International Journal of Pavement Engineering

ISSN: (Print) (Online) Journal homepage: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/gpav20

Influence of bonding conditions on flexible base

asphalt pavement under non-uniform vertical
loads

Xin Jiang, Cheng Zeng, Kang Yao, Han-Yan Gu, Zhen-Kun Li & Yan-Jun Qiu

To cite this article: Xin Jiang, Cheng Zeng, Kang Yao, Han-Yan Gu, Zhen-Kun Li & Yan-
Jun Qiu (2021) Influence of bonding conditions on flexible base asphalt pavement under non-
uniform vertical loads, International Journal of Pavement Engineering, 22:12, 1491-1503, DOI:
10.1080/10298436.2019.1697441

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/10298436.2019.1697441

Published online: 06 Dec 2019.

Submit your article to this journal

Article views: 224

View related articles

View Crossmark data

Citing articles: 4 View citing articles

Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at

https://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=gpav20
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PAVEMENT ENGINEERING
2021, VOL. 22, NO. 12, 1491–1503
https://doi.org/10.1080/10298436.2019.1697441

Influence of bonding conditions on flexible base asphalt pavement under non-

uniform vertical loads
Xin Jianga,b,c, Cheng Zenga,b,c, Kang Yaoa,b,c, Han-Yan Gua,b,c, Zhen-Kun Lia,b,c and Yan-Jun Qiua,b,c
a
School of Civil Engineering, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu, People’s Republic of China; bMOE Key Laboratory of High-speed Railway
Engineering, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu, People’s Republic of China; cHighway Engineering Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province,
Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu, People’s Republic of China

ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY

In this study, considering the non-uniform action of actual wheel loads, the influence of bonding Received 14 June 2019
conditions at the surface layer/base and base/subbase interfaces on the structure of flexible base Accepted 18 November 2019
asphalt pavement was investigated. The mechanical response under two extreme bonding conditions
KEYWORDS
– one with full slip and the other with complete continuity – was calculated by using the three- Flexible base asphalt
dimensional finite element software EverStressFE. Moreover, the dynamic evolution of the life of the pavement; non-uniform
pavement structure under different bonding conditions was comprehensively explored. The results wheel load; bonding
show that the bonding conditions had different effects on pavement surface deflection, shear strain, condition; pavement
flexural-tensile strain, and maximum vertical compressive strain at the top of the subgrade. The life of structure life; finite element
the pavement structure controlled by fatigue cracking and permanent deformation decreased non- method
linearly with the gradual deterioration of bonding conditions. The main mode of damages to the
pavement structure alternated between permanent deformation and fatigue cracking, thereby
increasing the difficulty of design, construction, and maintenance. Compared with the non-uniform
action of wheel loads, the bonding conditions had a larger and independent impact on the structure
of flexible base asphalt pavements.

1. Introduction
The most of current design specifications of highway asphalt
pavements worldwide are based on the theory of the elastic
layered system under circular uniform vertical loads and assume
complete continuity between the layers when calculating the
mechanical response of the pavement structure. This calculation
method has been used to solve most engineering problems and
address many scientific research issues; however, it still has
two defects with respect to the refined analysis of the mechanical
response of pavement structure: (1) the tire contact pressure is
not circularly uniform. The actual distribution of tire contact
pressure is extremely complex – first, the tire contact shape is
not ideally circular, but rather elliptical or rectangular; second,
the distribution of wheel loads is not uniform, but undergoes a
large variation with different vehicle loads and tire pressures;
third, the tire has a tread pattern with a variety of characteristics,
thereby leading to non-uniform distribution of the tire contact
pressure (Saraf et al. 1987, Myers et al. 1998, Hu and Sun
2005, Hu and Sun 2006, Anghelache and Moisescu 2012). (2)
In actual construction of asphalt pavements, the bonding con-
dition is not ideally completely continuous because of the differ-
ent materials employed for each layer in pavement, different
construction times, and different quality controls. On the con-
trary, it has a variety of complex states with partial continuity.
In general construction practice, interlayer treatment is carried
out by laying prime coat, seal coat, or geogrid. However, these
treatments have failed to generate satisfactory results in practice,
and make maintenance at later stages even more difficult.
From the perspective of vehicle engineering, engineers want
to create unique tools to travel conveniently on the road, but
which is contrary to the assumption of load normalisation in
road engineering (Orr 1988, Gillespie 1992, Fancher and Gille-
spie 1997). Taking into account the difference of vehicles, tire–
pavement interaction, vehicle speed, pavement roughness and
other factors, the ultimate load supported by the pavement
must be non-uniform distribution. In order to accurately
describe the mechanical response of the pavement structure
and carry out further pavement design, it is necessary to con-
sider the uniform distribution of load (Bryan and John 1998,
Sun and Deng 1998, Steyn 2001). To understand the distri-
bution pattern and magnitude of the contact pressure of an
actual tire, Saraf et al. (1987) measured the contact pressure
of a smooth tire and found that when the wheel loads were
small, the pressure distribution in the middle part of the tire
contact area was relatively uniform, and the unit pressure
was approximately equal to the tire pressure; when the wheel
loads increased, the pressure on both sides of the contact area
also increased. Myers et al. (1998) measured the pressure distri-
bution in the contact surface between a tire and a rigid plate
using a sensor placed on the plate surface and verified whether
the contact pressure could represent the actual tire contact
pressure on the pavement by using the finite-element method
(FEM). Hu and Sun (2005, 2006) independently developed a
static test device for tire-pavement pressure to measure the
contact pressure distribution of a number of tires of different
types, with different tread patterns and service years and

CONTACT Xin Jiang xjiang01@swjtu.edu.cn, xjiang01@163.com

© 2019 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
1492 X. JIANG ET AL.
under different tire pressures, obtaining a large quantity of data.
Anghelache and Moisescu (2012), by using a measurement sys-
tem consisting of 30 sensors, tested the distribution pattern of
the wheel contact stress in three orthogonal directions with
respect to the pavement under rolling conditions. In addition,
some scholars also used the FEM and other numerical simu-
lation methods to reveal the distribution and value of the tire
contact pressure. Wang et al. (2012) used a three-dimensional
tire-pavement interaction model and the FEM software
ABAQUS to simulate the distribution of tire contact pressure
under various conditions such as stasis, braking, and
acceleration. Hernandez and Al-Qadi (2016a, 2016b, 2017)
used ABAQUS to study the effects of temperature, velocity,
rolling conditions, and other factors on the area and
magnitude of the contact stress between wide-base tires and
the pavement.
Taking into account that the distribution of load-induced
stress on the pavement does not take the ideal form of circular
uniformity, some scholars have developed a number of pave-
ment mechanics calculation programs to conduct numerical
calculations. Tielking and Abraham (1994), Tielking and
Roberts (1987) considered the deformation characteristics of
tires in contact with the pavement and established a tire
finite-element model in which the calculated contact pressure
was taken as the imposed load, and a computational analysis
by the ILLI-PAVE program indicated that the tensile strain at
the bottom of the asphalt layer was greater than that conven-
tionally generated by uniform vertical loads. Lu et al. (2001),
Hu and Sun (2002), and Park et al. (2005a, 2005b) numerically
simplified the tire contact pressure of vehicle loads based on
experimental test results, and established relevant FEM models
to investigate the effect of axle weight, material parameters, tire
tread, tire pressure, and other factors on the mechanical
response of asphalt pavement. Siddharthan et al. (2002) used
the 3D-MOVE Analysis, an analysis program for the finite
layer method (FLM), to compare the mechanical response of
pavement structures under the action of conventional and
wide-base tires with uniform and non-uniform contact.
Wang and Machemehl (2006) used the multilayer elastic pave-
ment structure analysis program CIRCLY to estimate the
mechanical response of some typical pavement structures
under actual wheel loads and tire pressures including longitudi-
nal and transverse tensile stresses. Wang and Al-Qadi (2009)
compared the mechanical response of perpetual pavement
structures under three-dimensional contact stress and uniform
stress, showing that the mechanical response generated by the
three-dimensional contact stress was larger than by the uni-
form stress, with the maximum difference existing near the sur-
face of pavement and a small difference existing deep in the
pavement. Jiang et al. (2019) used the three-dimensional FEA
software EverStressFE to establish finite element–infinite
element coupling numerical model of flexible base asphalt
pavement under the non-uniform action of vertical wheel
loads, and compared the effects of non-uniformly distributed
wheel loads in three major categories, which are divided into
eight sub-categories (including six non-uniform distribution
forms) on the mechanical response of pavement structure. Fur-
thermore, the life of flexible base asphalt pavement under non-
uniformly distributed wheel loads was predicted and compared.
In addition to the non-uniform distribution of wheel loads,
the bonding conditions between layers are different from the
ideal assumption that the layers are completely continuous,
and this issue remains to be addressed. Tschegg et al.
(1995) performed an analogue study on pavements by inves-
tigating the bearing force of a multi-layered beam, verifying
that the deflection of the beam with good adhesion was 1/9
of the beam with poor adhesion. Romanoschi and Metcalf
(2001), Kruntcheva et al. (2006), Collop et al. (2009), Zhao
et al. (2017), and Hu et al. (2017) studied the effects of inter-
layer treatment, material type, construction method and other
factors on the bonding conditions of pavement structures
through laboratory tests, and found that the tack coat oil
only had a weak ameliorating effect on bonding condition
at the interface to a low extent, the continuous construction
method could slow down the debonding between layers,
while the material type was the main factor affecting the
interlayer performance.
It is obvious that the bonding conditions will significantly
affect the performance of the pavement structure; therefore, it
is necessary to correctly simulate and analyse the bonding con-
ditions between the layers of asphalt pavement in the mechan-
ical calculation. Uzan (1976) elaborated the effects of the
bonding conditions of pavement on the layered system from
the perspective of the theoretical analysis, and the results
showed that the radial stress was greatly affected by these con-
ditions, while the longitudinal stress was less affected. Brown
and Brunton (1984) used different pavement structure to
study and analyse the effects of poor bonding conditions on
the pavement structure life and concluded that the presence
of a partially continuous between the layers would significantly
shorten the pavement structure life. Al Hakim (1997) studied
four pavement structures with different bearing capacities
and found that when the shear response modulus was 104
MN/m3, the pavement structure life would be shortened by
approximately 20%, while the life would be further reduced
by 50% if a fully slip condition existed between the layers.
Kruntcheva et al. (2005) studied the performance of flexible
base asphalt pavements using the horizontal shear modulus
to characterise the bonding conditions and found that the
poor contact between the binder and base would reduce the
pavement structure life by up to 80%. Ziari and Khabiri
(2007) used the KENLAYER program to calculate the mechan-
ical response under different bonding conditions between the
surface layers and between the surface layer and base and
studied the effects of the bonding conditions on the pavement
structure life by using the Shell transfer function. Baek et al.
(2010) used three-dimensional finite element method to
study the effects of the bonding conditions in the structure of
an asphalt overlay on jointed concrete pavement on the reflec-
tive cracking. Guo et al. (2016) researched the impact of layer
modulus and bonding condition on the mechanical response
of pavement structure with finite element method, and pro-
posed a field nondestructive testing method to calculate the
level of debonding between layers through deflection basin.
Chun et al. (2015) investigated the influence of surface layer-
base bonding condition on mechanical response and service
life of pavement structure by field test and 3D finite element
method.

As shown above, when considering the non-uniform distri-
bution of wheel loads, a reduction in area is often considered
and local stripping is adopted to achieve a non-uniform distri-
bution, which is relatively simple. Alternatively, only the non-
uniformity of the wheel loads along the tread direction is con-
sidered; that is, the action force in the driving direction is sim-
plified to a uniform distribution without considering a
parabolic distribution or a half-sinusoidal distribution. Regard-
ing the bonding conditions, only the bonding conditions
between the surface layer and base are considered, and the
bonding conditions between the base and subbase are neg-
lected. With respect to the numerical calculations, most studies
investigate the effects of non-uniform load distribution alone or
bonding conditions alone on the pavement structure, but both
factors aren’t considered comprehensively. Most of the analyses
are focused on the mechanical response of the pavement struc-
ture, but they do not provide an in-depth exploration of the
dynamic evolution patterns of the pavement structure life
and main damage mode under different bonding conditions.
Based on the literature (Jiang et al. 2019), this study employs
the three-dimensional finite element software EverStressFE to
establish a finite element–infinite element coupling numerical
model with the flexible base asphalt pavement structure as
the research object. It investigated the effects of bonding con-
ditions between the surface layer and base and between the
base and subbase on the flexible base asphalt pavement struc-
ture under the non-uniform action of vertical wheel loads. It
also conducted an in-depth exploration of the dynamic evol-
ution pattern of the pavement structure life controlled by per-
manent deformation versus fatigue cracking under different
bonding conditions.
2. Establishment and validation of three-
dimensional finite element model
2.1. Distribution of tire contact pressure
According to relevant studies (Saraf et al. 1987, Myers et al
1998, Hu and Sun 2005, Hu and Sun 2006, Anghelache and
Moisescu 2012, Wang et al. 2012, Hernandez and Al-Qadi
2016a, Hernandez and Al-Qadi 2016b, Hernandez and Al-
Qadi 2017), the tire contact pressure is affected by many com-
plex factors such as tread pattern, tire pressure, and load, and
the shape of tire contact area closely resembles a rectangle.
Regardless of whether the tire pattern is longitudinal or trans-
verse, when the tire pressure is high under a low load, the tire
contact pressure in the tread width direction basically shows a
Table 1. Forms of wheel load distribution.
Wheel load force/MPa
Wheel load Single-wheel maximum value minimum
distribution load/kN value
Rectangular uniform 25 0.7/0.7
distribution
Convex non-uniform 25 1.2/0.6
distribution
Concave non-uniform
distribution
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PAVEMENT ENGINEERING 1493
convex distribution; on the contrary, when the tire pressure is
low under a high load, the tire contact pressure basically
shows a concave distribution. In the driving direction, the dis-
tribution of tire contact pressure is relatively flat in the middle
part of the tire contact area, while it is close to a parabolic or
half-sinusoidal distribution on both sides.
The calculation was conducted under for a single-axis
double-wheel load(single-wheel load of 25 kN) wherein the
dual wheels spacing was 350 mm and the tire width was
225 mm with directional tread pattern. According to the dis-
tribution characteristics of actual tire contact pressure along
the tire width and the driving direction, it was assumed
that the wheel load was distributed in three forms – rec-
tangular uniform distribution, convex non-uniform distri-
bution, and concave non-uniform distribution, as specified
in Table 1. It should be noted that given the directional
tire tread, the two types of non-uniform distribution of
wheel load listed in Table 1 took into account the reduction
of the action area along the tire width direction, as shown in
Figure 1, with the specific distribution of wheel load shown
in Figure 2.
2.2. Description of bonding conditions
The calculation software EverStressFE was employed to charac-
terise the bonding conditions of the asphalt pavement structure
by setting specially processed 16-node elements (Figure 3) at
layer interfaces and introducing the interface stiffness IS (N/
mm3). The mechanical parameter IS was not the friction coeffi-
cient in the traditional Coulomb model, but it was defined as
the ratio of the shear stress τ (N/mm2) at the top and bottom
of the interface element to the relative shear displacement
δ between nodes in the X or Y direction, as described in
Equation (1).
Interlayer shear stress t
IS = (1)
Relative shear displacement of interlayer nodes d
As shown in Equation (1), the larger the interface stiffness IS,
the better the bonding condition, that is, the bonding condition
is closer to a completely continuous condition; in other words,
the smaller the interface stiffness IS, the worse the bonding con-
dition, that is, the bonding condition is closer to a fully slip con-
dition. If IS is 0 or 1, the bonding condition is in one of two
extreme conditions, fully slip or completely continuous,
respectively; when IS takes an intermediate value, the bonding
condition is in a partial-bonding condition.
Wheel load distribution
characteristics
Along the tire Along the driving
width direction Note
– – The action area is of 225 and 158.7 mm along the tire
width and driving direction, respectively, regardless
of the reduction.
Convex half-sinusoidal The reduction of the action area is taken into
distribution consideration, as shown in Figure 2, where X and Y
Concave half-sinusoidal indicate the driving direction and the tire width
distribution direction, respectively.
1494 X. JIANG ET AL.
Figure 1. Simplified illustration of tire footprints (unit: mm).
2.3. Pavement structure and finite element meshing
The typical flexible base asphalt pavement structure (Huang
2004) was taken as the research object, which was divided
into four layers wherein the base material was asphalt maca-
dam, as shown in Figure 3. The material parameters of each
layer, such as thickness h, elastic modulus E, and Poisson’s
Figure 2. Non-uniform distribution of wheel loads. (a) Convex non-uniform distri-
bution, (b) Concave non-uniform distribution.
ratio ν, are also plotted in the figure. Specifically, the previous
researches have showed that the effect of interlayer bonding
quality of asphalt layers on pavement performance in high
temperature is more serious than it in low temperature (Zhao
et al. 2017, White, 2017). Therefore, relative lower elastic mod-
ulus is used in this study, which is corresponding to high
temperature.
According to the characteristics of the software and the
symmetry of the wheel load model, a 1/4 model was selected
with a geometric size of 1 × 1 × 1.85 m (driving direction × tire
width direction × depth direction). The right and bottom sides
of the model were infinite boundaries, the back side of the
model was an unconstrained free boundary, and the left and
front sides of the model were symmetric boundaries. It was
assumed that the interface between the subbase and subgrade
was completely continuous, and that the bonding condition
between the surface layer and base was identical to that
between the base and subbase. The pavement structure
model was divided into 9,716 elements with a total of
45,286 nodes, with each element being an ordinary 20-node
element except for the 16-node elements placed at the inter-
face between the base and surface layer and between the
base and subbase. To improve the calculation accuracy,
the meshing was relatively dense in the local area pressed by
the wheel load, whereas it was relatively sparse in the area
far away from the wheel load. The meshing is specified in
Figure 3, where the shaded area denotes the region pressed
by the wheel load.
2.4. Validation of FEA model with BISAR
EverStressFE’s accuracy has been validated by available analy-
sis solutions and experimental measurements which range
from simple analysis and complex structure during its con-
tinuous development. However, multilayer elastic half-space
theory widely accepted cannot be used to analyse and validate
the models mentioned above directly because it is assumed
that the wheel load must be circular uniform distributed.
That is why FEM was chosen as analysis tool in this study.
For the two idealised cases (rectangular uniform completely
continuous or fully slip), the rectangular contact area can be
transformed into a circular area on the basis of area equival-
ence firstly and then both cases (completely continuous or
fully slip) were analysed using BISAR computer program. In
the model of BISAR, the reduced shear spring compliance
(ALK) is used to represent the bonding condition, which is
expressed in m. When the reduced shear spring compliance
(ALK) is equal to zero or 100 times the radius of the loaded
area, the completely continuous bonding condition or fully
slip bonding condition is represented, respectively. And the
radius of the circular uniform load converted from rectangular
uniform load is 107 mm. The results comparison between
EverStressFE and BISAR for rectangular uniform (completely
continuous or fully slip) shown in Figure 4 confirmed that the
FEA model established is trustworthy. The minor difference
between EverStressFE and BISAR may be caused by finite
element mesh density, boundary condition and numerical
integration etc.

Figure 3. Pavement structure and finite element meshing.
3. Analysis of mechanical response under two
extreme bonding conditions
3.1. Pavement surface deflection
The calculation indicated that the maximum pavement surface
deflection under the two extreme bonding conditions appeared
on the Y-axis, in the wheel load area. Therefore, some data
points on the Y-axis were selected to generate the pavement
surface deflection curve, as shown in Figure 5. To highlight
the mechanical behaviour of pavement structure under the
non-uniform distributed load and to prove the deficiency of
traditional pavement design, except the above three kinds of
load, circular uniform distributed load is added to employ com-
parative analysis in pavement surface deflection, which could
reflect the overall performance of pavement structure. The
radius of the circular uniform load is 107 mm, which is trans-
formed from the rectangular uniform load on the basis of con-
tact area equivalence.
As depicted in Figure 5, in the case non-uniform distri-
bution of the wheel load, bonding condition of full slip caused
a significant increase in pavement surface deflection, particu-
larly in wheel load area. Compared with the bonding condition
of complete continuity, the maximum pavement deflection
under the bonding condition of full slip increased by 67%,
66.5%, 64.5%, and 68.1% for the rectangular uniform distri-
bution, circular uniform distribution, convex non-uniform dis-
tribution, and concave non-uniform distribution of wheel load,
respectively, and their points of action closer to the centre of
wheel. When the bonding condition was completely continu-
ous, the pavement surface deflection in the local area of
wheel load was affected to a great extent by the non-uniformity
of the wheel load distribution, and the extent was even greater
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PAVEMENT ENGINEERING 1495
when the bonding condition was fully slip, as indicated by the
7.0% increase in the maximum pavement deflection in the case
of convex non-uniform distribution as compared with the rec-
tangular uniform distribution.
Moreover, by comparing the traditional circular uniform
distribution with the other three kinds of distributions, it is
found that the surface deflection calculated by the circular uni-
form distribution is the minimum under the two bonding con-
ditions. The surface deflection calculated by the circular
uniform distribution is similar to that calculated by the rec-
tangular uniform distribution, but both of them are less than
that computed by non-uniform distribution. It could be
known from above that the circular uniform load adopted in
traditional pavement design cannot really reflect the working
state of pavement structure, and it will underestimate the sur-
face deflection response of pavement structure.
3.2. Shear strain of the pavement structure
Table 2 lists the maximum shear strain γyz max and its positions
of action in the pavement structure under the two extreme
bonding conditions. As presented in Table 2, under a non-uni-
form action of the wheel load, the bonding conditions had a
certain influence on the maximum shear strain. The maximum
shear strain was higher in the fully slip condition bonding than
that in the completely continuous bonding condition, especially
for the convex non-uniform distribution, wherein the maxi-
mum shear strain was as high as 9.9%. Moreover, the non-uni-
form distribution of wheel load resulted in significant changes
in the maximum shear strain as compared with the uniform
distribution. When the bonding condition was fully slip, the
maximum shear strain increased by 35.3% from the rectangular
1496 X. JIANG ET AL.
Figure 4. Results comparison between EverStressFE and BISAR. (a) Strain at the
bottom of the surface layer along the driving direction, (b) Vertical compression
strain at the top of subgrade.
uniform distribution to the concave non-uniform distribution,
but decreased by 8.5% from the rectangular uniform distri-
bution to the convex non-uniform distribution. The bonding
conditions had no effect on the position of the maximum
shear strain; although the non-uniform action of the wheel
Figure 5. Pavement deflection curves under the two extreme interlayer bonding conditions.
load changed the position of the maximum shear strain, in
the three distributions it was located at the edge of the action
area of wheel load, approximately 2–5 cm deep in the pavement
structure, that is, in the upper part of the asphalt layer.
The above calculation results show that the critical point of
shear strain in the pavement structure was located at a certain
depth at the edge of the action area of the wheel load. For
further comparison and analysis, a curve of shear strain versus
depth was plotted for the edge point (0, 713, 0) of the wheel-
load action area, shown in Figure 6. It was concluded that
under a non-uniform action of the wheel load, the bonding
condition significantly affected the shear strain distribution
with respect to depth in the pavement structure, especially
for the shear strain distribution at the interfaces between layers.
For the concave non-uniform distribution, as an example,
when the bonding condition was completely continuous, the
shear strain showed a peak value in the upper part of the
asphalt layer, followed by a rapid decrease with depth, and
then a slow decrease. Owing to the differences in the material
of each layer, abrupt changes took place to a varying degree
at the different interfaces, but the changes were not large. In
the case of fully slip bonding condition, the peak value of
shear strain in the upper part of the asphalt layer was greater,
whereas the shear strain at the interfaces between the surface
layer and base and between the base and subbase rapidly
decayed to zero, followed by a dramatic change at the top of
the subgrade, where it rapidly increased. This indicates that
when the bonding condition is poor, a longitudinal shear
crack in the top-down form is more likely to occur than
when the bonding condition is completely continuous, and
there is a tendency of sliding at the surface layer/base interface
and the base/subbase interface, with a risk of debonding at the
subbase/subgrade interface.
3.3. Flexural-tensile strain of the pavement structure
Table 2 lists the maximum flexural-tensile strains εxx max and
εyy max and their positions in the X and Y directions at the bot-
tom of the surface layer and base, together with the increase in
the maximum flexural-tensile strain from the completely con-
tinuous bonding condition to fully slip bonding condition. As
presented in Table 2, under the non-uniform action of the
wheel load, the bonding conditions had a significant influence
 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PAVEMENT ENGINEERING 1497

Table 2. Calculation results of mechanical response of the pavement structure.

Maximum flexural-tensile strain εxx max (×10−6) Maximum flexural-tensile strain εyy max (×10−6)
in the X direction and its position (X, Y, Z)/mm in the Y direction and its position (X, Y, Z)/mm
Maximum shear strain γyz Surface Surface
−6
Wheel load Bonding max (×10 ) and position layer Increase/ Base Increase/ layer Increase/ Base Increase/
distribution condition (X, Y, Z)/mm bottom % bottom % bottom % bottom %
Rectangular Completely 532.2 103.8 436.1 116.6 277.1 55.3 497.8 66.6 292.6
uniform continuous (41, 706, 25) (0, 853) (0, 1000) (0, 804) (0, 853)
distribution Fully slip 567.6 452.7 323.1 275.3 194.9
(41, 706, 25) (0, 853) (0, 1000) (0, 804) (0, 853)
Convex non- Completely 472.3 110.9 428.2 118.0 280.2 68.5 452.8 68.5 297.2
uniform continuous (0, 731, 50) (0, 853) (0, 1000) (0, 804) (0, 853)
distribution Fully slip 519.1 474.9 330.6 310.2 203.6
(0, 731, 50) (0, 853) (0, 1000) (0, 804) (0, 853)
Concave non- Completely 735.3 89.5 467.9 114.4 277.1 33.8 667.5 65.7 290.3
uniform continuous (0, 706, 25) (0, 853) (0, 1000) (0, 804) (0, 902)
distribution Fully slip 768.0 418.8 317.0 225.6 190.7
(0, 706, 25) (0, 902) (0, 1000) (0, 804) (0, 902)

on the εxx max and εyy max at the bottom of the surface layer and
the base, especially at the bottom of the surface layer where the
influence was most prominent. However, regardless of the
bonding conditions, εxx max was always greater than εyy max at
the bottom of the surface layer and base. From the completely
continuous bonding condition to fully slip bonding condition,
the maximum flexural-tensile strains in the X and Y directions
at the bottom of the surface layer and base were significantly
enhanced, with the increase in εxx max and εyy max at the bottom
of the surface layer being approximately 1.5–2.3 times that gen-
erated at the bottom of the base. In the case of concave non-
uniform distribution, the increase in εxx max and εyy max at the
bottom of the surface layer was of 467.9% and 667.5%, respect-
ively, while the increase at the bottom of the base was of only
277.1% and 290.3%, respectively; compared with those at the
bottom of the surface layer, the points of maximum flexural-
tensile strain in the X and Y directions at the bottom of the
base were closer to the centre of wheel.
To further analyse the effects of bonding condition on the
flexural-tensile strains of the whole pavement structure, and
it was found that the X-direction flexural-tensile strain εxx
was always greater than the Y-direction flexural-tensile
strain εyy, the εxx in the cross section of the pavement struc-
ture (X = 0) was utilised to generate a contour map, depicted
in Figure 7, which shows that under the non-uniform action
of the wheel load, the bonding conditions had a significant
effect on the distribution of the flexural-tensile strain εxx
of the entire pavement structure. In the transversal direc-
tion, when the bonding condition was completely continu-
ous, the distribution of the flexural-tensile strain of the
pavement structure showed a steep pattern in the contour
map, with the distribution between layers showing a
bubble-like pattern and the large values being concentrated
in the middle of the asphalt layer. When the bonding con-
dition was fully slip, the contour distribution of the
flexural-tensile strain of the pavement structure was rela-
tively smooth, and the distribution between layers was
dense, with the large values being concentrated at the sur-
face layer/base interface and the strain showing an increase
by a factor of approximately 2. This means that the deterio-
ration of the bonding conditions made the surface layer/base
interface and the base/subbase interface suffer from tension
in the upper part and compression in the lower part, thereby
aggravating the occurrence of transverse flexural-tensile

Figure 6. Curves of shear strain versus depth at the edge point (0, 713, 0) in the tire footprint.
1498 X. JIANG ET AL.

Figure 7. Contour map of the X-direction flexural-tensile strain εxx (×10−6) in the cross section (X = 0) of the pavement structure. (a) under rectangular uniform distri-
bution with completely continuous bonding condition, (b) under rectangular uniform distribution with fully slip bonding condition, (c) under convex non-uniform dis-
tribution with completely continuous bonding condition, (d) under convex non-uniform distribution with fully slip bonding condition, (e) under concave non-uniform
distribution with completely continuous bonding condition, (f) under concave non-uniform distribution with fully slip bonding condition.

Figure 8. Maximum vertical compressive strain at the top of the subgrade.
cracks in the pavement structure. In the longitudinal direc-
tion, the non-uniform action of the wheel load had slightly
effect on the flexural-tensile strain distribution in the entire
pavement structure, except for the convex non-uniform
action, which led to a subtle increase in εxx in the asphalt
layer.
3.4. Maximum vertical compressive strain at the top of
the subgrade
Figure 8 is a histogram of the effects of the bonding con-
ditions on the maximum vertical compressive strain at the
top of the subgrade under the action of wheel load with
three types of distribution. As shown in Figure 8, the maxi-
mum vertical compressive strain at the top of the subgrade
increased respectively by 166.3%, 170.1%, and 165.7% for
the rectangular uniform distribution, convex non-uniform
distribution, and concave non-uniform distribution from
the completely continuous bonding condition to the fully
slip bonding condition. This means that the bonding con-
ditions had obvious effects on the maximum vertical com-
pressive strain at the top of the subgrade, while there was
a small difference in the effect of the different wheel load dis-
tributions on the maximum vertical compressive strain.
These observations reveal that the deterioration of the bond-
ing conditions will aggravate the occurrence of permanent
deformation damages, such as ruts, on flexible base asphalt
pavement, but the wheel load distribution has little effect
on the occurrence of these damages.
4. Effects of the bonding conditions on the life of
flexible base asphalt pavement
4.1. Transfer function for the expected life of pavement
To research the effects of the bonding conditions on the
expected life of flexible asphalt pavement under non-uniform
wheel loads, transfer functions (Huang 2004) such as the fati-
gue cracking and permanent deformation functions adopted
by the American Asphalt Institute (AI) for calculating the
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PAVEMENT ENGINEERING 1499
pavement structure life were employed here. As shown below,
the life of a pavement structure under different bonding con-
ditions is predicted.
Nf = 0.0796(1u )−3.291 |E∗ |−0.854 (2)
In the Equation (2), Nf is the cumulative number of load rep-
etition controlling fatigue cracking, |E*|is a dynamic modulus
of the asphalt mixture, in MPa, and εθ is the horizontal tensile
strain at the bottom of the asphalt layer controlling the fatigue
cracking.
Nd = 1.365 × 10−9 (1z )−4.477 (3)
In Equation (3), Nd is the cumulative number of load rep-
etition controlling permanent deformation, and εz is the verti-
cal compressive strain controlling the permanent deformation.
For a conservative design, the maximum flexural-tensile
strain in the X direction at the bottom of the asphalt layer
was selected as the horizontal tensile strain εθ to control fatigue
cracking. The maximum vertical compressive strain εzz at the
top of the subgrade was selected as the vertical strain to control
permanent deformation. For the convenience of calculation,
the dynamic modulus |E*| of the asphalt mixture in Equation
(2) was replaced by its elastic modulus E.
4.2. Effects of the two extreme bonding conditions on
the pavement structure life
As shown in Figure 9, under the non-uniform action of the
wheel load, the bonding conditions had a great influence on
the life of the flexible base asphalt pavement. From the comple-
tely continuous bonding condition to the fully slip bonding
condition, there was a varying degree of decrease in Nf, the
cumulative number of load repetition controlling the fatigue
cracking of flexible base asphalt pavement and Nd, the cumulat-
ive number of load repetition controlling the permanent defor-
mation of the pavement, with these two parameters decreasing
by up to two orders of magnitude. This indicates that the
deterioration of the bonding conditions caused serious attenu-
ation of the pavement structure life. However, under the above
two bonding conditions, the expected structure life of the
flexible base asphalt pavement was controlled by permanent
deformation, that is, the pavement damage was mainly domi-
nated by ruts. For different forms of wheel load distribution,
there was a certain difference in the structure life, especially
for the convex non-uniform distribution of wheel load, which
has the shortest one. In the actual design and management of
flexible base asphalt pavement, the pavement structure damage
caused by excessively high tire pressure should be prevented as
much as possible.
4.3. Dynamic evolution patterns of pavement structure
life under different bonding conditions
Based on the above results, the impact of different bonding con-
ditions on the structure life and main damage mode of flexible
base asphalt pavement under non-uniform action of the wheel
load was explored. It was assumed that the subbase and the sub-
grade were bonded with each other in a completely continuous
1500 X. JIANG ET AL.
Figure 9. Pavement structure life under two extreme bonding conditions.
manner, and that the bonding condition at the surface layer/
base interface changed synchronously with that at the base/sub-
base interface and vice versa. With many trial calculations, it
was found that when the interface stiffness IS ≥500N/mm3,
the cumulative number of load repetition (expected life) con-
trolling the fatigue cracking or controlling the permanent
deformation of the pavement structure increased slowly, that
is, the bonding condition was approaching a completely con-
tinuous condition (IS approaching 1). Therefore, the range
of IS was set to 0–500 N/mm3, and the calculation results are
shown in detail in Figure 10(a).
As shown in Figure 10(a), during the process of the bonding
condition changing from completely continuous condition to
fully slip condition, both Nf and Nd correlated with IS in a non-
linear manner, decreasing in general with the decrease in IS.
Moreover, there was a large difference in the attenuation
rates of Nf and Nd for different ranges of IS, with the non-uni-
form action of the wheel load having significant effects on the
attenuation rates. According to the calculation results, the vari-
ation process of Nf and Nd was divided into two main ranges by
one vertical dividing line. For Nf, the dividing line was roughly
located at IS = 30 N/mm3, and Nf was severely attenuated for IS
values before the dividing line while showing a slower attenu-
ation trend after the line, which is indicative of a gradual
achievement of bonding condition of complete continuity.
For Nd, the dividing line was located at IS = 200 N/mm3, indi-
cating that under poor bonding condition, the life of flexible
base asphalt pavement structure controlled by fatigue cracking
began to severely decay earlier than the life controlled by per-
manent deformation. The non-uniform action of the wheel
load had significant effects. The convex non-uniform distri-
bution led to the smallest Nf and Nd whereas the concave
non-uniform distribution led to largest Nf and Nd, with the rec-
tangular uniform distribution placed in between.
As shown in Figure 10(a), when the IS was too large, Nf was
greater than Nd regardless of whether the wheel load was uni-
formly distributed. This means that the life of the flexible
base asphalt pavement was controlled by permanent defor-
mation, and the damage was mainly dominated by ruts. It
should be noted that when the IS was in the range of 0–15
N/mm3, there was alternation between Nf and Nd, which
means that there was an intersection between the Nf and Nd
curves. This implies that under certain conditions Nf would
be less than Nd and the flexible base asphalt pavement structure
would be controlled by fatigue cracking, that is, the damage
would be mainly characterised by fatigue cracking. Therefore,
the three forms of wheel load distribution were zoomed in
for elaboration when IS was in the range of 0–15 N/mm3, as
shown in Figures 10(b), (c), and (d). As shown in the figure,
the dominant components of the life of flexible base asphalt
pavement alternated as the bonding conditions transitioned
from completely continuous to fully slip under the three
forms of wheel load distribution – rectangular uniform distri-
bution, convex non-uniform distribution, and concave non-
uniform distribution. This means that the life of flexible base
asphalt pavement was first controlled by permanent defor-
mation, then controlled by fatigue cracking, and finally con-
trolled by permanent deformation again. However, the IS
ranges wherein the alternation occurred were different between
the three forms of wheel load distribution, with the convex
non-uniform distribution leading to the largest IS range of
[0.13–13.64], the concave non-uniform distribution having
the smallest range of [0.24–6.13], and the rectangular uniform
distribution in between, which is [0.12–11.82]. As shown above,
an improper design and construction of flexible base asphalt
pavement would result in poor bonding conditions, which, in
the presence of non-uniform action of wheel load, would not
only greatly reduce the structure life, but also affect the main

Figure 10. Curves of the relationship between interface stiffness (IS) and structure life of flexible base asphalt pavement. (a) overall relationship, (b) rectangular uniform
distribution, (c) convex non-uniform distribution, (d) concave non-uniform distribution.
damage mode of the pavement structure, thereby creating
extreme difficulties for the later maintenance.
4. Conclusion
Taking into account the bonding conditions and non-uniform-
ity of wheel loads, this study, with the three-dimensional finite
element software EverstressFE, performed a numerical simu-
lation, calculated and analysed the mechanical response of
flexible base asphalt pavement structure. The analysis was con-
ducted under two extreme bonding conditions: condition of full
slip at the surface layer/base and base/subbase interfaces versus
condition of complete continuity at the two interfaces. It also
explored the dynamic evolution patterns of the pavement struc-
ture life under different bonding conditions. The following
main conclusions were drawn:
(2) The expected life of the flexible base asphalt pavement
(1) When the bonding condition changed from full slip to
complete continuity, the pavement surface deflection and
the maximum vertical compressive strain at the top of
the subgrade underwent significant increase, with the
non-uniform action of the wheel load leading to a differ-
ence in the change. The peak shear strain of the pavement
structure was significantly improved, and the shear strain
showed significant depth-dependent variation making the
structure more prone to form longitudinal shear cracks
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PAVEMENT ENGINEERING 1501
in a top-down manner. Further, there was a tendency to
sliding at the surface layer/base and base/subbase inter-
faces, while the subbase/subgrade interface had a risk of
debonding. The maximum flexural-tensile strains in the
X and Y directions were clearly enhanced at the bottom
of the base and especially at the surface layer, and the
flexural-tensile strains of the pavement structure varied
greatly with depth, with the interfaces suffering from ten-
sion in the upper part and compression in the lower
part. Therefore, the development of transverse flexural-
tensile cracking was more likely, but regardless of whether
or not the bonding condition was completely continuous
and the wheel load distribution was uniform, the
flexural-tensile strain in the X direction at the bottom of
the surface layer and base was always greater than that in
the Y direction.
structure controlled by fatigue cracking and permanent
deformation first declined slowly and then dramatically
declined in a nonlinear manner when the bonding con-
ditions transitioned from complete continuity to full slip.
However, the life controlled by fatigue cracking initiated
a severe attenuation at the earlier time than the life con-
trolled by permanent deformation. During the attenuation
process, the damage to the pavement structure first took
place as permanent deformation, followed by fatigue
1502 X. JIANG ET AL.
cracking, and then permanent deformation again. The
above processes varied to some extent with the change in
wheel load distribution. The quality of the bonding con-
dition significantly affected the main damage mode of
the pavement structure, thus creating great difficulties for
later maintenance.
(3) Conclusions (1) and (2) further indicate that, compared
with the non-uniform action of the wheel load, the
bonding conditions had more obvious effects on the mech-
anical response and life of the flexible asphalt pavement
structure, and the two sets of effects were independent of
each other.
Acknowledgements
The research was supported by Sichuan Science and Technology Program
under Grant (No. 2019YFS0492), National Natural Science Foundation of
China under Grant (No.51378440) and Key Laboratories Open Engineer-
ing Practice Program to Undergraduates of SWJTU [grant number
ZD201918028].
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Funding
The research was supported by Sichuan Science and Technology Program
under [grant number 2019YFS0492], National Natural Science Foundation
of China under [grant number 51378440) and Key Laboratories Open
Engineering Practice Program to Undergraduates of SWJTU [grant num-
ber ZD201918028].
References
Al Hakim, B., 1997. An improved backcalculation method to predict
flexible pavement layers moduli and bonding condition between wearing
course and base course. Dissertation (PhD). Liverpool John Moores
University.
Anghelache, G., and Moisescu, R., 2012. Measurement of stress distri-
butions in truck tyre contact patch in real rolling conditions. Vehicle
System Dynamics, 50 (12), 1747–1760.
Baek, J., et al., 2010. Effects of interface conditions on reflective cracking
development in hot-mix asphalt overlays. Road Materials and
Pavement Design, 11 (2), 307–334.
Brown, S. F., and Brunton, J. M., 1984. The influence of bonding between
bituminous layers. Highways Transportation, 31, 16–17.
Bryan, P., and John, P., 1998. Dynamic interaction of vehicles and infra-
structure experiment (divine): overview and results. Wellington, NZ:
Institution of Professional Engineers New Zealand, 179–184.
Chun, S., et al., 2015. Evaluation of interlayer bonding condition on struc-
tural response characteristics of asphalt pavement using finite element
analysis and full-scale field tests. Construction and Building Materials,
96, 307–318.
Collop, A. C., et al., 2009. Shear bond strength between asphalt layers for
laboratory prepared samples and field cores. Construction & Building
Materials, 23 (6), 2251–2258.
Fancher Jr, P. S., and Gillespie, T. D., 1997. Truck operating characteristics.
NCHRP Synthesis of Highway Practice, Transportation Research Board
of the National Academies, Washington, 241.
Gillespie, T. D., 1992. Fundamentals of vehicle dynamics. Warrendale:
Society for Automotive Engineers.
Guo, C., Wang, F., and Zhong, Y., 2016. Assessing pavement
interfacial bonding condition. Construction and Building Materials,
124, 85–94.
Hernandez, J. A., and Al-Qadi, I. L., 2016a. Contact phenomenon of
free-rolling wide-base tires: effect of speed and temperature. Journal
of Transportation Engineering, 142 (12), 04016060.
Hernandez, J. A., and Al-Qadi, I. L., 2016b. Hyperelastic modeling of wide-
base tire and prediction of its contact stresses. Journal of Engineering
Mechanics, 142 (2), 04015084.
Hernandez, J. A., and Al-Qadi, I. L., 2017. Semicoupled modeling of inter-
action between deformable tires and pavements. Journal of
Transportation Engineering, 143 (4), 04016015.
Hu, T., et al., 2017. Laboratory and field investigation of interlayer bonding
between asphalt concrete layer and semi-rigid base constructed by using
continuous construction method. Construction and Building Materials,
150, 418–425.
Hu, X., and Sun, L., 2002. Stress analysis of asphalt pavement caused by
changes of mechanics calculation parameters under non-uniform dis-
tributed tire pressure. Journal of Tongji University (Natural Science),
30 (12), 1472–1477.
Hu, X., and Sun, L., 2005. Measuring tire contact pressure distribution of
heavy vehicle. Journal of Tongji University (Natural Science), 33 (11),
1443–1448.
Hu, X., and Sun, L., 2006. Stress response analysis of asphalt pavement
under measured tire contact pressure of heavy vehicle. Journal of
Tongji University (Natural Science), 34 (1), 64–68.
Huang, Y. H., 2004. Pavement analysis and design. 2nd ed. Upper Saddle
River: Prentice Hall.
Jiang, X., et al., 2019. 3D FEM analysis of flexible base asphalt pavement
structure under non-uniform tyre contact pressure. International
Journal of Pavement Engineering, 20 (9), 999–1011.
Kruntcheva, M. R., Collop, A. C., and Thom, N. H., 2005. Effect of bond
condition on flexible pavement performance. Journal of
Transportation Engineering, 131 (11), 880–888.
Kruntcheva, M. R., Collop, A. C., and Thom, N. H., 2006. Properties of
asphalt concrete layer interfaces. Journal of Materials in Civil
Engineering, 18 (3), 467–471.
Lu, H., Sun, L., and Zhang, H. C., 2001. Analysis of stress in asphalt pave-
ment under non-uniform yyre load. Journal of Tongji University
(Natural Science), 29 (6), 672–676.
Myers, L. A., Roque, R., and Ruth, B. E, 1998. Mechanisms of surface-
initiated longitudinal wheel path cracks in high-type bituminous pave-
ments. Journal of the Association of Asphalt Paving Technologists, 67 (5),
401–432.
Orr, L. W., 1988. Truck pavement factors – The truck manufacturer’s
viewpoint. Proceedings of the truck and bus meeting and exposition.
In: Society of Automotive engineers, Warrendale, 1–4.
Park, D. W., Fernando, E., and Leidy, J., 2005a. Evaluation of predicted pave-
ment response with measured tire contact stresses. Transportation
Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, 1919,
160–170.
Park, D. W., Martin, A. E., and Masad, E., 2005b. Effects of nonuniform
tire contact stresses on pavement response. Journal of Transportation
Engineering, 131 (11), 873–879.
Romanoschi, S., and Metcalf, J., 2001. Characterization of asphalt concrete
layer interfaces. Transportation Research Record: Journal of the
Transportation Research Board, 1778, 132–139.
Saraf, C. L., et al., 1987. The effect of truck tire contact pressure
distribution on the design of flexible pavements. In: Preceeding of 6th
international conference on Asphalt Pavement Design, University of
Michiga, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 13–17.
Siddharthan, R. V., et al., 2002. Investigation of tire contact stress distri-
butions on pavement response. Journal of Transportation Engineering,
128 (2), 136–144.
Steyn, W. J. V., 2001. Considerations of vehicle-pavement interaction
for pavement design. Dissertation (PhD). University of Pretoria.
Sun, L., and Deng, X., 1998. Predicting vertical dynamic loads caused by
vehicle-pavement interaction. Journal of Transportation Engineering,
124 (5), 470–478.

Tielking, J. T., and Abraham, M. A, 1994. Measurement of truck tire foot-
print pressure. Transportation Research Record: Journal of the
Transportation Research Board, 1435, 92–99.
Tielking, J. T., and Roberts, F. L, 1987. Tire contact pressure and its effect
on pavement strain. Journal of Transportation Engineering, 113 (1),
56–71.
Tschegg, E. K., et al., 1995. Investigation of bonding between asphalt layers
on road construction. Journal of Transportation Engineering, 121,
309–316.
Uzan, J, 1976. The influence of interface condition on stress distribution in
a layered system. Transportation Research Record: Journal of the
Transportation Research Board, 616, 71–73.
Wang, H., and Al-Qadi, I. L, 2009. Combined effect of moving wheel load-
ing and three-dimensional contact stresses on perpetual pavement
responses. Transportation Research Record: Journal of the
Transportation Research Board, 2095, 53–61.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PAVEMENT ENGINEERING 1503
Wang, H., Al-Qadi, I. L., and Stanciulescu, I., 2012. Simulation of tyre–
pavement interaction for predicting contact stresses at static and var-
ious rolling conditions. International Journal of Pavement
Engineering, 13 (4), 310–321.
Wang, F., and Machemehl, R., 2006. Mechanistic-empirical study of effects
of truck tire pressure on pavement: measured tire-pavement contact
stress data. Transportation Research Record: Journal of the
Transportation Research Board, 1947, 136–145.
White, G., 2017. State of the art: interface shear resistance of asphalt surface
layers. International Journal of Pavement Engineering, 18 (10), 887–901.
Zhao, H., Cao, J., and Zheng, Y., 2017. Investigation of the interface bond-
ing between concrete slab and asphalt overlay. Road Materials and
Pavement Design, 18 (3), 109–118.
Ziari, H., and Khabiri, M., 2007. Interface condition influence on predic-
tion of flexible pavement life. Journal of Civil Engineering and
Management, 13 (1), 71–76.