Investigating the Impact of Geogrid Reinforcement on Flexible Pavements with Soft Subgrade Using Finite Element Analysis
摘要
The difficulty of constructing new roads onto unstable soil and strengthening flexible pavements has forced designers to look for alternative methods of enhancing pavement durability. Geogrid reinforcement is frequently paired with unbound base layers to improve the efficiency of flexible pavements. To verify the efficacy of geogrid placement, this work focuses on using a finite element (FE) approach to investigate the structural properties of flexible pavements with geogrids in various locations of pavement layers. Thus, rutting performance, the position of the geosynthetic installation, and the geogrid stiffness properties are the three criteria used in this paper’s numerical analysis of flexible pavement reinforced using geogrid material with static loading to assess the benefit from reinforcement. ABAQUS, a finite element-based program, is utilized to achieve the objective. In finite element analysis, the asphalt layer is assigned viscoelastic behavior to represent the actual asphalt layer, while the remaining layers are described using the Mohr-Coulomb criterion. However, geogrid is a model with linear elastic material. An 80 kN gross single-axle dual-wheel system simulates the traffic load. The complete pavement prototype is divided into smaller parts using an eight-noded hexahedral brick element (C3D8R). Based on the results, the pavement’s rutting performance can be improved by reducing vertical displacement by 17.13–26.6%, contingent on the stiffness and thickness of the geogrid reinforcement when positioned optimally. Additionally, depending on the geogrid’s tensile strength, it may be possible to reduce the vertical deformation by 37.6–73.3% when compared to unreinforced pavement. Therefore, geogrid can be utilized to build long-lasting, inexpensively maintained pavements, resulting in sustainable pavements.