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Updated: Dec 5, 2025

Finite Element Modeling for the Simulation of the Quasi-Static Compression of Corrugated Tapered Tubes
Published on: January 6, 2023
Corrugation of an unpaved road surface under vehicle weight
C Matsuyama1, Y Tanaka2, M Sato3
1Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Yamanashi, 4-4-37, Takeda, Kofu, Yamanashi 400-8510, Japan.
Abstract:
Road corrugation refers to the formation of periodic, transverse ripples on unpaved road surfaces. It forms spontaneously on an initially flat surface under heavy traffic and can be considered to be a type of unstable growth phenomenon, possibly caused by the local volume contraction of the underlying soil due to a moving vehicle's weight. In the present work, we demonstrate a possible mechanism for road corrugation using experimental data of soil consolidation and numerical simulations. The results indicate that the vertical oscillation of moving vehicles, which is excited by the initial irregularities of the surface, plays a key role in the development of corrugation.
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