Estimation of Pavement Damage Costs Caused by Heavy Weight Vehicles Using Finite Element Analysis and Fatigue Failure Model

摘要

Transportation of heavy load potentially causes more damage to pavement than regular vehicles. This study investigated the impact of heavy vehicles on asphalt pavement in order to optimize axle configurations, select routes and estimate permit costs. Finite element analysis (FEA), validated by field measurement, was utilized for evaluating pavement responses under various heavy load scenarios. Based on the results from FEA, the remaining pavement service life was predicted using pavement distress models. The permit cost for a single pass of a heavy vehicle was estimated based on the reduction of pavement fatigue life and associated pavement maintenance cost. Sensitivity analyses were conducted to determine different factors affecting pavement fatigue damage and permit costs. Field measurement indicated that a significant longitudinal pavement deflection incurred under the heavy vehicle. The results from FEA showed that there was a significant overlapping effect between multiple axles over the depth. Pavement deflection was mainly caused by the deformation within subgrade soil. Generally, pavements with high thickness and stiffness would incur less damage and lower permit cost. A pavement structure with deep bedrock would incur more damage and higher cost. Due to the temperature dependency of asphalt mixtures, the damage cost in winter was much less than that in summer even considering the potential weak subgrade during the spring thaw. It was also found that newly constructed pavements would incur higher permit cost than relatively older pavements. In order to effectively reduce potential pavement damage and the associated cost, the number of dollies and axle distance should be increased to spread the load to a larger area.