Mechanical response of asphalt pavement structure under non-uniform aircraft wheel load

Here, to study mechanical response of asphalt pavement structure under uneven aircraft wheel load, vertical stress function of tire was determined based on assumptions of striped contact area of wheel and tire pattern, and longitudinal and transverse contact stresses of tire were determined in combination with existing studies. 3-D non-uniform contact stresses of planes A380-800, B747-400, B777-300ER were calculated and obtained. Based on 3-D finite element analysis model, mechanical responses of pavement structure under 3-D non-uniform aircraft wheel loads were obtained, and differences of mechanical responses of the above 3 aircraft types were analyzed. The results showed that mechanical response of asphalt pavement under 3-D non-uniform load is larger than that under uniform vertical load; effects of load non-uniformity on mechanical response of asphalt pavement decreases gradually from asphalt pavement to soil foundation; under action of 3-D non-uniform load, mechanical response of asphalt pavement is affected by the maximum taxiing mass of aircraft, landing gear type, tire pressure, number of wheels and other factors; with increase in asphalt mixture modulus, the variation rate of each mechanical response parameter decreases gradually. © 2023 Chinese Vibration Engineering Society. All rights reserved.