Influence of Pavement Roughness on Dynamic Stresses in Saturated Subsoil Subjected to Moving Traffic Loading

Abstract

This work aimed to gain insight into the influence of the dynamic component of vehicle load (caused by pavement roughness) on the dynamic stress responses in saturated subsoil. The analytical solutions for the three-dimensional dynamic stresses in the saturated poroelastic half-space, subjected to a harmonic rectangular moving load, were derived by using the Fourier integral transform, along with the propagator matrix method. The numerical results clearly show the advantages of the layered poroelastic half-space computational model, as well as the significant influences of the subsoil stiffness on the dynamic stress responses. Moreover, the dynamic stresses in the subsoil may be dramatically affected by the dynamic component of the moving load (caused by pavement roughness). It was also found that the influences of the dynamic component on the resulting dynamic stresses become much more profound when a stiffer subsoil and/or lower vehicle speed are encountered.