The Effect of Loading Configuration and Footprint Geometry on Flexible Pavement Response Based on Linear Elastic Theory

ABSTRACT The analysis of flexible pavements using circular footprint geometry with uniform contact pressure has been used for decades due to the lack of a powerful computational tool that is both reliable and simple to use by pavement engineers. In this paper, the effect of different footprint geometries with different loading configurations including nonuniform, uniform, and average pressures on the response of flexible pavement is investigated by varying the thickness of the AC layer. Our results indicate that the use of circular footprint areas with uniform contact pressure equal to the tire inflation pressure can produce erroneous results that tend to overestimate the predicted fatigue life and rutting life of flexible pavements. Therefore, the pavement response analysis should be carried out using the measured pressure and footprint area when possible. In addition, the results showed that elastic analysis of flexible pavement can be carried out reliably and accurately using advanced computational tools such as the multilayered elastic pavement program MultiSmart3D.