Spectral Element Approach For Forward Analytical Models of Three-dimensional Layered Pavement System

摘要

A three-dimensional (3D) layer spectral element is presented in the article to solve the dynamic problems of a three-dimensional multi-layered pavement subjected to a transient load pulse. In the spectral form, one layer is reconstructed as one spectral element, which is expressed as four-nodal spectral element or two-nodal spectral element. The wave propagation mechanism of one layer element is constituted by the superposition of one incident wave and one reflection wave. Fast Fourier transform is used for the transforms from time domain to frequency domain. A comparison with the finite element method was proposed to verify the accuracy and efficiency of 3D layer spectral element approach in the case of analyzing the falling weight deflectometer (FWD) testing model. It is concluded that 3D spectral element is more efficient time-wise than the finite element method.