Optimal Design for Rutting Resistance of Asphalt Concrete Pavements by Experimental Testing and Finite Element Modelling

The objectives of this study are to develop numerical models to investigate the rutting of asphalt concrete pavements and to find optimal design of asphalt pavement mix for rutting resistance. Previous study’s experimental tests including triaxial repeated compression loading and wheel track testing were used to evaluate the visco-elasto-plastic behavior and rutting resistance of different pavement mixes. Three-dimensional Finite Element models were first developed to simulate both the axial compression and wheel track testing in which a visco-elasto-plastic material model with the material parameters developed from experimental testing was used to predict the rutting (time-dependent characteristics) of the asphalt concrete pavements. The results were validated against the experimental wheel track testing results. Finally, optimization techniques using the Design Of Experiments method were applied to the simulation rutting results of varying material parameters to promote asphalt pavements mixes that had the most effective performance against rutting. The results of this paper clearly demonstrate an efficient and effective experimental-numerical method and tool set towards optimal design for asphalt concrete pavements for rutting resistance.