journal article·2026-07-08

Reliability of pavement design under seasonal variations: a case study of Brazilian airports

Felipe Hernandes Cava, Dimas Betioli Ribeiro, Claudia Azevedo Pereira

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Abstract

Pavement design traditionally assumes a constant asphalt modulus over the design period, disregarding the influence of seasonal temperature variations on asphalt behaviour and pavement performance. This study evaluates the reliability of airport pavements across different climatic regions in Brazil, particularly considering temperature variations and their impact on asphalt modulus and pavement structural behaviour. Eight airports located in different climatic regions were selected, and pavement structures were designed based on actual aircraft traffic data using the FAARFIELD software. Ten years of air temperature records were used to developed seasonal probability density functions, which were incorporated into a Monte Carlo Simulation reliability analysis. The results revealed that airports located in the Southeastern region exhibited a critical damage below 0.63, whereas airports in other regions of Brazil ranged from 0.95 to 5.65. These findings indicate that airports in warmer regions showed lower reliability, while those in colder regions exhibited higher reliability, which highlights the importance of incorporating seasonal effects in airport pavement design to more accurately predict performance and ensure long-term durability.
Source: openalex_inverted_index · Quality: baseline

Research context

OpenAlex topics: Asphalt Pavement Performance Evaluation · Infrastructure Maintenance and Monitoring · Smart Materials for Construction

SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.

Affiliations

Aeronautics Institute of Technology

Funding

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior

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