Simulation of Dynamic Effects of Vehicles on Pavement Using a 3D Interaction Model

The present study formulated a three-dimensional (3D) vehicle-pavement coupled model to simulate the pavement dynamic loads induced by the vehicle-pavement interaction where both the vehicle vibration and pavement deformation were considered. Based on this model, the effects of road surface conditions, vehicle parameters, and driving speed on pavement dynamic loads were analyzed. The impact factor, dynamic load coefficient, and frequency distribution of pavement loads were mainly concerned in this study. The simulated results indicated that under rough road conditions the dynamic loads of vehicles are significantly higher than the static loads. The developed methodology can be used to further study the vehicle-induced pavement response, and the loading information will be useful in analyzing vehicle-induced pavement damage.