Computers and Structures 81 (2003) 859870

www.elsevier.com/locate/compstruc

Near-surface stress states in exible pavements using

measured radial tire contact stresses and ADINA
Marc Novak, Bjorn Birgisson *, Reynaldo Roque
Department of Civil and Coastal Engineering, University of Florida, P.O. Box 116580, Gainesville, FL 32611-6580, USA

Abstract
The nite element code ADINA was used to identify the three-dimensional stress states in a typical exible pavement
conguration, resulting from measured radial tire contact stresses. The predictions show that measured radial tire
contact stresses result in stress states being both larger in magnitude and more focused near the surface than those
obtained from traditional uniform vertical loading conditions. In terms of eects of possible pavement damage
mechanisms, predicted high near-surface shear stresses may be a part of an explanation for near-surface rutting failure
modes, as supported by near-surface slip planes seen in the eld.
2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Tire contact stresses; Contact surfaces; Instability rutting; Pavement analysis

1. Introduction
Instability rutting in asphalt pavements occurs within
wheel paths and is due to the lateral displacement of
material within the pavement layer. It occurs when the
structural properties of the compacted pavement are
inadequate to resist the stresses imposed upon it. Despite
instability rutting being the predominant mode of premature rutting failures in modern exible pavements,
current pavement structural design approaches do not
deal with rutting in the asphalt concrete layer [18].
Recent studies have shown that instability rutting is
primarily a near-surface phenomenon, aecting only the
top 13 in. of the asphalt concrete layer, with visible slip
surfaces associated with the rutting failure [9,10]. Similarly, studies by Myers et al. [11] and de Beer et al. [12]
have shown that tire contact stresses in this near-surface
region are greatly inuenced by the structural characteristics and design of radial truck tires. Measured radial
tire contact stresses are both distributed highly non-

Corresponding author. Tel.: +1-352-392-9537x1462; fax:

+1-352-392-3394.
E-mail address: bbirg@ce.u.edu (B. Birgisson).

uniformly over the tire footprint and larger in magnitude than the traditional uniform circular load used in
pavement design. Dealing appropriately with instability
rutting for both the design of asphalt mixtures and for
the structural design of pavements, will require a complete understanding of the mechanisms that induce rutting within the surface layer and the identication of the
key factors that aect these mechanisms.
Currently, more than 98% of trucks use radial tires,
because of the associated fuel savings, and higher reliability of newer tire structures [13,14]. Radial tire contact stresses are highly complex, with non-uniform
vertical stresses throughout the tire contact area, as well
as large lateral contact stress components in both the
transverse and longitudinal (along wheel path) directions. The eects of these complex tire contact stresses
have not been widely analyzed. Myers et al. [15] and
Roque et al. [16] present the results of a series of
two-dimensional nite element analyses where a twodimensional cross-section of measured three-dimensional
tire contact stresses was applied on a layered half plane.
The two-dimensional nite element analysis results show
that the predicted stress state is signicantly dierent
from that of a uniform vertical strip load. Similar results
were also reported based on three-dimensional layered

0045-7949/03/$ - see front matter 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/S0045-7949(02)00413-3

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M. Novak et al. / Computers and Structures 81 (2003) 859870

elastic theory solutions. However, because of the limitations of the semi-analytical layered elastic solution
approach, a number of simplifying assumptions were
made regarding the application and distribution of
measured tire loads. These results were based on a tire
contact measurement system developed by Pottinger
[17], which was especially developed for tire research,
and consists of 1200 distinct measurement points, which
register contact stresses in the x, y and z direction. To
date, no detailed three-dimensional nite element analysis of the eects of tire contact stresses has been performed, using the results from Pottingers tire contact
measurement system [17]. A part of the challenge in
modeling actual tire stresses is that the radial tire contact
area is rather small (4060 square inches (in.2 )) and
highly non-uniform. Typical exible pavement structures also consist of a relatively thin layer (48 in.) of
asphalt concrete, overlying a granular base course (812
in. thick), which rests on a semi-innite foundation.
Hence, the combination of a small, highly non-uniformly loaded contact area and relatively thin surface
layers, connecting to a semi-innite half plane requires a
large number of elements.
In this study, the nite element code ADINA [18] is
used in modeling the three-dimensional eects of measured tire contact stresses in a typical pavement conguration. Although exible pavement materials are
generally non-linear in nature, a rm understanding of
the linear elastic stress states should precede any further
analysis. All pavement layers are assumed to be linear
elastic, and dynamic eects are ignored in favor of
promoting a basic understanding of static stress states
before complicating the analysis with dynamic eects.
Due to the complicated nature of the measured radial
tire contact stresses, contact surfaces were used extensively to control the size of the problem.
The results presented show that the predicted stress
states obtained with measured radial tire loads are different from those resulting from circular uniform vertical loads. In particular, high transverse near-surface
shear stresses are observed in the pavement, which are
not present in the traditional approach, which may
partly explain the near-surface instability rutting failure
modes recently reported in the literature [9,10].
In the following, an overview of the tire contact
measurement system is provided, followed by the description of the nite element modeling, and the presentation of the modeling results.

2. Measurement of radial tire contact stresses

Based on contact stress measurements, Pottinger [17]
has identied two distinct types of contact stress eects
that exist under truck tires. These are generally referred
to as the pneumatic eect and Poissons eect [13]. The

overriding eect induced under radial truck tires is the

Poissons eect. This is a direct result of tire construction. Radial tires are constructed to have sti treads and
exible sidewalls, to minimize the deformation of the tire
during rolling. Thus, the lateral stresses induced on the
road by the radial truck tire will tend to push out from
the center of the tire ribs. In contrast, bias-ply tires tend
to have high wall stiness and a exible tread, resulting
in smaller lateral contact stresses. Modern radial truck
tires also can withstand higher ination pressures and
higher loads than bias-ply tires, resulting in higher
contact stresses [13].
By using triaxial load pin transducers inserted onto a
at steel test track, Pottinger [17] was able to measure
tire-interface forces and displacements for vertical, longitudinal, and transverse axes. The experimental setup
used was also capable of determining the rolling tire
footprint shape. Fig. 1 shows the test track conguration
that was used. The experimental setup consisted of a
rolling steel treadmill device in which the tire was held in
one location, while the bed was moved longitudinally,
causing the tire to roll over a row of 16 transducers.
Stresses and displacements were recorded every 0.20 in.
longitudinally (parallel to wheel path) and every 0.15 in.
transversely (perpendicular to wheel path) by varying
the transverse position of the sensors resulting in over
1200 contact points, at which contact stresses in the x, y,
and z directions were recorded. This resulted in 3600
distinct stress measurements for a radial tire with ve
ribs and a gross contact area of 47 in.2 with an ination
pressure of 115 psi. The measurements provided a high
denition of actual tire contact stresses.
The other available measurement system, developed
by de Beer et al. [12], also measures contact stresses in
the x, y, and z directions, but uses only 13 triaxial strain
gauge steel pins, mounted on a steel plate and xed ush
with the road surface.
Because of the complexities involved in measuring contact stresses under tires, it is not possible to obtain these measurements directly on real pavements. In
particular, the question arises as to whether stresses
measured under a tire on a rigid foundation with embedded sensors are similar to the contact stresses that a
exible pavement will experience. Roque et al. [16] presented a two-dimensional nite element model of a radial tire, using the nite element program ABAQUS
[19]. The results showed that contact stresses were nearly
identical whether the contact surface was rigid or had
properties similar to an asphalt pavement. Eectively,
the stiness of the tire is so much less than the pavement,
that the resulting contact stresses are similar to those
obtained from a rigid steel bed. It was concluded that
contact stress measuring devices, such as the one used in
this study, with rigid foundations are suitable for the
prediction of response of exible highway pavements
[16].

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861

Fig. 1. Schematic of system developed by Pottinger [17] used to measure tire contact stresses.

Table 1
Material properties and layer thicknesses of pavement structure
used in the nite element analysis
Layer

Modulus
(psi)

Poissons
ratio

Thickness
(in.)

Asphalt concrete
Base
Foundation

100,000
40,000
15,000

0.45
0.45
0.45

8
12
52

3. Pavement structure and loading conditions

A typical three-layer (asphalt concrete, base, and
foundation) pavement structure was used in this analysis, used previously by Myers et al. [15] and Drakos et al.
[10]. The thickness of the asphalt concrete layer was 8
in., overlying a 12-in. thick granular base course. The
foundation was assumed to consist of a 52-in. thick
layer. The properties of each layer were assumed to be
isotropic, homogenous, and linear elastic. Table 1 lists
the elastic moduli, Poissons ratio and the layer thickness
for each of the pavement layers. The asphalt concrete
layer modulus corresponds to that experienced on a
warm summer day on a fairly new pavement, and the
base and foundation values were chosen based on typical measured values in the State of Florida [10,15].

4. ADINA nite element model

A part of the challenge with three-dimensional
modeling of a pavement system with measured tire
contact stresses is that the resulting nite element model
needs to combine a small, highly non-uniformly loaded
contact area with relatively thin surface layers, connecting to a semi-innite half space, resulting in a large

number of elements. The measured contact area under

the radial tire used in this study is 47 in.2 . The radial tire
used was the same one used by Myers [15] and Drakos
[10] and has been determined to be typical for radial
truck tires currently used in the Unites States of America.
An initial assessment of the grid size requirements
based on using a uniform stress distribution demonstrated that the three-dimensional model should be at
least 72 in. deep and extend laterally at least 60 in. in
each direction from the center of the tire contact load to
adequately represent the semi-innite half space conditions associated with pavement problems. Because of the
size of this model, the renement needed near the tire
contact area, and the desire to remain within the 3:1
element length to width ratio, the resulting memory requirements for the Silicon Graphics Multiprocessor
computer available for this analysis exceeded the 1300
MB RAM memory available. To overcome the limitations associated with building a traditional mesh, contact surfaces were introduced, where a ne graded mesh
representing the loaded surface was attached (glued)
onto a coarse-graded mesh. This allowed for the introduction of coarse meshes at distances further away from
the loaded area where the change in stress was more
gradual, and far eld stresses dominated the response.
The use of contact surfaces was further justied based
on the primary area of interest being the near-surface
area under and immediately surrounding the loaded tire,
thus negating any possible negative numerical eects of
far away contact surfaces.
The measured tire contact measurements reported
tire contact stresses as uniform stresses acting over areas
of 0.03 in.2 in size. Three dierent stresses were provided, namely vertical normal stresses, transverse shear
stresses, and longitudinal shear stresses. Ideally, each

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M. Novak et al. / Computers and Structures 81 (2003) 859870

uniform stress should be applied to a single element.

Unfortunately, the number of elements needed would
have again exceeded the memory of the Silicon Graphics
multiprocessor computer available for the analysis.
Thus, the use of fewer elements was required under the
contact area, which subsequently required the determination of the equivalent nodal forces to be applied to
each node. The appropriate nodal forces for each element were determined by converting each uniform stress
into an equivalent concentrated force. These forces were
then applied to each element and distributed over the
element nodes according to the rules described below.
If it is assumed that the concentrated forces ff g has
components fx , fy , and fz , then the element load vector,
fre g, acting on a surface of an element, is dened by:
Z
fre g N T fUg dS
1
Se

where N T is the transpose of the shape function matrix,

and fUg is the surface traction vector. The contribution
of ff g to fre g can be determined by viewing the concentrated force as a large traction, fUg, acting over a
small area, dS. Subsequently, the concentrated force
vector ff g can be denoted as:
ff g fUg dS
2

Fig. 2. Three-dimensional nite element mesh used in the

pavement response analysis.

The integral of N T fUgdS thus becomes N T ff g, resulting in Eq. (1), with n concentrated forces, becoming:
fre g

n
X
N Ti ff gi

i1

where Ni is the value of N at the location of ff gi .

The nal three-dimensional mesh consisted of
204,185 nodes with three degrees of freedom per node,
resulting in a total of 612,555 degrees of freedom. The
elements under the radial contact area had uniform dimensions of 0.30 by 0.40 in. Contact surfaces were used
for the transition from the asphalt layer to the base,
from the base to the foundation, and from the ne mesh
near the tire contact area to the peripheral areas. Fig. 2
illustrates the nal three-dimensional mesh, with Fig. 3
showing a plan view of the contact area of the threedimensional mesh.
Finally, Fig. 4 shows a plan view of the radial tire
contact stresses applied as nodal forces onto the pavement model surface at locations consistent with ve tire
ribs. Fig. 5 shows a cross-sectional prole of the tire
contact stresses. It is apparent from Figs. 4 and 5 that
the measured tire contact stresses are highly non-symmetric, thus forcing the modeling of the whole tire
contact structure.
4.1. Solution process
There are four dierent types of solution schemes
available in ADINA, namely, (1) direct solver, (2) sparse

Fig. 3. Plan view of the contact area of the three-dimensional

mesh used in the pavement response analysis.

solver for very large problems, (3) iterative solver, for

non-linear problems, and (4) multigrid solver, for parallel processing solutions. The direct solver requires a
large amount of storage and is not recommended for
large three-dimensional models [17]. The multigrid solver is intended for large three-dimensional problems
with very large systems of equations, but when contact

M. Novak et al. / Computers and Structures 81 (2003) 859870

863

an axisymmetric uniform vertical load, to simulate current practice, (2) a three-dimensional uniform vertical
load applied over measured gross tire contact area, to
evaluate the eects of the tire footprint shape, and (3) a
three-dimensional radial tire load with vertical, tangential and longitudinal contact stresses, to represent full
measured radial truck tire loading eects. Near-surface
vertical stresses, horizontal stresses, shear stresses, and
conning stresses are presented and compared between
the three dierent surface loading conditions used.
5.1. Axisymmetric model
Fig. 4. Illustration of the contact area and the radial tire nodal
forces used in the pavement response analysis.

surfaces are used, ADINA does not allow for the use of
the multigrid solver. The best solver for large memory
limited problems is the sparse solver. Unfortunately, for
the number of equations anticipated, the system requires
a 64-bit version solution solver, with only the 32-bit
version currently available for this research. Hence,
since the iterative solver is also recommended for large
problems, it was used by default.
The equilibrium equations to be solved in a nonlinear static analysis of a nite element model with
contact surfaces in ADINA are:
tDt

R
tDt F 0

where tDt R is the vector of the external nodal loads and

F is the force vector equivalent to the element stresses
at time t Dt [18]. In non-linear analysis three iteration
methods/schemes are available in ADINA, namely, (1)
full Newton method, with or without line searches, (2)
modied Newton method, with and without line searches, and (3) the BroydenFlectherGoldfarbShanno
(BFGS) matrix update method. In this study, the full
Newton method with lines searches was employed,
based on its ability to converge and obtain accurate
solutions [18]. The iterative solution process required
1295 MB of RAM memory, with a resulting solution
time of 9000 s, using a single processor.

tDt

Current practice in pavement engineering uses solutions based on three-dimensional layered elastic theory,
in which the tire load is modeled as a circular uniform
vertical load. Typical pavement engineering analysis and
design programs that use this loading conguration include BISAR [20], ELSYM5 [21], and WESLEA [22]. A
two-dimensional axisymmetric model was generated in
ADINA [18] to provide a comparison between the
stresses induced by a circular uniform vertical load and
the more complicated radial tire loading eects. Fig. 6
displays the two-dimensional axisymmetric nite element mesh used in the analysis. Because of the symmetric nature of the problem, only one half of the loaded
area is modeled. The nite element model is 72 in. tall
and 30 in. wide, with a uniform vertical surface load of
115 psi, distributed over a radius of 4 in. The elements
used consist of eight-noded isoparametric elements, with
72 vertical rows of elements, each containing 99 elements, for a total of 7128 elements. The layer thicknesses
and elastic properties are the same as in the threedimensional nite element model, discussed previously.
To evaluate the results from the axisymmetric nite
element model, a comparison was performed between
predicted shear stresses at the edge of the loaded area and
those obtained from a semi-analytic layered-elastic theory solution, using the program BISAR [20]. Fig. 7
shows that the shear stress predictions obtained with
ADINA [18] and BISAR [20] are very similar for the
exact same loading conditions, meaning that the axisymmetric model adequately captures the loading response due to the circular uniformly loaded vertical load.

5. Predicted stress states

5.2. Comparison of vertical stress states

In the following, a comparison will be made between

predicted near-surface stress states predicted from: (1)

Figs. 8 and 9 show the near-surface vertical stress

contours obtained from the measured radial truck tire

Fig. 5. Cross-sectional view of applied radial tire nodal forces used in the pavement response analysis.

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M. Novak et al. / Computers and Structures 81 (2003) 859870

Fig. 8. Predicted vertical stress contours under left edge of

three-dimensional radial tire load.

Fig. 6. A cross-sectional view of the axisymmetric nite element mesh used for comparison purposes.

loads and the corresponding three-dimensional uniform

vertical load, respectively. The contour plots are ob-

tained under the left-most rib of the three-dimensional

radial tire, and the corresponding location for the uniform vertical load. The radial tire produces new surface
vertical stresses that are higher in magnitude than those
produced by the uniform vertical load. Fig. 10 shows a
comparison between predicted vertical stresses at the
edge of the radial tire and those obtained from the threedimensional vertical load and the axisymmetric loading
case. Below 1.0 in., the radial tire loading case approaches the uniform vertical and the axisymmetric
loading cases.

Shear Stress (psi)

0.0

5.0

10.0

15.0

20.0

25.0

30.0

35.0

40.0

45.0

0.0
0.5

BISAR
Depth (inches)

1.0

ADINA

1.5
2.0
2.5
3.0
3.5

Fig. 7. Comparison of shear stresses under the edge of a two-dimensional axisymmetric circular uniform vertical load predicted with
BISAR and ADINA.

M. Novak et al. / Computers and Structures 81 (2003) 859870

Fig. 9. Predicted vertical stress contours under left edge of

three-dimensional uniform vertical tire load acting over measured tire contact surface.

865

Fig. 11. Predicted horizontal stress contours under left edge of

three-dimensional radial tire load.

5.3. Comparison of horizontal stress states

The three-dimensional uniform vertical and twodimensional axisymmetric results show very similar
vertical stress proles at the edge of the tire, implying
that for uniform loading conditions, the circular uniform vertical loading condition is suciently detailed in
many cases, negating the need for three-dimensional
modeling. However, the addition of lateral surface
tractions, as in the radial tire case, signicantly changes
the near-surface vertical stress proles, thus requiring a
full three-dimensional analysis of loading eects.

Figs. 11 and 12 show the near-surface horizontal

stress contours obtained under the left-most rib of the
three-dimensional radial tire, and the corresponding
location for the uniform vertical load. The radial tire
contact stresses produce horizontal compressive stresses
that are both higher in magnitude and more intense in
the top 0.25 in. than the corresponding uniform vertical
load. These high very near-surface stress states may be
partly due to the discrete nature of the tire contact

Stress (psi)
0.0

20.0

40.0

60.0

80.0

100.0

120.0

140.0

160.0

0.0
0.5

Depth (inches)

1.0
1.5
Axisymmetric
2.0

Radial
Uniform

2.5
3.0
3.5

Fig. 10. A comparison of predicted vertical stress with depth at the left edge of loaded area.

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M. Novak et al. / Computers and Structures 81 (2003) 859870

produced by the uniform loading conditions. These results imply that the contribution from bending may
dominate the response at greater depths for this particular pavement system, overwhelming the eects from the
lateral tire contact stresses.
5.4. Comparison of shear stress states
Figs. 14 and 15 show the near-surface shear stress
contours obtained under the left-most rib of the threedimensional radial tire, and the corresponding location

Fig. 12. Predicted horizontal stress contours under left edge of

three-dimensional uniform vertical tire load acting over measured tire contact surface.

measurement system and the constraints associated with

applying the measured tire contact stresses as discrete
nodal forces in the nite element model. However, the
general pattern of stresses should be representative,
discounting the higher local peaks in stress under discrete nodal locations. Fig. 13 shows a comparison of
horizontal stress with depth at the edge of the tire load.
The results show that the high horizontal stresses dissipate very quickly over the top 0.25 in. of the pavement,
below which they become similar in magnitude to those

Fig. 14. Predicted shear stress contours in the lateral direction

(yz-plane) under left edge of three-dimensional radial tire load.

Stress (psi)
0.0

20.0

40.0

60.0

80.0

100.0

120.0

140.0

160.0

180.0

0.0
0.5

Depth (inches)

1.0
1.5
Axisymmetric
2.0

Radial
Uniform

2.5
3.0
3.5

Fig. 13. Comparison of predicted horizontal stress with depth at the left edge of loaded area.

M. Novak et al. / Computers and Structures 81 (2003) 859870

867

5.5. Comparison of hydrostatic pressure states

Fig. 15. Predicted shear stress contours in the lateral direction

(yz-plane) under left edge of three-dimensional uniform vertical
tire load acting over measured tire contact surface.

for the uniform vertical load, respectively. Again, the

radial tire contact stresses produce shear stresses that are
both higher in magnitude and more intense in the top 1
in. than the corresponding uniform vertical load. The
zone of maximum shear is also closer to the surface for
the radial tire contact stress case.
Figs. 16 and 17 show a plot of the near-surface shear
stresses under the edge of the loaded area, as well as 0.15
in. away from the loading. The results show high nearsurface shear stresses (68 psi) under the edge of the
loaded tire for the radial tire contact stress case, dissipating rapidly both vertically and horizontally away
from the tire. In contrast, the uniform vertical loading
cases do not show these high near-surface shear stresses.

Since asphalt concrete, like other granular geomaterials, is pressure dependent, the eects of tire contact
stresses on the distribution of hydrostatic pressures was
also evaluated. The hydrostatic pressure, herein denoted
simply as pressure, is dened as the sum of the normal
stresses divided by three. Figs. 18 and 19 show contour
plots of pressure obtained under the left-most rib of the
three-dimensional radial tire, and the corresponding
location for the uniform vertical load, respectively. The
radial tire conguration produces much higher pressures
near the edges of the loaded area than the corresponding
uniformly loaded cases, implying a conning eect due
to the radial tire contact stresses.
Figs. 20 and 21 show proles of pressure versus depth
under the edge of the tire and at a distance of 0.15 in.
away from the tire. Again, the results show that pressure
dissipates fast in both the vertical and horizontal directions away from the loaded area, dropping from a nearsurface high of 158 psi under the edge of the loaded area,
down to 9 psi at a horizontal distance of 0.15 in. away
from the tire.

6. Summary and conclusions

The commercial nite element code ADINA [18] was
used to identify the stress states in a typical exible
pavement conguration, resulting from measured radial
tire contact stresses. Due to the complicated nature of
the measured tire contact stresses used in this paper, the
resulting nite element model consisted of 204,185
nodes, with a total of 612,555 degrees of freedom. An

Shear Stress (psi)

0.0

10.0

20.0

30.0

40.0

50.0

60.0

70.0

80.0

0.0

Depth (inches)

0.5
1.0
1.5
Radial
2.0

Uniform
Axisymmetric

2.5
3.0
3.5

Fig. 16. Comparison of predicted shear stresses in the lateral direction (yz-plane) with depth at the left edge of loaded area.

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M. Novak et al. / Computers and Structures 81 (2003) 859870

Shear Stress (psi)
0.0

10.0

20.0

30.0

40.0

50.0

60.0

70.0

80.0

0.0
0.5

Depth (inches)

1.0
1.5
Radial
2.0

Uniform
Axisymmetric

2.5
3.0
3.5

Fig. 17. Comparison of predicted shear stresses in the lateral direction (yz-plane) with depth at 0.15 in. away from the left edge of
loaded area.

Fig. 18. Predicted pressure contours under left edge of threedimensional radial tire load.

Fig. 19. Predicted pressure contours under left edge of threedimensional uniform vertical tire load acting over measured tire
contact surface.

iterative solution scheme consisting of the full Newton

method with lines searches was employed. The iterative
solution process required 1295 MB of RAM memory,
with a resulting solution time of 9000 s, using a single
processor. Due to memory limitations, contact surfaces
were used extensively in the three-dimensional nite element model. The results show clearly that contact
surfaces can be employed successfully if they are suciently far away from the areas of interest, since no
signicant numerical errors were observed in the nearsurface stress states due to the presence of contact surfaces.

In this paper, measured tire contact stresses are applied as nodal forces in a three-dimensional nite element model. The representation of measured tire contact
stresses at discrete points is currently a function of the
limitations of available tire contact measurement systems [17]. The authors recognize that some predicted
high concentrations or peaks in local near-surface stress
states under nodal points may be partly due to the discrete nature of the tire contact measurement system and
the constraints associated with applying the measured
tire contact stresses as discrete nodal forces in the nite
element model. However, the general pattern of stresses

M. Novak et al. / Computers and Structures 81 (2003) 859870

869

Pressure (psi)
0.0

20.0

40.0

60.0

80.0

100.0

120.0

140.0

160.0

180.0

0.0
0.5

Depth (inches)

1.0
1.5
Radial
2.0

Uniform
Axisymmetric

2.5
3.0
3.5

Fig. 20. Comparison of predicted pressures with depth at the left edge of loaded area.

Pressure (psi)
0.0

20.0

40.0

60.0

80.0

100.0

120.0

140.0

160.0

180.0

0.0
0.5

Depth (inches)

1.0
1.5
Radial
2.0

Uniform
Axisymmetric

2.5
3.0
3.5
Fig. 21. Comparison of predicted pressures with depth at 0.15 in. away from the left edge of loaded area.

should be representative, discounting the higher local

peaks in stress under discrete nodal locations.
Even though it has been shown that contact stresses
obtained with the tire contact measurement system used
were nearly identical whether the contact surface was
rigid or had properties similar to an asphalt pavement
[16], it has to be recognized that the an actual tire has
some transverse rigidity [16]. Thus in reality subsequent
application of measured tire contact stresses at discrete
points without incorporating the actual tire structure is
an approximation of the conditions present in a real
situation. However, the current approach represents the
rst attempt to model the eects of measured tire in-

terface stresses in three dimensions. The incorporation

of a full tire model would be signicantly more complicated, with numerous other issues needing to be addressed, such as the eective stiness of radial tire walls
and treads that are reinforced with steel wiring, and the
net eect of tire bulging and deformation on the redistribution of stresses onto the pavement.
Within the context of the limitations of the current
tire measurement system, the results in this paper still
provide a good starting point for developing the needed
level of understanding of the mechanisms that may induce instability rutting in the near-surface region of an
asphalt concrete layer. Current pavement structural

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M. Novak et al. / Computers and Structures 81 (2003) 859870

design approaches do not deal with rutting in the asphalt

concrete layer. The results presented in this paper show
that measured radial tire contact stresses result in nearsurface stress states are dierent from those obtained
using traditional circular uniform-loading conditions.
The resulting stress states appear larger in magnitude
and more focused near the surface than those obtained
from uniform vertical loading conditions. In particular,
higher transverse near-surface shear stresses are observed in the top 1 in. of the pavement, which may partly
explain the near-surface instability rutting failure modes
recently reported in the literature [9,10]. However, at
depths below 12 in., bending eects tended to dominate
the response, minimizing the dierence between the radial tire stress states and those obtained from uniformly
distributed loading conditions.
In summary, further research is needed, in which more
radial tire congurations are evaluated, along with other
pavement geometries. The eects of variation of modulus
within the asphalt layer and non-linear material behavior
may also be important, and require further study.

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