Time-domain elasto-dynamic model of a transversely isotropic, layered road structure system with rigid substratum under a FWD load

In this paper, the time-domain elasto-dynamic model of a transversely isotropic, layered road structure system resting on rigid bedrock under a falling weight deflectometer (FWD) load is proposed by using the Laplace-Hankel transformation, and developing an improved propagator matrix method (PMM) with less calculation cost, higher calculation accuracy and better numerical stability. The improved model greatly avoids the problem of data overflow and maintains the computational efficiency of PMM. The present model is then verified by comparing with the corresponding FEM results. A parametric analysis is finally performed to discuss the effects of material anisotropy and rigid substratum on dynamic response of a road system, which is meaningful for design and practice of road engineering with modulus back-calculation.