Damage assessment for flexible pavement rutting under repeated loading

In this paper, damage assessment for flexible pavement rutting under repeated traffic loading is carried out by using an integrated approach with combined application of design guide for pavement structures, laboratory material experiments, and nonlinear finite element analysis. The analysis in this research includes two major subjects, i.e. calculation of resilient strain distribution and assessment of rutting damage for pavement structures. A series of parametric study is performed by evaluating the rutting depth and damage ratio for Taiwan Provincial Highway system under various combinations of tire pressures, dual axle loads, subgrade water content, and cycles of repeated loading. The results indicate that, while the rutting depth is not significantly affected by tire pressure, it appears to depend nearly linearly upon the magnitude of axle loads. Also, the damage ratio increases as subgrade water content increases. And, it is observed that rutting damage is more significantly accumulated in the early stage of repeated loading process.