Variability of subgrade soil rigidity and its effects on the roughness of flexible pavements: a probabilistic approach

This project aims to evaluate the effects of changes in the correlation length of the rigidity of the subgrade flexible pavement roughness expressed in terms of the International Roughness Index (IRI). The correlation length, which defines the structure of the dispersion of soil rigidity, has a direct effect on the wavelength of the induced deformations, and thus the value of the IRI. The IRI is evaluated from pseudo-profiles decomposed according to specific wavelengths. It aims: (1) to show, according to a numerical and statistical approach, the influence of the inherent spatial variability of soil properties on the road in terms of stress and displacement, and (2) to analyze the effects of ground deformation on the values of the IRI.