Study on Mechanical Properties of Tunnel Flame Retardant Asphalt Pavement Considering the Ablative Effect

Abstract

With the widespread utilization of composite pavements in highway tunnel projects, the flammability issue of asphalt layers has garnered increasing attention. Previous research has demonstrated that the addition of flame retardants effectively reduces the occurrence of pavement fires. However, there are few studies combining asphalt flame retardant technology with tunnel composite pavement structures. Therefore, this paper, considering the context of actual engineering projects, uses ABAQUS software to analyze and calculate the mechanical response of the tunnel composite pavement, considering the thickness of various asphalt layers under the ablation depth. Key design indexes such as shear stress and lower tensile strain of the asphalt layer, the bottom tensile stress of the cement concrete subgrade, and interlayer shear stress between the asphalt layer and cement concrete subgrade of composite pavements are analyzed using the nonlinear finite element analysis method. The findings enable the determination of the optimal thickness of the composite pavement asphalt layer combination after ablation, thus contributing to enhancing the safety of tunnel pavements.