Dynamic Response of a Rigid Pavement Plate Based on an Inertial Soil

This work presents the dynamic response of a pavement plate resting on a soil whose inertia is taken into account in the design of pavements by rational methods. Thus, the pavement is modeled as a thin plate with finite dimensions, supported longitudinally by dowels and laterally by tie bars. The subgrade is modeled via Pasternak-Vlasov type (three-parameter type) foundation models and the moving traffic load is expressed as a concentrated dynamic load of harmonically varying magnitude, moving straight along the plate with a constant acceleration. The governing equation of the problem is solved using the modified Bolotin method for determining the natural frequencies and the wavenumbers of the system. The orthogonal properties of eigenfunctions are used to find the general solution of the problem. Considering the load over the center of the plate, the results showed that the deflections of the plate are maximum about the middle of the plate but are not null at its edges. It is therefore observed that the deflection decreased 18.33 percent when the inertia of the soil is taken into account. This result shows the possible economic gain when taking into account the inertia of soil in pavement dynamic design.