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Pavements 2025

Highway & Airfield Pavement Numerical Modeling and Analytics

POSTER RECEPTION (View list of posters here)

Critical Response Evaluations of Roadway and Airfield Flexible Pavements Under Heavy Military Loads

Tuesday, June 10, 2025
4:45 PM – 6:00 PM MT
Abstract: A proper design, construction, and evaluation of military infrastructure is critical for adequately supporting the power projection capabilities of Department of Defense (DoD), particularly in operational environments where roadway and airfield pavements must endure heavy loads imposed by mission-based vehicles and aircraft. Flexible or asphalt pavements are known to frequently suffer from such heavy loads and may deteriorate rapidly with formation of excessive distresses, such as rutting and fatigue cracking, which compromise the pavement structural integrity. To address these challenges, C-FLEX software, an integral component of the Joint Evaluation and Design Integrated (JEDI) solution recently developed for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the project, Advancing Power Projection through Lines-of-Communication (APPLoC), offers a modernized approach to analyze and design flexible pavements. C-FLEX is an advanced finite element analysis tool specifically designed to analyze flexible pavements as axisymmetric multi-layered systems. It incorporates nonlinear isotropic and anisotropic material characterization models for the unbound aggregate base/subbase and subgrade layers, and accounts for the stress-dependent behavior of granular materials and fine-grained subgrade soils under traffic loading. In addition, the viscoelastic properties of hot mix asphalt surface course are also considered thus enabling a more accurate evaluation of the time- and temperature-dependent asphalt concrete behavior. These features allow for an advanced modeling of pavement layer moduli to accurately predict critical pavement responses under complex multi-wheel axle-wheel arrangements and aircraft gear configurations. This paper presents selected applications of C-FLEX analysis program and the critical responses predicted in flexible pavements when subjected to heavy mission-based vehicular loads. By utilizing advanced material characterization models and iterative scheme nonlinear solution techniques, C-FLEX provides a robust platform for accurately predicting critical pavement responses to be linked to damage accumulations through realistic performance models, which are essentially needed in the JEDI solution framework mechanistic-empirical designs for flexible pavements in military environments.

Learning Objectives:

Attendees can expect to learn the following from this session:
  • Upon completion, participants will be able to describe the key features of C-FLEX software and its role in the analysis and design of flexible pavements for military infrastructure.
  • Upon completion, participants will be able to demonstrate the process of utilizing advanced material characterization models in C-FLEX to predict critical pavement responses under heavy mission-based vehicular loads.
  • Upon completion, participants will be able to explain the application of finite element analysis in evaluating performance of flexible pavements in military environments, focusing on stress-dependent behaviors and viscoelastic properties.