A computational procedure for predicting the long term residual settlement of a platform induced by repeated traffic loading

Abstract : A general structural analysis approach is developed in the present paper, allowing the evaluation of the residual settlement of a platform induced by repeated traffic loading. It notably relies upon the formulation of a cyclic constitutive law, which describes the progressive accumulation of irreversible (permanent) deformations locally exhibited by the different underlying granular materials when subjected to long term stress cycling generated by the traffic loading. This constitutive law is incorporated into a step-by-step numerical scheme where two kinds of elastic calculations are implemented: the first one concerns the determination of the so called reference stress cycles. while the second one is aimed at calculating the residual displacement and stress fields of the platform derived from the integration of the permanent non elastic deformations. The whole procedure is illustrated on the simplified model of a moving strip-load acting upon a homogeneous half-space, adopting a cyclic constitutive law formulated for a particular unbound granular material used in road pavements.