ANALYSIS OF DISCONTINOUS ORTHOTROPIC PAVEMENT SLABS SUBJECTED TO COMBINED LOADS

A METHOD OF SOLVING FOR THE DEFLECTED SHAPE OF FREELY DISCONTINUOUS ORTHOTROPIC PLATES AND PAVEMENT SLABS SUBJECTED TO A VARIETY OF LOADS INCLUDING TRANSVERSE LOADS, IN-PLANE FORCES AND EXTERNALLY APPLIED COUPLES IS PRESENTED. THE METHOD IS APPLICABLE FOR PLATES AND PAVEMENT SLABS WITH FREELY VARIABLE FOUNDATION SUPPORT INCLUDING HOLES IN THE SUBGRADE. ANISOTROPIC ELASTICITY GOVERNS THE BEHAVIOR OF ORTHOTROPIC PLATES AND PAVEMENT SLABS AND IS USED TO DEVELOP THE NECESSARY EQUATIONS. THE METHOD IS NOT LIMITED BY DISCONTINUITIES AND USES AN EFFICIENT ALTERNATING-DIRECTION ITERATION MEANS OF SOLVING THE RESULTING EQUATIONS. THE METHOD ALLOWS CONSIDERABLE FREEDOM IN CONFIGURATION, LOADING , FLEXURAL STIFFNESS AND BOUNDARY CONDITIONS. IT SOLVES THE PROBLEM RAPIDLY AND SHOULD PROVIDE A TOOL FOR USE IN LATER STUDIES OF REPETITIVE STOCHASTIC LOADING. THREE PRINCIPAL FEATURES ARE INCORPORATED INTO THE METHOD' /A/ THE PLATE IS DEFINED BY A FINITE-ELEMENT MODEL CONSISTING OF BARS, SPRINGS, ELASTIC BLOCKS AND TORSION BARS, THESE ARE FURTHER GROUPED FOR ANALYSIS INTO ORTHOGONAL SYSTEMS OF BEAM-COLUMN ELEMENTS, /B/ EACH INDIVIDUAL LINE-ELEMENT OF THE TWO DIMENSIONAL SYSTEM IS SOLVED RAPIDLY AND DIRECTLY BY RECURSIVE TECHNIQUES, AND /C/ AN ALTERNATING-DIRECTION ITERATIVE METHOD IS UTILIZED FOR COORDINATING THE SOLUTION OF THE INDIVIDUAL LINE-ELEMENTS INTO THE SLAB SOLUTION. THE COMPUTER PROGRAM UTILIZES THE EQUATIONS AND TECHNIQUES DEVELOPED AND CAN BE USED BY THE READER. SEVERAL SAMPLE PROBLEMS ILLUSTRATE THE GENERALITY OF THE METHOD AND THE USE OF THE COMPUTER PROGRAM. THE RESULTS COMPARE WELL WITH CLOSED-FORM SOLUTIONS. /AUTHOR/