Real-world Comparison of Common Pavement Design Softwares

本研究计划旨在开发一种新的和完全机械化的路面设计方法，是基于有限元建模。设计方法使用PSI Technologies Inc.开发的软件PSIPave3D。该研究将该软件与加拿大各地常用的路面设计方法进行了比较。这些现有的方法在很大程度上是衍生的，这意味着它们在加拿大条件下的应用往往是值得怀疑的。机械设计考虑了组成材料的实际行为和现场条件，以提供路面结构性能的真实的预测。此外，该研究还涉及开发一种实验室程序，用于以可在PSIPave 3D中实施的方式表征路面施工材料。 随后，将对常见的铺路和路基材料进行表征，并将其纳入材料数据库，这将使软件更广泛地适用。将通过向加拿大各地的从业人员分发调查问卷，询问他们的典型材料和条件，选择常用路面材料。最后，将对现有截面进行分析，并将其与PSIPave 3D设计结果进行比较，作为验证。 这项研究的结果将是一个路面设计工具，将适用于整个加拿大，并将提供路面设计师有意义的机械分析他们的路面。

This research program aims to develop a new and fully mechanistic pavement design method that is based on finite element modeling. The design method uses the software PSIPave3D, which was developed by PSI Technologies Inc. The research compares this software to pavement design methods that are commonly used across Canada. These existing methods are largely empirically-derived, which means that their application to Canadian conditions can often be questionable. Mechanistic design considers the actual behaviours of the constituent materials and conditions of the site to provide a real prediction of the pavement structure's performance. Additionally, the research involves the development of a laboratory procedure for characterizing pavement construction materials in a way which can be implemented into PSIPave3D. Subsequently, common paving and subgrade materials will be characterized and incorporated into a materials database which will make the software more widely applicable. The selection of common pavement materials will be performed via the distribution of a survey to various practitioners throughout Canada, inquiring about their typical materials and conditions. Finally, analysis of existing sections will be performed and compared to the results of a PSIPave3D design as a verification. The result of this research will be a pavement design tool which will be applicable across Canada and will provide pavement designers with meaningful mechanistic analysis of their pavements.