Numerical analysis on distribution and response of acceleration field of pavement under moving load

In the previous studies on the dynamic responses of pavement, most researchers paid attention to the stress and strain responses of pavement. With the passings of vehicles, road structures will inevitably produce vibration accelerations. Since acceleration is closely related to many physical quantities according to the definitions in physics, the acceleration of pavement can reflect pavement conditions from the side, and the relevant studies on the acceleration field of pavement under moving load are worth conducting. In this study, with the help of ABAQUS, the numerical analysis on the distribution and response of the acceleration field of pavement under moving load was carried out, and the influencing degrees of vehicle load, vehicle speed and the elastic modulus of upper layer on the acceleration response of intact pavement were also compared based on the designed orthogonal test. It was found that the three-directional accelerations of pavement present symmetrical distributions around the loaded area, and the vertical acceleration is the largest but decays rapidly with the form of quartic polynomials as far away from the loaded area. Meanwhile, the mechanical state of pavement can be evaluated by analyzing pavement accelerations. Besides, the acceleration response of the intact pavement in this study is the most sensitive to the influencing factor of vehicle speed, followed by vehicle load, and the brought effect of the elastic modulus of upper layer is the lowest in general.