Numerical Simulation of Temperature Stress on Asphalt Pavement of Concrete Bridge Deck in Cold Region

Flexible pavement plays an important role in the primary concrete bridges at present. However, climate environment, to which pavement is exposed, significantly impact pavement stability and long-term performance. Especially, low temperature cracking of asphalt pavement in cold region is a common existing problem. In order to improve the pavement’s crack resistance it is necessary to predict the temperature stress distribution within the asphalt layers. A two-dimensional finite element model of a concrete bridge in thermal and thermal-structural couple analysis is developed to predict temperature and temperature stress variation of asphalt layers in cold region. The temperature stress variation is analyzed at seasonal temperature, different cooling rate and the different thickness of asphalt layers. The model considers a set of primary thermal environmental conditions. Ultimately, the model is aimed at providing pavement engineers with an efficient computational tool that attempts to increase the prediction accuracy of temperature in asphaltic pavement of cold region for more reliable pavement design.