Simulating the impact of extreme aircraft loading on the performance of bituminous pavement for airport application.

Bituminous pavements are widely used globally to construct airport runways and taxiways. Usually, the interface bonding between bituminous layers is not investigated during the design. Therefore, this study investigates the impact of aircraft loading (Airbuses A320, A330, and A380) on the fatigue life of the pavement and interface bonding between the wearing course and binder course. BISAR software was utilized to determine the stresses and strains in various layers and estimate the fatigue life of the pavement. The input parameters were considered from field data and determined from analytical equations. FAARFIELD software program was also utilized to estimate the Cumulative Damage Factor (CDF) and used to determine the modified thickness of bituminous layers. The results show that the higher weight of aircraft causes more strains generated in the pavement. The horizontal tensile strains are reduced with increasing depth of pavement structure. The horizontal tensile strain at the bottom of the binder is highest for Airbus A380 (7.54E-05) and lowest for Airbus A320 (2.06E-05). Fatigue life of pavement is estimated as 2.92E+10 for A320, 2.05E+10 for A320 and 1.07E+08 for A380. Furthermore, full bonding between asphalt layers resulted in a significant transfer of shear stresses to bottom layers. However, the full slip (no bonding) condition causes negligible transfer of shear stresses. Therefore, during the airport runway design and estimating the design life, the aircraft loading must be carefully considered. Similarly, proper bonding must be provided between layers to reduce the chances of pavement failures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]