Effects of Geometrical parameters on Numerical Modeling of Pavement Granular Material Behzad Ghadimi 1 , Hossein Asadi 1 , Hamid Nikraz 1 , Colin Leek 1 1 Curtin University, WA, Australia, Phone: +61 8 9266 7573, Fax: +61 8 9266 2681, email: behzad.ghadimi@postgrad.curtin.edu.au ABSTRACT Numerical modeling of the granular pavement materials is one of the modeling approaches which can be used to predict material response to specific loading conditions. This modeling is dependent on many factors and variables and includes assumptions for material behavior, loading conditions, geomechanical properties and geometrical parameters. In this study in-depth research has been undertaken to determine the sensitivity of geometrical parameters on pavement numerical modeling. Geometrical parameters are all those parameters that can be used to define a numerical model including layer thickness, meshing system and nature of the model (2D or 3D). In this study a layered granular pavement has been modeled through ABAQUS which is a general finite element program. The results have been compared with layered elastic theory by CIRCLY and KENLAYER. This study will deal with three kinds of modeling being 2D axisymmetric, 2D plain strain and a complete 3D model. In each of these three models, the influence of layer thickness, elements type and mesh density has been investigated. The results have been presented, compared and discussed in order to identify the most influential parameters. INTRODUCTION In the pavement engineering field, there is a growing trend to use mechanistic design procedure. These methods rely on the calculation of the strain and stress in the layers of pavement. To do this, the most common approach is the numerical approach through which the layered pavement system is modeled and solved by one of the familiar continuum mechanic assumptions (linear elastic, nonlinear elastic, elastoplastic, etc.). There are two main categories in the numerical modeling; that using an analytical solution provided from theory of elasticity or implementation of finite element technique to solve the general equilibrium of the layered system. While the first approach has traditionally been used as the basis for the mechanistic design, finite element modeling will be increasingly used by pavement designer. The apparent advantage of the finite element models is its capabilities to model various types of mechanical behavior, loading conditions and geometrical parameters. However, compared to layered elastic solutions finite element methods are more complicated and time consuming. “Final Draft – published version is available from http://dx.doi.org/10.1061/9780784413005.109