Dynamic responses of asphalt concrete slab under cyclic wheel loading using acceleration spectrum analysis

The dynamic response of pavement, especially in term of vibration, provides information on pavement damage prediction, noise control and so forth. The vibration of pavement is also a potential energy which can be collected by energy harvester and utilized by sensing technology to obtain information of traffic and pavement conditions. In this research, both laboratory Model Mobile Load Simulator (MMLS) tests and Finite Element (FE) simulation were performed to assess the effects of several factors influencing the dynamic response of Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA) slabs that include material properties, wheel loading speed, top-down cracking and thickness of the slab. The parametric analysis was performed using the validated finite element model based on laboratory MMLS test results to investigate the effects of each parameter. Frequency spectrums of vertical acceleration for the HMA slabs under different loading scenarios were obtained through Fast Fourier Transform (FFT), and analyzed to help formulate recommendations for an actual pavement structure from dynamic responses in the field.