Numerical Simulation of Flexible Pavement Using Finite Element Method: Global Sensitivity Analysis

The integrity and longevity of road infrastructure are critical for ensuring safe and efficient transportation. How-ever, road deterioration is a pervasive issue, exacerbated by the overloading of vehicles and uncontrolled high tire inflation pressures. These factors contribute significantly to the premature failure of roads, manifesting in forms such as potholes, cracking, and rutting. Such deterioration not only increases maintenance costs but also poses severe safety risks, as the deteriorating condition of roads is a major cause of vehicular accidents. Given the critical need to address the adverse impacts of road deteri-oration, it is essential to propose rigorous methods for solving these problems. This study aims to propose a robust numerical code to investigate the performance of flexible pavements using global sensitivity analysis. The primary focus is to explore the efficiency of the proposed numerical code and analyze the effect of material properties and loading on pavement performance. The proposed numerical simulation leverages finite element methods (FEM) to model the tire-pavement interaction as an asymmetric two-dimensional problem.