• International Journal of Highway Engineering
• /
• v.11 no.4
• /
• pp.143-152
• /
• 2009

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the freezing index and frost penetration depth. The freezing index and frost penetration depth were analyzed using air temperature and temperature profile of pavement system in Korea LTPP-SPS(Long Term Pavement Performance-Specific Pavement Study) site. The predicted frost penetration depth were then compared with the measured one from the LTPP sites. And the trend of annual freezing index was analyzed using the temperature data of meteorological stations located in the vicinity of Korea LTPP-SPS site. The result showed that the freezing index was rapidly decreased since 1987, and it was known that the use of freezing index determined from the past 30 years temperature data could cause the over estimates in the pavement thickness design. The temperature profile measured at 3 sections of LTPP-SPS sites showed that the temperature of subbase layer was above $0^{\circ}C$, even though anti-frost layers were found in these sections. Comparing the measured and calculated frost depth, the frost depth calculated from the subgrade frost penetration permissible method showed a similar trend with the measured frost depth.

• International Journal of Highway Engineering
• /
• v.11 no.1
• /
• pp.165-175
• /
• 2009

With the current move towards adopting mechanistic-empirical concepts in the design of pavement structures, state-of-the-art mechanistic analysis methodologies are needed to determine accurate pavement responses, such as stress, strain, and deformation. Previous laboratory studies of pavement foundation geomaterials, i.e., unbound granular materials used in base/subbase layers and fine-grained soils of a prepared subgrade, have shown that the resilient responses followed by nonlinear, stress-dependent behavior under repeated wheel loading. This nonlinear behavior is commonly characterized by stress-dependent resilient modulus material models that need to be incorporated into finite element (FE) based mechanistic pavement analysis methods to predict more realistically predict pavement responses for a mechanistic pavement analysis. Developed user material subroutine using aforementioned resilient model with nonlinear solution technique and convergence scheme with proven performance were successfully employed in general-purpose FE program, ABAQUS. This numerical analysis was investigated in predicted critical responses and domain selection with specific mesh generation was implemented to evaluate better prediction of pavement responses. Results obtained from both axisymmetric and three-dimensional (3D) nonlinear FE analyses were compared and remarkable findings were described for nonlinear FE analysis. The UMAT subroutine performance was also validated with the instrumented full scale pavement test section study results from the Federal Aviation Administration's National Airport Pavement Test Facility (FAA's NAPTF).