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Advanced Airport Pavement Design Procedures --FAARFIELD - 3D Finite Element Based Design Procedure The last decade has witnessed an unprecedented increase in the speed and power of personal computers. Because of this revolution in personal computing power, PC-based programs such as FAA’s LEDFAA design standard can now perform designs in minutes that not long ago would have required hours or even days of processing on the most common office computers. As computer technology continues to advance, even more sophisticated models will become available to the pavement designer. The FAA is currently developing a new generation of PC-based airport pavement design tools that will employ advanced computer programs based on the three-dimensional finite element method (3D-FEM). These procedures will be capable of designing the future airport pavements to serve new aircraft types, including new large aircraft with 6 or more wheels per gear now in the conceptual stages. The 3D-FEM can handle greater detail and more complex characterizations of construction materials than can layered elastic analysis (LEA). It is particularly useful for modeling rigid pavements, since the slab edges and joints that are often the critical components in rigid pavements can be modeled directly, something not possible in LEA. In addition, 3D-FEM can incorporate nonlinear and non-elastic material models not available in LEA. In finite element modeling, the structure is divided into a large number of smaller parts, or “elements.” Elements may be of different sizes, and may be assigned different properties depending on their location within the structure. By breaking down the structure into elements, the pavement structural problem is transformed into a finite set of equations that can be solved using a computer. Because a structure can be broken down into finite elements, or “discretized,” in any number of ways, it is essential that any design standard incorporating finite elements include rules for systematic three-dimensional meshing. To be a true standard, the model must have specified element formulations, material properties and element sizes for each of the layers, since all of these factors can affect the predicted response and the design engineer will expect consistent behavior from the design tool. At the same time, the design program should be as “user-friendly” as possible, with all modeling decisions such as element sizes and shapes made transparently to the end user at the programming level. The FAA has developed a new airport pavement thickness design procedure
called FAARFIELD (for FAA Rigid and Flexible Iterative Elastic Layered Design)
that incorporates 3D-FEM for rigid pavements and
overlays. FAARFIELD combines the FAA’s layered elastic analysis program LEAF,
and a 3D-FEM structural model, using each structural model where it is most
appropriate. For flexible pavements and flexible overlays, the FAARFIELD design
procedure is essentially the same as LEDFAA 1.3. The thickness design is based
on strain computed using the LEAF model. For rigid pavements and overlays,
however, there are significant differences from LEDFAA 1.3. The design stress is
now computed using a 3D-FEM model of an edge-loaded slab on a multiple-layer
support structure. In addition, the rigid pavement failure model, which relates
the computed 3D-FEM stress to the predicted pavement life, has been completely
updated based on full-scale tests conducted at the NAPTF in 2004.
The new FAA design procedures are the culmination of a long term effort. The plan shown below was developed to assure the program's success. The plan called for a ten-year effort to accomplish the development of advanced airport pavement design procedures by 2006. Click on an image to learn more about a specific plan element.
Three-Dimensional Finite Element Method (3-D FEM) Essential to the Advanced Design Procedures for airport pavements is the continued development of a practical, three-dimensional finite element structural response model. FAA has successfully developed a 3D finite element model for multi-layer, jointed rigid pavements loaded by multiple-wheel aircraft gears. The model incorporates existing 3D finite element software (NIKE3D, originally developed by the U.S. Dept. of Energy's Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory) modified by the FAA specifically for pavement analysis. The modified NIKE3D and INGRID software programs are distributed under a software sharing agreement between FAA and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, developer of the original programs. Key concepts in the FAA's 3D-FEM modeling effort are:
The 3D-FEM model for rigid pavements has been field-verified using in-service data from the Instrumented Pavement Project at Denver International Airport. Key pavement responses from the model were compared to sensor data from the DIA project. A technical report summarizing the major findings of this verification effort was completed in July 2000 and is available as Report DOT/FAA/AR-00/33. The program FEAFAA implements a version of the FAA 3D-FEM model for rigid pavements involving 9 slabs. FEAFAA can be downloaded here. FEAFAA is made available as a research and analysis tool, but is not an FAA standard and is not intended as a design procedure. The rigid pavement structural model continues
to undergo development. Shown below are some sample results of 3D finite element
analysis of airport pavement structures. To see a full-size view, click on a
thumbnail image.
A major advantage of the 3D finite element method of structural analysis is that it can incorporate specialized models that accurately reflect material behavior. For example, unbound layers in flexible pavements may exhibit strain-dependent behavior (strain-hardening or strain softening) that is not captured by layered elastic analysis. Research conducted under FAA sponsorship at the FAA Center of Excellence for Airport Technology (CEAT) may lead to new models for advanced design procedures based on 3D finite element analysis. Performance And Failure Models Accurate analysis of the pavement response to a given aircraft load is necessary but not sufficient for design. In addition, it is essential to have reliable predictions of the failure life of a pavement. In the advanced FAA design procedures, failure models are in the form of regression functions relating levels of stress of strain produced by a passing aircraft gear to the number of coverages to failure. The response is based on a mechanistic analysis such as the three-dimensional finite element method or layered elastic analysis, while the failure models are based on traffic tests of full-scale pavement structures. Hence, this methodology belongs to the family of mechanistic-empirical design methods. The National Airport Pavement Test Facility (NAPTF) was built to produce reliable pavement performance and failure data for a variety of pavement structures, subgrade strengths and landing gear configurations. The testing vehicle can simulate repeated loading by aircraft weighing up to 1 million pounds. Data from the NAPTF is now being used to develop advanced failure models that are applicable to the new generation of aircraft, including the six-wheel B777 and future models. Technical ReportsSeveral informative Technical Reports have been published and may be downloaded free of charge from the FAA William J. Hughes Technical Center Library. Reports are in pdf format.
The above reports may also be ordered from National Technical Information Service (NTIS) . The following additional titles are available from NTIS:
Other technical reports are currently being drafted. Titles of these reports will be posted here as they are available. Contact Project Lead: Dr. David R. Brill Last Update:03/03/2008 |
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Design Procedures
