D(2D+)-FE-BE-Method

# infinite space with known relations between # “semi” infinite space of a special shape with
stresses and displacements known stresses or displacements at the surface


 
surface 

 point x   point x 
r point y point y
forces PX forces PY at point y
at point x
Y
 
x3 X


x2 x1 

c ij  v   tij (x,y)  v j (x)d   uij (x,y)  t j (x)d Boundary Integral Equation (BIE)
 
H v  Gt

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 Contents

 3D-(2D+) – FE-BE-Method
 Finite Elements
 Kinematic Couplings
 Steel Dowels
 Boundary Elements
 Semi-Analytical Finite Element Method (SAFEM)
 Demonstration of the Program Based on MATLAB
 Definition of the Model
 Operation of the Program
 Validation of the Results
 Summary and Conclusions

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 Semi-Analytical Finite Element Method

Definition
Geometry and material properties do
not vary in z-direction, but the
boundary conditions exhibit a
significant variation.

The pavement structure problem

could not be simplified as a 2D plane
strain case (at least not the UGM and
Subgrade).

 Displacements in z-direction can be

represented by using a Fourier series
and exploiting its orthogonal properties

The 3D problem can be transformed

into a series of 2D problems.

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 Semi-Analytical Finite Element Method

Advantages

Significant reduction of the

computation time compared with
traditional 3D analyzes without loss of
accuracy.

Direct integration of material models

based on the complex modulus in the
analysis process.

Adequate consideration of the motion

sequence of loading.

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 Semi-Analytical Finite Element Method

Mathmatical description

At z = 0 and z = a, all displacements in

the XY plane are prevented but
displacement in the z-direction is
unrestricted.

The Fourier series expansion should

meet this requirement of the boundary
condition:
𝑙𝜋𝑧
sin 0 0
𝑢 𝐿 6 𝑎 𝑢𝑘𝑙 𝐿
𝑙𝜋𝑧
𝑈= 𝑣 = 𝑁𝑘 0 sin 0 𝑣𝑘𝑙 = 𝑁𝑙 ∙ 𝑈𝑙
𝑤 𝑎
𝑙=1 𝑘=1
𝑙𝜋𝑧 𝑤𝑘𝑙 𝑙=1
0 0 cos
𝑎

ulk , vkl and wkl : the displacements of the node at the

term of the Fourier series along x-, y- and z-directions,

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 Contents

 3D-(2D+) – FE-BE-Method
 Finite Elements
 Kinematic Couplings
 Steel Dowels
 Boundary Elements
 Semi-Analytical Finite Element Method (SAFEM)
 Demonstration of the Program Based on MATLAB
 Definition of the Model
 Operation of the Program
 Validation of the Results
 Summary and Conclusions

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 Definition of the Model

The responses from SAFEM based on MATLAB and the reference FE-software
ABAQUS are evaluated using the following concrete pavement type:

Layer Thickness (mm) E (MPa) µ

Concrete layer 290 40000 0,2
Base layer (layer of materials insensitive to frost) 300 (120) 150 0,5
Sub-grade 2000 45 0,5

The thickness of the sub-grade is defined as 2000 mm; setting such a large
value is aimed to minimize the influence of the boundary condition on the results.
The length and width of all layers are set to 6000 mm for the same reason.

 The load adopted is 49 kN circular load with the radius of 150 mm, so the
uniformly distributed contact stress is 0.7 MPa.

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 Contents

 3D-(2D+) – FE-BE-Method
 Finite Elements
 Kinematic Couplings
 Steel Dowels
 Boundary Elements
 Semi-Analytical Finite Element Method (SAFEM)
 Demonstration of the Program Based on MATLAB
 Definition of the Model
 Operation of the Program
 Validation of the Results
 Summary and Conclusions

25
 Operation of the Program
The flowchart of the operational process

SAFEM-program is taken as the

example to show how the program
works.

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GUI of the Program

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 Contents

 3D-(2D+) – FE-BE-Method
 Finite Elements
 Kinematic Couplings
 Steel Dowels
 Boundary Elements
 Semi-Analytical Finite Element Method (SAFEM)
 Demonstration of the Program Based on MATLAB
 Definition of the Model
 Operation of the Program
 Validation of the Results
 Summary and Conclusions

28
 Validation of the Results

Computed stress in vertical direction in ABAQUS (left) and SAFEM (right)

Computed stress in horizontal direction in ABAQUS (left) and SAFEM (right)

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 Contents

 3D-(2D+) – FE-BE-Method
 Finite Elements
 Kinematic Couplings
 Steel Dowels
 Boundary Elements
 Semi-Analytical Finite Element Method (SAFEM)
 Demonstration of the Program Based on MATLAB
 Definition of the Model
 Operation of the Program
 Validation of the Results
 Summary and Conclusions

30
 Validation of the Results

Comparison of the stresses between SAFEM and ABAQUS measured at critical points

Position SAFEM ABAQUS Difference

Vertical stress at top of the concrete layer -0.692 -0.700 1.14%

Horizontal stress at bottom of the concrete layer 0.902 0.886 1.81%

Vertical stress at top of the base course -0.0079 -0.0079 -

Vertical stress at top of the sub-grade -0.0060 -0.0059 1.69%

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 Summary and Conclusions

The results from SAFEM are consistent with those from ABAQUS.

The computation time of SAFEM is much less than that of ABAQUS.

The FE-analyses were run on a computer with an Intel Core Duo 3.4 GHz, with 32 GB RAM.
On average the computation time required by the ABAQUS 3D model was in the order of 27
minutes, whereas it was 20 seconds for SAFEM.

With the code optimization, the computation time of the SAFEM can still be reduced.

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Thank you for your attention!

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