STUDY OF EFFECT OF TRUCK TIRE PRESSURE ON ASPHALT PAVEMENT PERFORMANCE: A MECHANISTIC-EMPIRICAL APPROACH

A most apparent effect of the increased tire pressure would be reduction in the tire-pavement contact area, which may in turn result in an increase in the tire-pavement contact stress and then more damaging effects to the pavement. This dissertation uses a Monte Carlo simulation based mechanistic-empirical method to identify and quantify the tire pressure effects on flexible pavement performance. In this study, measured non- uniform tire-pavement contact stress data for different tire load and inflation pressure conditions and for three popular tire/axle configurations were input to the finite element program ANSYS to compute immediate pavement responses for various asphalt pavement structures. A quick solution method for the prediction of critical pavement responses was developed using regression models that relate critical pavement responses with tire loading and pavement structural conditions. A Monte Carlo simulation program was developed to predict the effects of increased truck tire pressure on selected pavement structures with various variability included.