Numerical computation of effective anisotropic elastic properties of geosynthetics-reinforced pavements

Although several numerical techniques have been recently developed for the prediction of the geosynthetic-reinforced pavements performance, it is often unclear how to quantify such properties, specially when the soil is anisotropic and highly heterogeneous. In this work, following Hashin-Shtrikman bounds, explicit expressions describing anisotropic linear elastic moduli of geosynthetic-reinforced soils are presented. Modelling the geosynthetic material by oblate spheroids with spheroidal distribution inside the matrix of asphalt, the derived expressions provide bounds as a function of laminated material geometry and first principles in the elastic setting. The scheme developed can straightforwardly be extended to multiphase composites. We illustrate the implementation of the model by showing reasonable predictions on the transversely isotropic behaviour of the heterogeneous pavement.