78 Paper No.

970578 TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH RECORD 1570

Effect of Vehicle-Pavement Interaction on

Pavement Response
MAGDY Y. MIKHAIL AND MICHAEL S. MAMLOUK

The structural response of flexible pavements is studied under different variation include road roughness, vehicle configuration, suspension
dynamic loads and pavement roughness conditions. The factors affect- type, tire type, and vehicle speed. Figure 1 shows typical patterns of
ing dynamic load variability are investigated with regard to pavement- dynamic wheel forces measured using a sensor mounted on the truck
vehicle interaction. Furthermore, the study considers the viscoelastic
axle (2). Increasing dynamic forces increase the damage rate to
nature of asphalt concrete and the nonlinearity and plasticity of granu-
lar and subgrade materials. The Florida COMPAS computer program pavements and shorten their service lives.
was used to estimate the dynamic wheel force, and the ABAQUS three- An accurate study of pavement response should include the inter-
dimensional finite-element program was used to determine the pave- action between vehicles and pavement. Pavement roughness excites
ment response. The effects of vehicle and pavement characteristics such axle suspensions, causing vehicle dynamic forces, which in turn
as vehicle type, vehicle speed, suspension type, level of roughness, increase the roughness of the pavement surface. Consequently, more
pavement stiffness, and layer thickness were studied and statistically
roughness of the pavement surface causes more vehicle dynamic
analyzed. The walking-beam suspension causes more dynamic load
variation than the air-bag and leaf-spring suspension. The dynamic load forces. This is an accelerating process in which pavement and vehcle
coefficient for the walking-beam suspension is approximately twice the affect each other through time, a process that becomes more signif-
other suspensions. Vehicle speed is an important factor; the 20 km/hr icant as the pavement deteriorates (3). Vehicle and pavement char-
speed resulted in permanent displacement approximately 10 times the acteristics should be considered in a dynamic or time-dependent
permanent displacement produced by the 130 km/hr speed. The pave- environment as well as with contributing factors, such as vehicle
ment response varies with distance due to roughness. Pavement stiffness speed, in predicting the structural response of the pavement (4). A
and thickness had some effect on pavement response, but truck type and
truck suspension type did not have a large effect. number of studies have addressed the subject of vehicle-pavement
interaction (e.g., 5,6). However, current knowledge of the inter-
action between vehicles and pavement is as yet insufficient to
Highways represent a major portion of the nation’s infrastructure provide the clear understanding needed to develop completely
affecting various activities of society on a day-to-day basis. Pave- mechanistic pavement analysis and design methods.
ments are complicated physical structures responding in a complex This study analyzes the structural response of flexible pavements
way to the influence of many variables, such as load, materials, and under different dynamic loads and pavement roughness conditions.
environmental conditions. Compounding the problem is the fact that The factors affecting dynamic-load variability are investigated with
truck gross weights and tire pressures have grown in the last few regard to pavement-vehicle interaction. Furthermore, the study con-
decades, which has resulted in faster and more severe damage to siders the viscoelastic nature of asphalt concrete and the nonlinearity
pavements. and plasticity of granular and subgrade materials.
Unlike other structural systems, pavements have relatively short Figure 2 shows a schematic diagram of the analysis performed.
service lives and deteriorate rapidly because of traffic loads and envi- The road profile is input into a vehicle model from which the vehi-
ronmental effects. It is estimated that a large portion of the existing cle dynamic forces are determined. These dynamic forces are used
pavements in the United States need some kind of reconstruction or in a pavement model to determine the dynamic pavement responses,
rehabilitation. such as displacements and critical strains. The study considers
The study of pavement response and performance is complex different vehicle and pavement variables.
because it involves factors such as (a) dynamic loading, (b) different
load configurations and magnitudes, (c) multilayer pavement systems
consisting of different material types and layer thicknesses, (d) non- VEHICLE DYNAMICS
linear material properties that are largely affected by environmental
conditions such as temperature and moisture, (e) construction vari- Vehicle Dynamic Model
abilities, ( f ) different types and intensities of failure, and (g) differ-
ent cost-effective options for maintenance and rehabilitation (1). When vehicles travel on the pavement, they develop different
Most of the previous studies assume that pavements are loaded dynamic movements. Vehicle dynamic models have been devel-
statically, whereas pavements are actually subjected to dynamic oped to predict dynamic forces produced by different axle and wheel
loads. The forces applied by vehicles vary instantaneously above configurations at different locations on the pavement surface. Truck
and below the static weight because of the interactive effect between dynamic models were developed that represent the truck with a
vehicles and pavement. Several factors contributing to this load number of masses, springs, and dashpots.
The Florida Comprehensive Pavement Analysis System (COM-
M. Y. Mikhail, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Nevada, Reno,
PAS) (7 ) is a research study conducted by the Texas Transportation
Nev. 89557-0152. M. S. Mamlouk, Department of Civil and Environmental Institute for the Florida Department of Transportation. The Florida
Engineering, Arizona State University, Tempe, Ariz. 85281-5306. COMPAS software includes a tire-force prediction model that
Mikhail and Mamlouk Paper No. 970578 79

FIGURE 1 Typical instantaneous dynamic wheel force at 80 km/hr

(50 mi/hr) speed for medium road roughness and walking-beam suspension (z).

predicts dynamic tire loads for different types of vehicles traveling with piezoelectric film strips. Very close agreements were obtained
on a straight asphalt road at constant speeds. The model is capable between the Florida COMPAS results and both field measurements
of generating the dynamic force profile of a wheel load for different and other simulation models (8).
combinations of vehicle types, suspension types, vehicle speeds,
and levels of pavement roughness. The COMPAS program simu-
lates vehicles with combinations of masses, springs, and dashpots,
as shown in Figure 3. Estimate of Vehicle Dynamic Forces
The results of the Florida COMPAS were verified by comparing
the output of the program with field measurements and results from The Florida COMPAS was used to determine the dynamic tire
other vehicle models (7,8). Vehicle dynamic-force measurements forces under various conditions. The following factors and levels
were obtained from the flexible pavement sections instrumented were studied:

• Trucks. Three types were used following the FHWA classifi-

cation, two-axle tractor, two-axle trailer (2-S2); three-axle tractor,
two-axle trailer, (3-S2); and five-axle multitrailer (2-S1-2).
• Suspension. Air-bag, leaf-spring, and walking-beam suspen-
sions were used.
• Speed. Speeds of 20, 75, and 130 km/hr were used.
• Roughness. Three levels with values of present serviceability
under (PSI) 4.6, 3.5, and 2.4 were used.

The combinations of the different truck types, suspension types,

speeds, and pavement roughness levels produce different dynamic
tire forces. These factors and levels resulted in 81 factor combina-
tions. The gross vehicle weights for the three truck types were chosen
so that the axle weights on rear axles were approximately equal to
80 kN for purposes of comparison. Numerical outputs were generated
for all the above combinations. The results show the variation of
dynamic tire forces with distance and time under various conditions.
Figure 4 shows an example of the dynamic tire force for the
second axle versus distance for the different types of suspension of
a 2-S1-2 truck at a speed of 130 km/hr for an average PSI of 2.4. The
data in Figure 4 show that the walking-beam suspension causes
more dynamic load variation than the other suspension types.
Figure 5 shows the dynamic tire force versus distance for three

FIGURE 2 Schematic diagram of analysis FIGURE 3 Schematic diagram of vehicle dynamic model used
performed. in Florida COMPAS.
80 Paper No. 970578 TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH RECORD 1570

FIGURE 4 Dynamic force versus distance for different suspension types (2S1-2 truck, 130 km/hr
speed, PSI = 2.4).

different speeds of the 2-S2 truck with an air-bag suspension and an Dynamic-Load Coefficient
average PSI of 3.5. The data show that at higher speeds more
dynamic-force variability is expected. Figure 6 shows the dynamic The dynamic-load coefficient (DLC) is used to characterize the
force versus distance for different roughnesses for a 2-S1-2 truck variability of the wheel force and is defined as (2)
with a 75 km/hr speed and a walking-beam suspension. The data
show that as the pavement roughness increases, more dynamic-load standard deviation of dynamic wheel force
DLC = (1)
variability is obtained. mean dynamic wheel force

FIGURE 5 Dynamic force versus distance for different speeds (2-S2 truck, air-bag suspension,
PSI = 3.5).
Mikhail and Mamlouk Paper No. 970578 81

FIGURE 6 Dynamic force versus distance for different roughness levels (2S1-2
truck, 75 km/hr speed, walking-beam suspension).

Figures 7, 8, and 9 show the DLC of various suspension types, ANALYSIS OF VEHICLE-PAVEMENT
speeds, and levels of pavement roughness for the 2-S2 truck. The INTERACTION
figures show that the air-bag suspension produces the least DLC,
whereas the walking-beam suspension produced the highest DLC. Pavement Dynamic Model
Furthermore, increasing the truck speed or pavement roughness
increases the DLC for all types of suspension. The dynamic load profiles of the Florida COMPAS program were
A full factorial experimental design was used for the above fac- input to the ABAQUS program to evaluate the structural response
tors and levels. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed of pavement. The ABAQUS program is a three-dimensional,
on the results to test the significance of the different factors. All the dynamic finite-element program that has the capability to simulate
main effects were found to be significant at a level of 0.05. actual vehicle loading conditions and estimate the structural re-

FIGURE 7 Dynamic load coefficient for different serviceability indexes and

speeds (2-S2 truck, air-bag suspension).
FIGURE 8 Dynamic load coefficient for different serviceability indexes and
speeds (2-S2 truck, leaf-spring suspension).

FIGURE 9 Dynamic load coefficient for different serviceability indexes and

speeds (2-S2 truck, walking-beam suspension).
Mikhail and Mamlouk Paper No. 970578 83

sponse for flexible pavements (9,10). The program has been used Features of the Finite-Element Model
previously to study the dynamic response of flexible
pavements (11). The three-dimensional finite-element model was developed to rep-
ABAQUS solves the dynamic analysis of linear problems by using resent the pavement structure using brick elements, as shown in
the eigenmodes of the system as a basis for calculating the response. Figure 10. Because of symmetry, one-half of the wheelpath, to-
In such cases, the necessary modes and frequencies must be extracted gether with one side of the surrounding region, was used. The
first. Other options are also available, such as time-history analysis; finite-element mesh consists of a fine mesh close to the load and a
steady-state harmonic response analysis, including random-response coarse mesh far from the load. Mesh dimensions in the vertical
analysis; and response-spectrum analysis. For the nonlinear dynamic direction was selected to match the pavement-layer thickness. A
analysis, direct integration of the system or subspace projection 12.2-m-long wheelpath with two 12.2-m unloaded ends on both
method is used. In the direct integration method, all the equations of sides was used to reduce the end effect. Both the asphalt concrete
motion of the system are integrated through time (10). The equations
surface and base course were modeled as a single-element layer,
of motion of a multiple degree of freedom system with viscous
whereas the subgrade was modeled as a multielement layer. The
damping present can be written in a matrix form as
appropriate boundary conditions were used. Infinite elements were
[ K ]{U} + [C ]{U˙ } + [ M ]{U˙˙} = {P} (2) used to model the bottom layer of the subgrade. The mesh dimen-
sions were constrained to satisfy the appropriate aspect ratio to
where have the loaded area required and to achieve the desired degree of
detail.
[K ] = stiffness matrix, Paving materials were divided into asphalt mixtures, granular
{U} = displacement matrix, materials, and cohesive soils. The asphalt concrete was modeled as
[C ] = α[M ] 1 β[K], α and β are constants, a viscoelastic material that is time- and temperature-dependent. The
[M ] = mass matrix, time-dependent properties were represented by the ratio of instanta-
{ U̇} = velocity matrix, neous shear modulus to the long-term shear modulus (G-ratio),
{Ü} = acceleration matrix, and which can be expressed as
{P} = force matrix.
The nonlinear dynamic approach with the direct integration method long- term shear modulus
G-ratio = 1 − (3)
was used here. instantaneous shear modulus

FIGURE 10 Finite element mesh.

84 Paper No. 970578 TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH RECORD 1570

TABLE 1 Material Properties

The Drucker-Prager model was used in the analysis to model base The process of simulating the effect of moving loads and variable
course and subgrade materials. This model is an elastic-plastic dynamic loading results in a huge amount of computation.
model in which materials are assumed to behave as elastic materi-
als for low stress levels. When the stress level reaches a certain yield Other Factors Considered
stress, the material will start to behave as an elastic-plastic material.
The material characteristics required for this model include modu- In addition to the truck-type, suspension-type, vehicle-speed, and
lus of elasticity, Poisson’s ratio, damping coefficient, bulk density, pavement-roughness variables used before, two more pavement
angle of internal friction, and cohesion. variables were used.
The area of the elements in the wheelpath was taken as the
tire-pavement contact area. To simulate truck loads moving at dif- • Pavement stiffness. Three classes were used to represent stiff,
ferent speeds, the load cycle begins with a load magnitude equal to medium, and weak sections. Table 1 shows the material properties
zero at time t0. After time t0, the load is increased linearly to a max- used to represent these classes.
imum value at time t1. The load magnitude remains constant • Layer thicknesses. Three sets of thicknesses were used to rep-
between time t1 and time t2 after which the load is decreased linearly resent thick, medium, and thin pavements. Table 2 shows the values
to zero at time t3. The time durations from t0 to t1, t1 to t2, and t2 to used to represent these sets.
t3 are functions of the speed and the length of the contact area.
This process is repeated for the different elements in the wheelpath These factors and levels result in 729 factor combinations. A one-
at different times depending on the vehicle speed. In each case dif- ninth partial factorial design of experiment was used to reduce the
ferent load magnitudes were used to simulate the variability of number of combinations to 81.
the dynamic load that was obtained from the Florida COMPAS Three response parameters were calculated by the ABAQUS pro-
program. gram for each factor combination. These parameters are the perma-
ABAQUS is installed on an HP9000 model J200 workstation nent displacement on the surface, total horizontal tensile strain at
with 128 Mbytes RAM, 9-Gbyte hard disk, and a 100-MHz the bottom of the asphalt concrete layer, and the total vertical com-
PA-RISC 7200 CPU. Each computer run took an average of 3 hr. pressive strain on the top of the subgrade layer. The average of the

TABLE 2 Layer Thickness for Different Pavement Sections

Mikhail and Mamlouk Paper No. 970578 85

FIGURE 11 Permanent displacement versus distance for 3-S2 truck for three different speeds
(air-bag suspension, 2.4 PSI, stiff pavement, thick section).

results of three points in the wheelpath was used, as shown in Fig- found to be significant at the 0.05 level. That the pavement roughness
ure 10. and suspension type were not significant may be due to the fact that
An ANOVA was performed on the results to test the significance only one load repetition was considered. The effects of roughness and
of the different factors on the permanent surface displacement, hor- suspension type could have been more pronounced if several load
izontal tensile strain on the bottom of the asphalt concrete layer, and repetitions were used. For the horizontal tensile strain parameter, the
the vertical compressive strain on the top of the subgrade. The per- speed, thickness, and stiffness were found significant at the 0.05 sig-
manent displacement on the surface was selected because it is nificance level. For the vertical compressive strain parameter, the
related to rutting and roughness development in the wheelpath. The same factors as horizontal tensile strain were found significant.
horizontal tensile strain on the bottom of the asphalt layer and the
compressive strain on top of the subgrade were selected because ANALYSIS OF RESULTS
they are related to fatigue and rutting, respectively.
For the permanent displacement parameter, the speed, pavement Vehicle speed was found to be an important factor that affects the
stiffness, and the interaction of layer thickness and truck type were pavement response. Figures 11, 12, and 13 show the permanent sur-

FIGURE 12 Horizontal tensile strain versus distance for 3-S2 truck for three different speeds
(air-bag suspension, 2.4 PSI, stiff pavement, thick section).
86 Paper No. 970578 TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH RECORD 1570

FIGURE 13 Vertical compressive strain versus distance for 3-S2 truck for three different
speeds (air-bag suspension, 2.4 PSI, stiff pavement, thick section).

face displacement, horizontal tensile strain at the bottom of the for the 2.4 PSI level is higher than the 3.5 and 4.6 PSI levels. Pave-
asphalt concrete layer, and vertical compressive strain on the top of ment stiffness also affects pavement response. Figures 15 and 16
subgrade versus distance for the three different speeds for the 3-S2 show the permanent displacement and vertical compressive strain
truck. It is clear that slow speeds produce higher displacements and versus distance for the three different pavement stiffness levels for
strains in the pavement structure and can cause larger damage to the the 2-S2 truck. These two figures show that weak pavement sections
pavement as compared with high speeds. The 20 km/hr speed produce higher displacements and strains in the pavement structure
resulted in permanent displacement approximately 10 times the dis- and may deteriorate faster than stiff sections. Pavement thickness
placement produced by the 130 km/hr speed. This is because the also affects the pavement response. Thin pavement sections produce
time duration of loading is more for 20 km/hr than 130 km/hr. These higher displacements and strains in the pavement structure and may
figures show the variation in pavement response with distance deteriorate faster than thick pavement sections.
(direction of travel) due to roughness. Based on the statistical analyses performed, the effect of vehicle
There was no big difference in pavement response between the dif- type was not significant because the gross vehicle weights for the
ferent levels of pavement roughness. This may be attributed to con- three truck types were chosen so that the axle weights on their rear
sidering one load repetition of the moving load. Figure 14 shows the axles were approximately equal for the purpose of comparison. The
horizontal tensile strain versus distance for three different PSI levels effects of suspension and roughness were not statistically signifi-
for the 3-S2 truck. The figure shows the variation of pavement cant, although these two factors were significant for the DLC, which
response with distance due to roughness. The horizontal tensile strain may be due to the fact that only one load repetition was considered.

FIGURE 14 Horizontal tensile strain versus distance for 3-S2 truck for three different PSI levels
(air-bag suspension, 20 km/hr speed, stiff pavement, thick section).
Mikhail and Mamlouk Paper No. 970578 87

FIGURE 15 Permanent displacement versus distance for 2-S2 truck for three different
stiffnesses (air-bag suspension, 4.6 PSI, 75 km/hr speed, thick section).

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS roughness. The stiffness of the pavement section affects the
response of pavement, with weak pavement sections producing
The interaction between vehicles and pavement was investigated by higher displacements and strains in the pavement structure. These
using the Florida COMPAS computer program to estimate the weak pavement sections may deteriorate faster than stiff sections.
dynamic wheel force and the ABAQUS three-dimensional finite- The thickness of the pavement section also affects pavement
element program to determine the pavement response. The effects response, with thin pavement sections producing higher displace-
of vehicle and pavement characteristics such as vehicle type, vehi- ments and strains in the pavement structure. The truck type and the
cle speed, suspension type, level of roughness, pavement stiffness, suspension type did not have a large effect on pavement response.
and layer thickness were studied and statistically analyzed. The vehicle-pavement interaction can be used to estimate the
The walking-beam suspension causes more dynamic-load vari- pavement response.
ation than the other two suspension types. Higher speeds produce
more dynamic-force variability, and an increase in pavement
roughness produces more dynamic-load variability. Vehicle speed ACKNOWLEDGMENT
is an important factor that affects pavement response. The
20 km/hr speed resulted in permanent displacement approximately The authors would like to thank the Department of Civil and Envi-
10 times the displacement produced by the 130 km/hr speed. Pave- ronmental Engineering at Arizona State University for the financial
ment response varies with distance (direction of travel) due to support and for making its facilities available for the study.

FIGURE 16 Vertical compressive strain versus distance for 2-S2 truck for three different
stiffnesses (air-bag suspension, 4.6 PSI, 75 km/hr speed, thick section).
88 Paper No. 970578 TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH RECORD 1570

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