Analysis of Influencing Factors on Cavity Collapse and Evaluation of the Existing Cavity Management System

In this study, numerical analysis is performed to determine highly influential factors that increase the possibility of asphalt road collapse due to cavity underneath the road. The considered influence factors on road collapse due to underground cavity were the asphalt layer thickness, the cover depth, the cavity width, and the cavity height. The concentrated load and uniform distributed pressure were applied on the top surface of asphalt pavement layers with different shape of cavity and asphalt thickness. For each analysis case of given cavity and asphalt thickness, failure load was analyzed under displacement controlled condition. Based on the analyzed failure loads, the applicability of the cavity management system developed by Seoul city was evaluated. As a result of the analysis, the effect of cavity height on road collapse was not significant while the other factors considerably influenced road collapse. Consequently, degree of road collapse susceptibility should be classified by failure load rather than by the condition of existing cavity.