PREDICTION OF THE BEHAVIOUR OF A FLEXIBLE PAVEMENT USING FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS WITH NON-LINEAR ELASTIC AND VISCOELECTRIC MODELS

The paper discusses a finite element code CESAR-LCPC, a module for pavement modelling, including non-linear models for asphalt materials and unbound granular materials. The program can be used to model results of a full scale experiment on a flexible pavement, with a granular base, performed on an accelerated pavement testing facility. The modelling of the pavement was performed in 3D, and several modelling hypotheses were successively tested: linear elasticity, a non-linear elastic model for the unbound layers and a visco-elastic model for the asphalt concrete.