PURPOSES : In this research, the initiation and development of corrugation on a gravel road with certain wheel and boundary conditions were evaluated using a coupled discrete-element method (DEM) with multibody dynamics (MBD).
METHODS: In this study, 665,534 particles with a 4-mm diameter were generated and compacted to build a circular roadbed track, with a depth and width of 42 mm and 50 mm, respectively. A single wheel with a 100-mm diameter, 40-mm width, and 0.157-kg mass was considered for the track. The single wheel was set to run slowly on the track with a speed of 2.5 rad/s so that the corrugation was gradually initiated and developed without losing contact between the wheel and the roadbed. Then, the shape of the track surface was monitored, and the movement of the particles in the roadbed was tracked at certain wheel-pass numbers to evaluate the overall corrugation initiation and development mechanism.
RESULTS : Two types of corrugation, long wave-length and short wave-length, were observed in the circular track. It seems that the long wave-length corrugation was developed by the longitudinal movement of surface particles in the entire track, while the short wave-length corrugation was developed by shear deformation in a local section. Properties such as particle coefficients, track bulk density, and wheel mass, have significant effects on the initiation and development of long-wave corrugation.
CONCLUSIONS : It was concluded that the coupled numerical method applied in this research could be effectively used to simulate the corrugation of a gravel road and to understand the mechanism that initiates and develops corrugation. To derive a comprehensive conclusion for the corrugation development under various conditions, the driver’s acceleration and deceleration with various particle gradations and wheelconfiguration models should be considered in the simulation.