Modeling of Dowel Jointed Rigid Airfield Pavement under Thermal Gradients and Dynamic Loads
Abstract: Concrete pavements
have been widely used for constructing runways, taxiways, and apron areas at
airports. The aviation industry has responded to increased demand for air
travel by developing longer, wider, and heavier aircraft with increasing
numbers of wheels to support the aircraft while in ground operation. Many
researchers developed their models based on the finite element method (FEM) for
the analysis of jointed concrete pavement. Despite the notable improvement,
important considerations were overlooked. These simplifications may affect the
results of the developed models and make them unrealistic. Sensitivity studies
were conducted in this study to investigate the effect of the loading
parameters on the load transfer efficiency (LTE) indictors where concept of LTE
is fundamental in airfield design procedures.
The effect of main gear loading magnitudes in different wheel
configurations combined with positive and negative thermal gradients was
investigated. The verification process was presented to increases the
confidence in the model results. Understanding the response of rigid airfield
pavement under such circumstances is important developing a new pavement design
procedure, as well as implementing a suitable remedial measure for existing
pavements. The results obtained that utilizing a dynamic load allows studying
the fatigue cycles that pavement can be subjected under different wheel
configurations. Moreover, the change in
the thermal gradient from positive to negative significantly changed the slab
curvature shape.
Keywords: Finite Element
Modeling; Dynamic Loads; Thermal Gradients; Airfield; Jointed Concrete
Pavement; Load Transfer Efficiency
Author: Ahmed Ebrahim Abu
El-Maaty, Ghada Mousa Hekal, Eman Muhammed Salah El-Din
Journal Code: jptsipilgg160014
