Dynamic response analysis of rough pavement under vehicle-road system coupled vibration

In order to investigate the dynamic responses of rough pavement subjected to traffic loads more accurately, the composition characteristics of vehicle and the geometric roughness of pavement are highlighted. By regarding the vehicle, pavement and subgrade as a whole system, a vehicle-rough pavement-subgrade coupling model is proposed. A dynamic equilibrium equation for the coupling system is deduced by considering the roughness, pavement deformation and compatible deformation. The analytical solutions of additional dynamic load and vertical displacement of the pavement are derived using the Fourier transform method. By employing the fast Fourier transform (FFT), the numerical results are obtained and used to analyze the influence of moving load velocity, wavelength, amplitude, thickness and modulus of pavement on the dynamic displacement responses. The computed results show that two peaks of the vertical response can be observed with increase of the rough pavement wavelength and the load velocity because of resonance of the coupling system. Therefore, it is important to control the pavement roughness and vehicle speed to avoid resonance in engineering practice.