Numerical Modeling of the Behaviour of a Road Structure on Compressible Soil: Case of the Road Section at the Beau-Rivage-Djassin Intersection

Abstract

This document presents a study of the behaviour of a pavement structure on compressible soil and the evaluation of its durability. The objective of this study is to highlight the impact of taking into account the non-linear elastic behaviour of soils and granular materials in the design process. To this end, a numerical modelling of the pavement of the beau-rivage-Djassin crossroads section in Porto-Novo was carried out, based on a compressible soil whose behaviour will be considered elastoplastic. The subgrade soil on the section is made up of several sub-layers. The layer of soft, highly plastic clay was modelled according to a modified Cam Clay behaviour, a model of swelling clay soils. The fine sand layer and the granular layers of the structure are modelled according to Mohr-Coulomb behaviour. The loading is considered to be uniformly distributed according to the assumptions of the Burmister model in the French standard. A first verification with ALIZE allowed to validate the structure on the basis of the rutting deformation at the head of the platform ε z = 359.6 * 10 -6 which remains lower than the admissible deformation ε z ,adm = 360 * 10 -6 . The numerical calculation was carried out using the finite element method, the code of which is implemented under the PLAXIS v21 software. A c omparative study with the results of the ALIZE design revealed that th e numerically calculated strains ε z = 585 * 10 -6 are higher than those of ALIZE. These numerical strains, which are higher than the elastic strains, do not meet the validation criteria that the strains under loading must remain below the allowable strains. An evaluation of the pavement durability was carried out and it was found that the pavement would only last under traffic for 3 years before the first fatigue deformations appeared.