An analytical study of road pavement fatigue

The structural evaluation of road pavements is an integral part of any modern pavement management system. Emphasis has been given to the structural analysis of road pavements with methodologies that seek to quantify the key parameters of pavement behavioural modelling to facilitate the prediction of the remaining life of pavements. These parameters are associated with major distresses such as cracking, and their magnitude is determined using appropriate analytical models. The most advanced, which enable an insight into the pavement structure, are based on finite-element analysis. This paper deals with such models, and first presents the fundamental issues associated with the fatigue behaviour of bituminous layers. Thereafter it presents model forms used to tackle crack initiation and propagation, and discusses how finite elements could provide a better insight into the effect of cracking on falling weight deflectometer induced deflections and their associated analysis. This is demonstrated by an example that shows the effect of bottom-up and top-down cracking on the stress distribution within the bituminous layer.