SHAKEDOWN THEORY AND THE DESIGN OF UNBOUND PAVEMENTS

Abstract

This paper is concerned with the possible use of plastic shakedown theory in establishing design criteria for unbound pavements. The basic concepts of shakedown theory are introduced, particularly that of the critical shakedown load, above which the pavement will eventually fail, and below which the response of the pavement is ultimately purely elastic. Some of the results of research on this problem obtained over the past 10 years are summarised, and current difficulties and areas for future work are highlighted. Attention is concentrated on the influence of the basecourse plastic strength parameters - the cohesion and angle of internal friction - on the geometric design parameters. (a)