Contribuições ao estudo do comportamento de estradas não pavimentadas com e sem reforço geossintético por meio de análises numéricas

Numerical analyses have been successfully used in the study of different kinds of geotechnical problems, including the case of geosynthetic reinforced unpaved roads. The finite element commercial software Plaxis 2D was used in this dissertation to simulate fullscale and model scale laboratory tests that were performed to study the mechanical response of unpaved roads under monotonic loading. The numerical models showed different types of reinforcement mechanisms and provided quantitative information about some variables that were not experimentally measured before. Since the tests used as databases were also performed under cyclic loading conditions, it was possible to assess the method proposed by Jewell (1996) to take into account the dynamic effect of traffic in the design of unpaved roads. The method allows calculating, from cyclic loads, equivalent static loads that can be used in the project of the roads. It was observed that this equivalence between loads varies with the level of roads deformations and with the conditions of its materials. Different expressions have also been proposed to take into account the influence of maximum superficial displacements in the calculation of equivalent static loads.