Finite Element Modeling by ABAQUS for Rutting in Flexible Pavement

Flexible pavement is complex in nature, as it consists of multiple layers made up of different materials.A common type of distress, "Rutting" is formed on the surface of pavement due to heavy and repeated loading.In addition, the pavements undergo rutting due to poor quality control during construction.However, laboratory investigations have very limited effectiveness in predicting rut depth.The present research employs a finite element analysis using ABAQUS software to study the performance of the pavement against rutting.The pavement system is assumed to have a multilayer component, with each layer being homogeneous and isotropic.Two different thicknesses of pavement structures, as per Indian Road Congress (IRC) 37-2018, are modeled and analyzed by considering 10 million standard axles (msa) and 50 msa of design life, corresponding to 5% California Bearing Ratio (CBR) value.The findings of the research show that the maximum rut depth occurred nearly at the center of the model, i.e., at 137.594 mm, and the rut depth for the 50 msa design life was marginally lesser, to the extent of 8.64% compared to 10 msa.The maximum stresses occurred at the surface layer and decreased towards the base and sub base layers by 5.86%, 11.10%, and 12.60%, respectively, at the surface, base, and sub base layers for 50 msa compared to a 10 msa design life.The finite element modeling by ABAQUS proved highly effective in simulating the responses of flexible pavement under the influence of external loads and facilitated a comprehensive assessment of deformation and stress throughout the pavement layers.